I’ve been using a pair of Salsa Bell Lap bars on my Fargo. Perfect for the road, double track and short even techy bits of single track. But for extended downhills I find them a compromise. I should say, I rarely red on the drops, I’m almost always on the brake hoods.
If I’m pushed to use the Fargo for a big bike packing trip, I’m torn between fitting an unknown set of Wodchippers or a tried and tested set of flat bars. The latter will mean a change of brakes too.
Are there any other types of bars that I could still use my Ultegra stis on that have a very shallow drop that will offer somewhere between the two?
I’ve got the Woodchippers on my Tripster, i previously had Bell Laps, for off road descending in the drops i honestly felt that the bell laps were a better bar as the brake levers were positioned in such a way as they were easier to grab/feather. With the Woodchippers fitted i love the way i have the brake/gear hoods slightly angled inwards to match the profile of the bars and they are extremely comfortable but when descending in the drops the flared drop position and angle of the brake lever is not the most natural postion to brake from so i’m in a quandry – should i keep the Woodchippers?, swap back to Bell laps?…..or buy the carbon Enve’s that are sitting in the shop just begging to be fitted to my Tripster, The Enve’s are very nice, i’ve used them on an Ibis Hakkalugi and they just seemed to fit various positions with ease.
I dunno if you can make it out in the pics below but the radius of the Woodchippers is rather sharp and not all that comfortable for a braking position whilst in the drops, fantastic on the hoods though and i rarely find myself braking in the drops on the road due to the disc brakes being plenty strong enough from the hoods….ofroad?…..i’d prefer to brake from the drops so i’m undecided if they’ll stay.
I find the Woodchippers excellent for touring and for off-roading. I have them set up quite a bit different to those on Somafunks lovely Tripster though.
As you can see, the top of the bars is almost parallel to the ground and they “blend” into the hoods without a dip (I find the dip uncomfortable to ride in). That, in turn, means that the lowest part of the drop is at a steeper angle. In fact, it’s roughly parallel to the down tube. I only have wee hands but, with one adjustment shim installed in the STIs, I don’t experience any difficulty in braking when in the drops.
For longer road rides. I tend to have the stem flipped to lower the bars a bit but they are otherwise at the same angle.
When I googled it before my OP this is what I found first. Cohen Bros at their finest.
Thanks for the suggestions so far. It looks like there is always going to have to be a compromise. I can see how the Woodchippers would be the perfect bar for the great divide with miles of gravel roads, but for three thousand feet of single track I may have to look elsewhere.
Yeah, i may need to play about with the bar position/lever position as i see scotroutes has his woodchipper bar tops rather level whereas i have mine slightly angled downwards…it means re-wrapping bar tape and retaping the cables to the bars which is a faff……compared to roadbikes mtb’s are so simple to set-up a suitable riding position on.
Finding a Cohen Bros reference by chance on google? = top class searching!.
Went from midges to salsa bell laps and a big improvement for me. Haven’t found too much difference on the downhills but for twisty tree stuff and loaded tours found the bell laps much more capable. Always got sore shoulders after extended road rides with the midges. Never tried the Woodchippers but they look kind of similar. Those Tripsters just look nicer every time!