25.something dropbars?

[randyspann]

I recently purchased a softrider from a fellow cruzbiker. I got it for my wife. She prefers dropbars with brifters rather than the supplied twist-grip shifters. But I cannot find "wtb mountain/road" bars (I need 25.something and not 31.8" ) and I think "salza woodchipper" bars come only in 31.8. I like the width of those two bars. Any ideas?.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi Randy,
Just get a

Hi Randy,

Just get a different stem that let's you put whatever handlebars on that your wife likes.

Cheers, Charles

 

[Doug Burton]

The standard stem will accept...

25.4 (1 inch) or 26mm (slightly tight) bar center diameters.

These are a little steep, but should work well with the angled drops:

http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1347

 

[randyspann]

Stem -

- I will probably go with the stem change. First I emailed Maria to see if I can order the silvio bars separately, that would be the best solution.
And good news: Got my wife on the softrider for her first lesson, gliding without pedaling...so far so good! She's having trouble balancing, but that will come.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi Randy,
That is good news

Hi Randy,

That is good news all around. I think if people come into learning how to ride a Cruzbike with (1) this is going to be weird and different at first and (2) I'll get it eventually, then things will go well. And since her first lesson was gliding without pedaling, it looks like she's already seen Kim's videos (but if not... ).

I'm hoping to get my wife to try a Cruzbike this spring. She doesn't really know that yet, but I don't think she reads this forum...

Cheers,
Charles

 

[randyspann]

Good first lesson

- My wife suffered and teased thru my weavey learning period (saying 'that will never work'). So I have to guide her gently. Not sure just why she wants to ditch the twist-grip shifters for brifters, but what ever gets her excited and going, is ok by me. We live in very hilly/mountainous country, no flats, so shifting is constant. I remember my first road bike with brifters, something just clicked (sorry couldn't resist the pun) and I would never go back to not having brifters.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi Randy,
For what it's

Hi Randy,

For what it's worth, I didn't like the twist shifters either. I don't like them in general and I find they got in the way when I pulled up on the handlebars (meaning, I accidentally shifted gears a lot like this).

I bought a set of SRAM X.4 trigger shifters (X.4 twist shifters are the standard equipment) that I'm quite happy with, particularly given the price. It's worth mentioning them to your wife. But when she looks and says she wants brifters, get her brifters.

FWIW, I've never used brifters (as I've never ridden a rode bike made in this millenium) although I'm pretty sure I'd like them more than twist shifters.

Cheers,
Charles

 

[ak-tux]

@cplager, I have used , twist

@cplager, I have used , twist shifters, trigger shifters and on my DF road bike, Shimano Sora brifters. I can say that personally I find the brifters to shift the best, probably because they are of better quality than the twist and trigger ones that I could afford. But once you get used to some good quality brifters, it's hard to like anything else

I would say trigger shifters and brifters feel more "natural" to me than twist shifters. For me, twist shifters interfere with the grip and it's more likely to over-shift or shift by mistake when pullling hard on the handlebars.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi Ak-Tux and everybody,
I

Hi Ak-Tux and everybody,

I completely agree about twist shifters. I know they are popular on recumbents in general, but I think they're poorly suited for MBB as we often really yank on those handlebars.

Here's what I really like about trigger shifters and that I don't have any experience on for brifters:

When I drop into my granny gear (my triple is 48-38-22), the difference between my middle ring and granny is large. So I need to simultaneously move the rear derailleur up 3 gears when I shift into the granny ( i.e. , I go from 2 on the crankset, 1 on the cassette to 1 on the crankset, 4 on the cassette).

With trigger shifters, this is easy ( plink-plinkPLONK-plink ) where plink is me shifting the rear derailleur and PLONK is me shifting the front (these are the sounds that it makes ).

How easy is it to do an exact multiple shift on brifters? (Meaning, shift exactly 3 gears, not 2 and not 4)?

Again, I've never used brifters. If one can do it (with practice), then I think brifters are a great choice. If not, well, then, I'll be even more glad I got trigger shifters.

Cheers,
Charles

p.s. I'll also admit I got the cheaper trigger shifters because the more expensive ones don't have the gear indicators. And since the spacing between gears is not uniform ( e.g., moving between 5 and 6 is a bigger leap than 4 and 5), I like knowing what gear I'm in.

 

[randyspann]

Gary Origen 8 bars

I received advise from Maria - Gary Origen 8 bars. So I ordered them, reasonable price too, $31.99. My wife is a strong climber (she challenges me up the hill), so hopefully these bars will make her fly on the rest!