Most Cyclists HATE This Handlebar
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2022
- Review of the Rivendell Albastache.
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This would likely match well with the old-school Dia Compe levers that are so long they are basically motorcycle brake levers.
I've ridden with both the Albastache and the Moustache and enjoy the combination of upright, sweep back, and a bit of aero in front. The analogy of the extended hoods is spot on. Thanks Russ for showing us alternatives to the usual 👍🏻
It is all about comfort. Ask your hands, bum or feet if they are happy with your setup. It is riders like Russ who make you think about what is right for you.
This video is a great example of why I love your channel Russ. While you have content that really would appeal to a wider range of people that ride bikes than many of the road channels, sometimes you really geek out(huge compliment!!) on some things you are passionate about. Another example is why I started following you in the beginning, your views on how most bikes are over geared for most riders and all the extreme mullet/cave a bad idea, approaches you tried to try to get some realistic gearing.
Thanks!
Thanks Russ for exploring those things no one else does. As someone also with hand problems I value your efforts and explanations. I also have about 8 handlebars besides those on bikes as I travel a simplistic path. Keep up the efforts!
Love mustache bars! I'd love to see these redesigned for mtb/gravel application. Wider, more flare, more better!
Your enthusiasm to ‘get the spanners out’ and change things around never ceases to amaze me Russ 😊
Vintage MTB back then taught me how useful bar ends are and since then straight bars always have seemed to me limiting. After I repurchased vintage MTB and refitted bar ends for proper hand position, I also got fed up with risers on FG and replaced with moustache bars. Happy hands mean happy ride!
Thanks Russ. Been waiting for this review for a while now!! Thinking about getting a Rivendell and an Albastache bar. Love your content!
Yes....this makes so much sense to me. This is exactly the setup I need.
Always enjoyed this handlebar. There are so many hand postions to choose from. I have road brake levers on mine. I might have to try possibly a smaller or mountain bike lever. I am running suntour bar end shifters. Your right about running a handlebar bag. I usually run longer straps to wrap the front bag if that helps. Happy trails and keep on trucking. 👍🏼🚲
Hi Russ! I just got back from the Riv shop with my Albastache and saw this suggested in my feed. Fate! As a fellow painter, film+edit cyclist that struggles with hand/wrist pain, I had many of the same reasons for picking one up (through some equally helpful guidance from our mutual friend, Manny). Your insights here are both helpful and validating. I'll probably be making similar adjustments to the brake type and positioning, as I only have road brifters from the drop bars to start with. At any rate, thanks for all you do. Can't wait to try out the new setup on a future pedal & paint!
Had these on my cross check light tourer for years before switching out to Jones. Had a front rack with basket/bag so it worked out well. I swapped because I wanted something that felt less straight back and opted for the 45 backsweep of the Jones. I definitely preferred the aesthetic of this bar though. All in all, I’d try it again.
Thanks for making this channel, it is by far my favourite bike channel. I was getting bored of those channels that constantly review expensive road bikes I could never afford or those with a heavy bias towards racing. I just wanna ride a bike and enjoy without spending thousands or pushing it to the limit. Just as biking was intended i suspect.
I dig my albastache bars for my old Raleigh International, however, I flipped them so they sweep up. It’s not how they’re intended to be set up, but it works in my case. Nice video!
It’s nice to have options. I switch my bars frequently between drops and various “alt”bars, depending upon where and what terrain I’m riding.
I love the Jones H-bar with the 2 in rise for the same kind of reasons, but there were no diameter issues for the stem and brakes.
Got the Satori Noirette Classic bars recently and they seem to have a similar shape to these bars with more standard clamping surfaces with 31.8mm stem and 22.2mm brake lever size. Got some for an old hybrid bike I had and they worked great. Had to redo all the cabling though because they required much longer cables than the old flat bars I had.
Like it, I’ve been riding mustache bars on my single speed for 10 years. It’s a great natural feeling set up, and looks cool for sure.
I ran the mustache bars on my gunnar for years with road levers and bar end shifting. I loved them!
I've been running the Soma Sparrow 25.4/560mm on my gravel bike since 2016. Not as much sweep and a little more drop. I run it with LX V-brake levers and Microshift Advent paddle shifter and dropper post lever. I love alt bars.
Thanks Russ. This is helpful. I ride a 1989 Bridgestone MB-2 with drop bars but find myself always on the hoods and rarely on the drops (honestly prob once a month if that, when it’s real windy). I’m gonna check these out.
That's a really good looking configuration! I ran Nitto Moustache bars for a long time and loved them, and was thinking of throwing some back on recently. This looks very intriguing. Then again, I also recently grabbed some VO Granola Bars, and have yet to try them out. Decisions, decisions...
Interesting bars. Love that you continue to explore biking options to the usual. Like MicroShift products. I had never heard of them but now I see them bikes.
I have mustache bars sitting in a box. Seemed like a good idea but no sweep back which meant a low and forward position. These new bars remedy that shortcoming.
I'm developing arthritis in my fingers and simple bars with flat bar brake levels make more sense. I'll look into these. Thanks again.
I’ve been riding the original Moustache bar in the standard configuration with road levers for going on 20 years. I use the original Nitto Dirt Drop stem which places the bars relatively close and high, which I think is a must for these types of bars.
