[url=https://flic.kr/p/q7hhAL] [/url] by molgrips, on Flickr

I had the idea that I could buy myself a cheap steel frame and use the stuff from my 5 on it. This was originally going to be done for no extra cost so I had looked at Inbreds. However people managed to persuade me to get a better frame so I’d more or less decided on a Karate Monkey Ops. Then Charlie the Bike Monger had a frame going cheap so I thought I might as well go for it. It’s a large which is at the large end of fitting me. I wanted gears of course – this is a SS frame but with the gear hangers.

The cost mounted up pretty quickly though:

New front mech
Maxle
Stem
Bars

I tried the bars and stem that were on the 5 but they were too high – in the end I’ve got a 680mm 9 degree flat bar and a 60mm stem mounted with -ve rise, and it’s pretty good. Google Image search shows that most people are doing the same. Bars are far too wide though, I’m going to trim a load off. And maybe fit bar ends 🙂

I was going to rebuild my old wheels (Hope Pro II) but people kept offering me factory wheels on here so it now has Bontrager Rythmn Elites which are nice but stiff.

Just as I was putting it together last weekend and tightening up the brakes, the clamp on my lever snapped. Fortunately, being Hope I was able to buy a new lever body and transfer all the gubbins.

Not been on a ride yet – I’m prepared to be shaken to pieces… Feels weird to brake and stand up on the pedals without the bike moving at all. Very stiff frame, but we’ll have to see how it handles rocky S Wales.

26.5lbs without pedals, which is a bit lardy I reckon.

Nice. Stick with the 680s for a while though, just to see how it feels once you’re more used to it. Remember also that a wider bar will help with comfort.

Bikepacking next?

I’ve been bikepacking before it was called bikepacking 🙂 I stopped due to needing to be with my family at weekends…

Anyway – why will a wider bar help with comfort? The bike’s meant to be a mile muncher, and I can’t get my head around riding a long way leaning on my arms wide apart like that. And I don’t want to sit any more upright, because I like the body position from my road bike and my XC race bike for long distances.

Maybe I should post on the ‘going against conventional wisdom’ thread 🙂

A wider bar will have more flex. As you say, you don’t want to present a barn door either, hence my suggestion you stick with the 680s.

680 really does feel like a barn door though!

They aren’t expensive, so if I cut them down and change my mind it’s not the end of the world. Riding around the street, it just feels really right when I move my hands in a few cm.

Try flat ragley carnegie’s, 685 wide but with a comfy back sweep that keeps you more upright but is friendly on your wrists especially with the rigid forks

Yeah.. worried about endlessly farting about and spending money on bar after bar… the idea is to replace the fully rigid P7 I used to have but in 29er format. It was great for chewing road miles to link up trails. I don’t care if it’s slow on rocky trails – I get my technical fix on the Patriot.

Maybe I’ll try the bars a bit narrower, then learn more about what I want and perhaps I’ll try a fleegle or some other niche bar. I did go onto On One’s site for some Fleegle Pros actually but they were out of 31.8s.

Hehe.

Cut the bars down, they are about 630 now which feels right. Decided against bar ends though as they felt way too wide at that width, but it was right for bike handling.

I have a longer stem with which to experiment later.

Well, ridden it. It’s really stiff which is lovely to hammer really hard (I suppose that would make it a good SS frame) and with the narrow bars and upside-down 60mm stem it’s a really good place to put some power down.

Off-road though – well, it’s obviously bumpy as hell and being rather porky at 27lbs it’s not that easy to flick around over stuff. The flat position seems to put my weight a bit too far forward for good cornering too – so I might flip the stem the other way to raise the bars a bit. But I don’t want to make it to sit-uppy for road. It’s going to be a compromise.

Would be awesome with sus forks and a full on MTB riding position though! It’ll get these things one day I expect.

I think I’ve got a 60mm -10 stem and 740mm Fatbar Lite on my El Mar. It doesn’t feel too wide (685mm EA70 riser and 110mm stem on previous bike). Oh, and 100mm Rebas.

My first ‘modern’ rigid bike had stiff carbon 640mm bars. I rode it like that for a while before getting something wider and flexier. The difference in comfort and control was massive. A higher front end also makes a lot of sense if you’re tackling rocky or techy stuff on a rigid bike IME.

Nice bike BTW.

