Sunday, March 30, 2008

New handlebars

I just parked at Steve's. I rode over on the City Bike which just got new handlebars less than an hour ago. They're not the Wald ones I was considering - they're big steel take-offs from a Nirve cruiser. They're like northroad handlebars run amok with size. Same shape - just huge and cruiser-y. They're kinda fun and give me a super upright position, but I think they might be going too far. I'll ride around a little bit before making a decision, but I have a feeling that these handlebars won't make the final cut. That means that you probably won't read about me riding through Quebec with them. That's how I'm judging bike parts now. I'm deciding whether I want to use them for my upcoming trip. The xtracycle is extremely tempting, but maybe not so easy to get on a bus. I'm going for normal and minimalist. So which handlebars? I might try the Wald bars I was considering. At this point I think it's likely that I'll use the alloy northroad handlebars that I had drilled out to accept bar end shifters. They were modified by Mark at Bikesmith Design. He makes tools for working on three speeds, and he works from home. It would be nice to have a setup that I liked so much that I wouldn't want to change a thing. The perfect bike. I'm close with the City Bike.

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