Nitto Moustache Bars?

[FierteTi52]

I'm finishing up building a winter single speed / fixxe from my spare parts box and a free Schwinn hybird frame a friend gave me. I went on the maiden voyage today using a pair of drop bars cut down and flipped like tt bars. I decided I like the bike so I feel it's worth spending a few bucks to make it decent. The top tube is too long for drop bars so I'm thinking about a pair of Nitto Moustache bars. I have a pair of NOS Shimano EX600 no aero levers that would look real retro. My other choice is a pair of Nashbar TT bars.
Any sugesstions?
Jeff

[Don]

Jeff,

Both my wife and I have logged countless miles on Bridgestone cross bikes (XO-1, XO-3) equipped with Nitto mustache bars. They are exceptionally comfortable and provide numerous hand positions, unlike the typical straight bar. Grant Petersen knew what he was doing when he chose these bars! If nothing else, the bars are a conversation item!

[the walrus]

I have had the nitto moustache bars on a old bike and liked them. However my hands tended to cramp up a bit in the bend portion. Go to the Rivendell site, http://rivendellbicycles.com/webalog/handlebars_stems_tape/ and look at the albatross 54 and 56. Very nice. I rode an Independent singlespeed with a set of those bars and they looked great and felt like they should feel.

Good luck!

ps. if you want really awesome, check out www.jonesbikes.com and the H-bar. They look like they wouldn't possibly work, but I have heard great things about them.

[sjbraun]

I must disagree with those who love their mustache bars. I find that I can't find a comfortable position when my ride time exceeds 60 minutes. They're fine for commuting or on a coffee bike, but for extended riding, they don't work for me.

[dbrk]

If you go to the Bridgestone archive recently compiled by Sheldon Brown you'll find one of the early reviews of the '92 X0-1 which had the first generation moustache bars (go to sheldonbrown.com, it's easy from there). Bicycling, I believe it was, hated them. This is usually an up or down, almost never an in-betweener. Love'm or hate'm. The endurance rider John Stamstad (toughest enchilada you will ever meet on two wheels, Idabike, etc.) set a 24hr record on an X0-1 with moustache bars, so at least some folks can endure them. Personally, I love them and always have found a million happy places to put my hands. But truth to tell I'm a drop bars kinda' guy and the Nitto Randonneur still counts as the all-time favorite, they have this big flare on the bottom that makes you just smile when you get there...

I recently spent an afternoon on the ex-priest-now-albatross swept back bars and these were really swell.

dbrk

[Ray]

Add me to the list of folks who could never get comfortable for more than about 20-30 miles on moustache bars. Great for short rides, but never worked for me on longer ones. But some people love 'em, so think about the following caution:

If the top tube is "too long for drop bars", this is the wrong place to try m-bars. Rivendell's site recommends that you use a stem a few cm SHORTER than what you'd use with a drop bar. This is primarily because there's no flat portion to grab near the stem, as there is on a drop bar. The most comfortable position on a m-bar is about 3/4 of the way out toward the hook and that tends to be farther forward than the hoods on a drop bar bike. The only bike I've ever gotten remotely comfortable on m-bars for longish rides was a bike with a very short top tube and a crazy short and raised stem.

Sounds like you may want to stick with those inverted and chopped drop bars - that's what I've been riding on my fixie for years after a failed experiment with m-bars.

-Ray

[Climb01742]

nitto noodle bars have great bar top hand positions. might they be a possible alternative, even if you didn't use the drops? i find their angled bar top to be amazingly comfortable.

[FierteTi52]

Thanks for all the insight. Sounds like there are good and bad points in using the Moustache bars. One of my concerns was if it would stretch me out too far on a bike with a top tube that is too long already. The most comfortable postion on the Moustache bar look pretty far ahead of the stem.The chopped and flipped bars are fairly comfortable so I may just buy the Nashbar TT bars on sale for $19.95. I will post pictures of the Frankenbike when I finish the project.
Happy New Year,
Jeff

[dbrk]

Ray is entirely, certainly, without the slightest doubt correct: if you ride moustache bars you need less stem and shorter reach, by a long shot. If the bike is already a stretch then these are not an ideal solution.

dbrk