Yeah I think at some point I will try something else, but I’ll potentially go back to this depending on what I’m doing.

The only issue I found (besides the bumps, but then again I’ve also got tubes in and running 40psi) was on one corner I found mid-corner that it was hard to turn in, and the front wanted to wash out. I think it’s due to my weight being too far forward. So I can raise the bars to combat this, but the bike also has these adjustable dropouts to knock about 4cm or so off the wheelbase. I had it on max length, so I’m going to try it on the minimum setting. The rear wheel being closer to my CoG should help.

I find my rigid El Mar really quick to turn in and the front very reluctant to wash out (as opposed to when I tried is with Rebas). I have the rear end set as short as the chain will allow (running singlespeed) and a 2.35 hans dampf on the front. It is very sensitive to tyre pressure, makes a huge difference if it is even a few psi too high.

What stem and bars do you have bacon?

710mm flat bars and 70mm stem work for me. Came with a 110 stem which was nuts.

Ps I love that colour. Reminds me of old racingcars

I’d persevere or go for a longer stem. Mine’s got a 110mm stem and flat bars and I think the original spec was 120mm on the large. In both setups it corners like it’s on rails as long as you pick a good enough line. If you want cornering grip you want more weight up front, not less. And fit some bigger knoblier tyres, 2.3 purgatorys or Hans Dampfs, I’ve got purgatorys on Arch rims running 20-25psi.

If you want cornering grip you want more weight up front, not less

That depends on the corner. Going round a long fast corner then yea, lean on the front. For changing direction sharply you need your weight back, because as you change direction you are actually pivoting around the rear wheel contact patch as well as moving sideways etc.

I have 2.3s, but ran them hard cos I am on tubes currently.

I think the large ready built bike.comes with 750mm bars and a 110mm stem 😯 I have a 90mm at home, might try that just to see.

Love the colours on the frame. Very Piet Mondrian.

Think I have a 60mm stem and the standard Salsa bars, maybe 700mm ish? They feel very narrow compared to my full sus, and on my list to go about 740mm.

You people are insane.

Or chimpanzees. Are you all chimpanzees?

Go wide. Go crazy ape. 😀

I didn’t realise you were that old

(Published 1978)

Definitely wind the Alternator Dropouts right in before making any other changes. It makes a big difference to handling.

5’11” med (18″) frame (older version), 90mm stem and 710 x-lite bars, SS and rigid – love it!

A few dings in my front rim from running a nn at about 15psi though 🙁

Well, with the dropouts wound in the tyre fouls the bottom-pull arm on the front mech. I can dremel it off but there’s hardly any clearance for the cage or the mechanism. How much clearance is typical?

And yes, I know all the cool kids are single speeding or 1x these days but that’s how it is..

Bloody big wheels, pain in the arse.

What kind of mech is it? I was running 2.25 Ardents on mine, with the dropouts as far forward as they go. You’ll get more clearance with a Direct Mount type. (in fact, I think the El Mar comes with a suitable adapter?)

Direct mount, XT. Bonty rythmn rims, which are fairly wide, with team issue 2.35s which look big due to the rims.

Just as well.the design of the dropout lets you set it further back then.

The newer ones like Molgrips’ have shorter chainstay than previous years so clerance might be tighter.

Can’t say it’s an improvement or not but its enough to feel different.

Needs a 29+ front wheel in that does.
Yes.

A what?

2nd ^^^ 29+ front wheel will look fab and mors comfort

Wtf is a 29+ front wheel? Big tyre or what?

29+ is like a Krampus or ECR. A 3″ tyre on a wide rim. Probably not what you’re looking for at all.

No 🙂

The bike is meant to be a hybrid on/off road thing, so there are compromises in terms of off-road behaviour – e.g the bars. So I don’t want a 3″ tyre on it. I have a FS for full on off-road 🙂

Fleegle pro is better than the flat bar. Same width though more or less.

Ergon grips go well with it.

Mary bars in my commuter, gives a nice position. Can’t get on with being too low at the front, so put a stupidly high stem in it.

If it’s mostly road/tracks etc, I’d consider full guards. They just make the whole thing more enjoyable if it’s very wet.

Make it 1×10/9 ditch the front mech & stick the wheel as far forward as you like (u’d have saved the cost of the mech too)

Why make it 1×9? Mech ws only £18.99