ojwithbikes

As a 411 owner, would suggest the chonkier 410, they are OK to rest on but the hollow shape means they are not nice to grip.

Ideally try some out first..

@Tijmen @spinnnout hmm sheeeiiiiiiit yeah the reviews did look divisive; either absolute love or absolute hate. I got suckered in by the interfacing for minimal bar clutter. Now reassessing my decisions

somebody ordered purple ergons on a flat bar Kepler?

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tres elegant

Ooh don’t lean that there…

I got suckered in by the interfacing for minimal bar clutter.

I managed to spare myself this conundrum by getting the carbon bar ends.

very gently 😅

full disclaimer, I didn't get on with the flat bars and switched back to drops after a few months.
I enjoyed the setup with flat bars and the Microshift thumbies, but on rides over 10k I was getting numbness in my poor lil pinkies.
I bought a pair of inner bar ends as well, but they didn't play nice with the shifters.

OH you got it like THAT huh

ah fair enough, I’m really loving the flat bars and it’s honestly not sooo terribly uncomfortable, I mean I’ve ridden it for no longer than 70km yet and the lack of other hand positions started to become a bit uncomfortable towards the end.

Plus the way I see it is, I ride a gravel bike because riding off road is fun, and for me, having wider flats/risers makes off road sections that much more exciting. The road that gets me from off road section to off road section is just means to end. I’d rather make the good bit better, if that makes sense.

Also dunno if you know, the second version of SQlab inner bar ends have a narrower clamping area than the previous iteration, specifically to combat them not being compatible with certain brake/shifter setups

In other news, my road bike listed a few pages back is for sale on the classifieds (:

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/396212/#comment17381777

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Roglic winning his first road race on a borrowed MTB

yeah, I get you.
I did like the flat bars on mine, just unfortunately didn't get on with them.
I ride it pretty much every day on a 40k round trip commute and one of the things I really missed was the ability to get on the drops when there's a strong headwind.

I bought a pair of retro x-lite stubbies to use as inners. the sqlabs are probably a better shout though.

I've still got all the bits in case I want to go back to flats, maybe on another build.

I got suckered in by the interfacing for minimal bar clutter. Now reassessing my decisions

Took the bouncy out last night, has reminded me that the Death Grips have to go... Also on the fence about minimal clutter (maybe sqlab x70) or probably the sensible option, ergon GA3. My issue might be the shift/brake integration, can't find a rotation where fingers (braking) and thumbs (shifting) are happy.

Will try and patiently await your review...

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ah such a sick bike, very jel.

and yeah don’t sweat it I will eventually have a comprehensive review. I think I currently have the bar ends, GA3s, and 711 grips on the way to me haha 😬

What fork is that on the pink bike?
And do you have any idea on what the total weight of the bike is?

V1 brother Kepler alloy/carbon fork

Literally no idea

question for those following:

what’s a good solution for bar bag support?

Restrap’s bumper thing is a bit ugly.

Carradice make that thing that clamps onto the bars which also isn’t that nice, Jack the Bike rack has a kind similar design in how it clamps to the bars either side of the stem. I know nitpicking the agricultural style of those clamping systems seems dumb as you can’t actually see it when looking at a bike with one on AND with a big bag on the support that covers all the gubbins up. BUT I would be able to see it whilst riding and that’s enough

Ballern made those ‘Sexy Racks’ which look pretty ideal but might have to be a custom made-to-order thing at this point and they’re pretty spenny.

Any other things out there of a similar ilk?

jackrack

Jack Rack I agree, it's whimsical instead of plain ugly. Have heard about quite a couple of those Sexy Racks failing.

@Maj @Tijmen hmm okay duly noted, thanks for that.

If the verdict is Jack Rack perhaps I’ll just get a bagman and whack the bag on the back and stick with a small bagel bag on front. I dig the look of the bagman anyhow. I just already own an Ortlieb seat pack thingy so in my head the seatpost luggage area was already taken up - but those things don’t possess the right vibes anyway I guess

Restrap’s bumper thing is a bit ugly.

It is a bit, but it does work very well and isn't noticeable when you're using it.

It's also bendable (a bit) so you can get it where you want it.

I'd say Jack racks look uglier IMO.

yeah i do kinda agree on that last point tbf.

I’ll mull it over, haven’t actually bought a big enough bar bag yet so no big rush

Okie dokie so here’s a little update on my grip/alt-hand position quest:

I’ve had the Ergon GA3s for over a week and was gassed by how much more comfortable they were than the ourys that i immediately cancelled the SQlab grips as i didn’t think they could beat em. Plus, the purple looks great.

After maybe a couple of weeks I just today got the 411 bar ends delivered, 3 peaks took a while getting some from their distributor/warehouse I think. Anyway, just rode around the street to fettle with the positioning. I started with them a bit more flat/downward but this upward tilt is proving more comfy tho a bit more dorky looking. Can’t tell if I think the dorky horn looking things are whimsical and cute or just silly. Leaning towards the former.

Oh and I swapped saddle for the Specialized Power Arc from the regular the Power as I had taken it from my road bike, just to see what its sayin. Needs a tilt downward slightly but actually feels a lot nicer already. I had no problems with the regular Power before my job/weather/life-induced hiatus from bicycles, but it hasn’t be quite as perfect since getting back on la biek.

bonus pic of some accidental pink and black matching being taken too far

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If there's one thing I hope the next EU election / Starmer will sort out it's mandatory rack compatibility on "gravel" forks.

New cockpit looks great, I think mine are at a far dorkier angle.