Tag Archives: nitto

Hunqapillar Harlequin Drops

06 Tuesday Nov 2012

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Finishing the diamondsCompleted right sideTwo sectionsWorking the leftLower leftLeft complete
Cockpit viewFront viewGetting ready for shellacOne coat finished

Hunqapillar Harlequin Drops, a set on Flickr.

This was my latest bar work. After a recent fit, I decided to set up both of my main rides with similar cockpits and dimensions to minimize bodily pain.  I’ve also been slowly beginning to favor drop bars.  I did a dual harlequin wrap on Nitto 42cm Noodles putting the diamonds on the straight parts. This keeps them well-shaped and avoids the warped diamonds you get on curves. I used Newbaums Maroon and Yellow with amber shellac finish (three coats). I also video taped some of the wrap work and hope to edit an post my first video blog soon.

Bosco Bars

02 Thursday Aug 2012

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Homer-1.jpgHomer-2.jpgHomer-3.jpg

Bosco, a set on Flickr.

I’ve added a new bar to the mix. This went on a bike it was seemingly designed for. I have an ’88 Miyata mountain bike that is long and low, and was built as a downhill racing bike for the mighty Greg Herbold. I had used Nitto Albatross bars on it for a few years, and they were almost perfect, but I felt that I couldn’t get low enough as I used a “dirt drop” stem to get them up high enough for upright commute duty. The Grant Petersen designed Boscos do a great job of giving two extreme positions that is really the beauty of a good drop bar. If I hold the flat center position, I get a stretched out, low profile, and If I want upright, the swept back portion is high and mighty long. So far, so good.

Two considerations in going with this bar. I put a 13 cm stem on it to get it far enough forward so the back of the bars don’t impale my legs. It also helps stretch me out. I also had to really crank the stem down on the bar to keep it from moving. This bar has some serious leverage!

Rack Mounting Variation

29 Sunday Apr 2012

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Original PlatRack

This is a picture of how I had originally mounted my front Rivendell/Nitto PlatRack on my bike.  I have always liked having the larger platform of the Platrack on my AHH, but disliked the long struts that stretch down to the fender mounts by the axle.  I had removed the rack for the rando season a few months back, but have wanted to put it back on a few times, because it is so handy to have the extra load surface when commuting.

I have had an idea to do an alternate strut configuration rolling around in my head for the past few months, and finally decided to take action.

Multiple Bends Needed

After watching one of the Rivendell videos on mounting a rear rack where they bend the struts with a couple of good hammer whacks, I was inspired.  I bent and shortened the long struts to join at the mid fork braze-on where the other struts from the Mark’s Rack join.

Both Struts Now Attach Here

It is likely “not quite” as strong, and I’m sure it’s a warranty voider in Grant and Nitto’s eyes, but I don’t carry much more than 10 lbs on the front.  In any case, it feels solid as a rock to me.

View from the Front

Because of the imperfect hammer-bending technique I employed, I found that the fender line needed a bit of work after the first mount try.  I loosened up the strut screws where they met the Marks and Plat Racks, and try to cold bend it into the proper position to get better alignment and keep the whole assembly as non-stressed as I could make it.  I also took the opportunity to move the Edelux light to the hole that was off-center.  This will move it out of the line of spray if I’m in rain and there is water coming off the front of the tire.

Showing the New Top Bend

I’ve now ridden with this setup on numerous commutes and a 20 miler.  I also removed the saddlebag and went with just a front rando bag with the tools consolidated.  My Acorn is stable and rides on the rack well, even though it is a smaller footprint.  The bike has been stable for no-handed riding, and with less weight on the saddle, it seems to have less speed wobble with this setup.  I also feel like I get more active suspension from this setup, as it leaves the front fork’s lower half free of additional struts.

Final Shortened Bent Strut

If you have thought about trying something like this, I would encourage it.  It was a simple procedure that just required a mallet, hacksaw (for trimming the longer strut down to size), and some patience.  I basically eyeballed the bend on one side, and tried to do the second strut in the same angles.  It took a total of an hour or so to get what I wanted.

 

New Bars, New Wrap

13 Monday Feb 2012

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I’m starting to do randonneuring this year, and had some hand numbness with the Porteur bars on my last Populaire 100k.  While I could probably tweak the angle a bit and suck it up, I sense that I may be in the minority with these bars on the longer rides, and there may be logic behind everyone else using drops.  That said, I’ve had my problems with drops in the past, having tried 46cm Nitto Noodles, and 45cm Nitto Randonneurs with little love.

Old setup with Nitto Noodles and Dirt Drop

As I have a bit of bike ADD, I had an old Nitto bar that came off my mom’s 80’s Soma (old Japanese brand, not new San Fran brand) road bike.  I cleaned them up with a bit of the Simichrome, and they looked so nice, I just had to try them.  They are significantly thinner than the other drops, at 39cm.

Nitto B115 Olympiade from the 1980's

I did a bit of comparing the feel of these bars with the Randonneurs I still had on hand, and I liked the way they felt.  Hard to describe, but smaller, better fit with my smallish hands, and shorter reach.  The drop is similar, but without the flare out.  I figured I had to try it out on a longer ride.  I am partial to traditional stems, but I knew that one of the issues I have had with drops is the lack of a “sit up” position.  This made a short stem critical.  As these bars are 25.4mm centers, my Nitto Periscopa stem gave me both a short reach, and sufficient rise to get a 2cm positive height above my saddle without looking like I have 8 feet of stem.  It definitely still looks a bit odd, but less so than my past experiment with Noodles on a 10cm Dirt Drop stem.

Bars on Periscopa stem

I also wanted a more subtle wrap that would still match my saddle, have the harlequin diamond pattern I love, but not stand out.  The copper and silver on this bike already makes it look a bit on  the showy side, so a nice green was what I was aiming for.  I used blue and green Newbaums cloth tape with two coats of amber shellac.  This matches the seat well, and should come out a bit over time as the shellac wears off.

Harlequin blue/green diamonds barely visible on top

A few long rides scheduled over the next few weeks will tell me if this is the setup for the year.  My 17 mile round trip commute test passed the bars with flying colors.  I love the narrower feel that makes me seem a bit more aerodynamic.  I also like the upright fit of the bar height, but the deep drop lets me get into the power zone when I need to push.  I had to lock up the brakes as I was following someone who had to do a quick stop on a downhill when a car pulled out in front of her.  Did this easily from the hoods.  It gave me tons of trust in the Suntour Superbe and Silver Sidepull with salmon pads I’ve been using.  Who says old stuff doesn’t perform?  Idjits…

New Rando Setup