M_V's multitude of bikes and adventures in the land of framebuilding

Nice.

Was getting v jelly when I noticed some of the houses with gardens that basically disappear into the loch and they had kayaks just sitting in the garden ready to slip into the water. I'm currently pining over kayaks and the like but not having a car means it's unlikely to happen in the near future :(

Just picked up a set of Humpert bugle bars off eBay.

Total cost £14 so I can give em a bash with the hacksaw without too much worry.

You gonna make some H-bars? I'm intrigued as to how useful the 'extensions' are.. would they make a randonneur impossible?

would they make a randonneur impossible?

Not sure I understand. You mean a bar bag or something? Imagine that'd be impossible yeah but not something I want anyway.

I'm going to put the (thumb) shifter at leas on the extension. I'll probably try and tape the bars rather than use grips so I can tape the extensions.

sorry, the word 'bag' was omitted.. that sounds great with the thumbies on the ends.

I think the extensions will make for a good place to attach a drybag as a handlebar bag actually. Will need to try once I have them in hand.

I've ridden the Alfine 11 for a long time, they're great and reliable, but have an oddly disconnected feel from the rear wheel, also they're quite back-heavy, not really a problem, just felt like a tiny panniers on the rear.

@Smallfurry have the Nuvinci hubs on his hybrid, so worth asking his opinion on this.

Was going to message him but just had a read at the end of his fat and long bike thread and think he has answered any questions I could ask of him there.

My Sachs hubbed bike feels different to my other, non igh hubbed bikes but I dont think I really see that as a negative so I'm pretty sure I could live with the way a Nuvinci would feel. I think it'll be a wee while till I have enough spare £££ to buy one anyway though.

Haven't got my loop bars yet so just using those swept back bars I already had just now.

Does it look like 'too much' seatpost extension above?

There's about 130mm inside the frame, including the min insert mark. Post is about 370mm long so 240mmish extension.

Frame fits good otherwise so reluctant to go looking for something else.

No such thing. 13cm is loads. It's not a featherweight post or anything...

Looks perfectly normal for a mountain bike.

Cool, I guess if anything it's just a bit 'jey'!

Looks awesome. How do you like the rack so far?

It's awesome.

Pretty versatile, only thing I can say it'd benefit from would be a wider platform on top but given its modular design something (even DIY/bodge) could probably be done.

I've had it on 3 bikes/forks now and each time I've set it up it's been a bit if a faff but that's only coz I've had to adjust the arms going to the brake mounts. Glad I didn't trim them after I first mounted it btw.

So my cheapo loop bars...

Similar shape to current bars, very slightly wider.

Mounted in stem, plenty room for hands in the loop, tape to mark where I was going to cut.

I tried weighting the bars after making the first cut - when the cut ends were very close and deflection would have been most noticeable - and I didn't see anything that worried me so went ahead and chopped more out. Probably took just over an inch out of the front of them.

Which it turns out was a bit pointless as mounting the thumbshifter on the 'extension' put it too far away from the grip to be useful.

I tried sliding bar ends onto the extensions to make a pseudo aero bar type thing but with nowhere to put my elbows/forearms I seemed to succeed only in creating an uncomfortable position.

My hands fit fine on the extensions, even with the trimming though so I'm going to persevere with the bars.

In other news, I also received an Ortlieb seat pack from eBay today and I'm very happy with it.

Thanks for sharing all this. Your experimenting is saving others from making the same mistakes :)

Those Ortliebs are great, I've got one. Thinking of getting one of these too. edit: but just noticed the price.. maybe not!

Haha, makes it sound like I'm fucking everything up!

Seriously though, I enjoy tinkering just as much as riding and I'm happy to share.

I have one of those ortliebs and im never confident it will stay put off road. Would be keen to hear your thoughts.

They do! I use mine on my Cannondale alot and its not going anywhere! The fitting is particularly solid.

Done a proper ride with the bars now and they are good. I used the extensions a wee bit when mashing along the road, they're too narrow to go near them off road though.

Only problem is something has a horrible death creak. I'm hoping its the stem but well see when I get home. Maybe I've convinced myself I need some Jones'!

Ok well I just looked at the price of Jones bars and that'll no be happening! Might not be expensive to some people but way out of my budget!

Freshtripe has a rather bonkers looking bar, the VO Caseys Crazy bars or something. Only 40 odd bucks and 25.4 clamp too - I'm morally opposed to 31.8.

Wut wuuuut! Flipping ace mate! Shit's getting real over here with all the chopping and clamping. I love the idea of the extensions. I do find above a certain speed, I'm more included to TT the bars just so pedaling gets smoother. You finding any new positions are available with regards to mileage?
As in, the bars are great, but after 50 or so miles, I start to grab the bars more inwards.
How your hands fit with space left over is beyond me though. Beautifully delicate set of mitts you have there!

I looked at the crazy bars but the sweep is a bit much..

I kind of wrap my thumb around the end rather than underneath as you would on a regular handlebar grip section if you know what I mean.

I too tend to do the TT thing with my hands in at the stem on other bars, with these the extensions I feel I have a bit more control than just holding in at the stem.

I find sometimes with flat bars that my wrist sort of drops a bit and can get a bit achey, normally I have to pivot my hand round and extend the wrist in the other direction to sort it and then try and consciously keep my wrist in a better position. With my hand on the extension of these though I was feeling like the cross section (going through the stem) was affording me a bit of extra support which was nice.

I played around with other bars and other stems and it was the stem not the bars that were creaking so that means I'm in less of a rush to find Jones' or another alternative so that's good.