Looks a lot like the bars I had on the Dutch style bike I rode to/from high school. 14 km and a head wind both ways! 😂 Most importantly, you can lie down on them with the elbows approximately over the end of the bar. Sooo comfy ❤️
I run an upside down drop bar with brakes on my town bike. Works really well and puts my hands and body in such a nice position .
Thanks for another review of interesting bike components. I’ve toyed with the idea of an albatross bar and a moustache bar, but never acted on it
I had a moustache bar on my touring bike for a year or two about 10 years ago, but using road levers in the Petersen style. Eventually I went back to road bars in 46cm (as wide as you could get back then), which is where I’ve remained. The mo bars I found great for very cruisey rides, say a rail trail. But overall fewer useful positions than a road bar.
I have the same issues with straight bars as you described. I've found bullhorn bars work for me but these look promising too.
This handlebar looks very much like the « Helvetia » handlebar which came standard on the 1977 Peugeot PR 65 « Lady » renamed PK65 in 1979.
PK-PR with their 4 Reynolds 531 tubes were extremely desirable (and expensive) bikes which many fast, long distance randonneuses, as in female backpackers, loved.
The Rivendell Sackville Banana sack bag fits perfectly on this bar. Even set up the traditional way.
It makes good sense to place the break leavers where you have them
I rode mustache bars on my XO-1 for 22 years and Albastash's on my Atlantis and my Polyvalent. You can get a Nitto Technomic stem with proper clamp size.
As for the brake levers, a road lever really is best and will yield the most different hand positions. The trickiest part for most people is getting the proper road lever. I've found the Tektro levers are a great choice, but because of the flare, to get them to work properly you need to swap the lever in the lever bodies so that the cable housings exits underneath the bar and the end of the lever points down instead of up!
With the levers positioned properly you can access the brakes from 3 of the 5ish hand positions.
Glad you got something that works for you, I'm just concerned the video might be misleading and put people off these great bars.
Kudos for digging them. I really wanted to but they gave me the weirdest nerve twinges in the hands. But man, hill climbing was a blast.
I tried a set of Origin8 Tiki moustache bars for a few months and just couldn't get comfortable on them. I figured it would be a cheap way to give moustache bars a try, and I'm glad I didn't sink more money into the bars.
Went back to shallow drop ergo drop bars and have been happy since.
Those bars are actually pretty dope and I kind of want a set now for my fixed gear.
Russ, you do find the weirdest and coolest options out there!
I've using my 90s mtb with the bar end horns in the middle, it just feel so comfy, it looks weird but comfy
I own a Nitto Moustache handlebar and it is currently installed on a vintage steel road bike of mine. I absolutely love them. The shifters on that bike are on the downtube so there's no issue there and I found the "sweet spot" in which to install the brake levers. I'm not saying I'd change all of my bikes over, but I do love me a moustache.
Didi a similar handlebars try and love all the pros! thanks
I always thought the Moustache bar looked really awkward and like the brakes aren't positioned to be able to use them efficiently. In general I'm not really into trying to use road-style brakes on anything other than drop bars. Haven't ever used one though....
This looked really cool for a retro-style build. I much prefer your method of using flat-bar brake levers.
I use the whisky Winston bar, similar concept! I love it
I like it, Russ, and I still like bar ends, too, nothing wrong with a flat bar with bar ends on a climb out of the saddle at a severe party pace.
I like my bars like I like my hills: flat. Great content as always Russ!
I would say it's like really long ramps more than hoods but both give a good impression of the riding position. I do use the ramps a lot. I like the slight different angle that having both usable ramps and hoods offer (ramps road parallel with hoods slightly up) but I ride more aggressive gong down hill (legacy of old school BMX riding). I tried a shallow drop fixed gear bar from 1/8 for a while (it was a mix of moustache and drop bar is shape) it was very comfortable but after 2 year I went back to using rando bars.
A friend use to have a late 80's Bridgestone road bike with a set of "Mustache" bars, actually quite comfy
If you didn’t have the bar end shifters, bar end brake levers are great on bars like that
Thanks for this video. I have bikes with both mustache and albatross, love both of those bars. But I was unsure about this combo of the two... Why would I choose this over the Albatross, for example? Or over the mustache? Is it closer to the Albatross in terms of upright position, or closer to the mustache?
I've also had issues with wrist pain on regular flat bars. I did try to use the Nitto Nordeast bar on my MTB, as would have gotten more backsweep without having to swap the stem too. However the bar is very narrow, and had no room to accommodate the Gripshifts that the bike had. For now, I'm just running a riser bar that I found in my parts bin. I find that it's important to have a bit of upsweep with flatbars too. Sometimes a rotation of a 1/2 a degree where it clamps to the stem can make a difference of pain vs no pain. I find that I have the fewest problems using the drop bars on my gravel bike.
We need more videos on nerding out on alterative handle bars. It sounds funny but it is true. I keep looking at Mustache bars and as much as I want to like them, my hands have to be forward to brake. Your take on these Abastache bars sounds good. At $115, I would never spend that type of money, but you have me thinking. I have straight bars on my vintage bike that I am not loving and these might be the answer. And here, for me, the 1" (25.4mm) clamp area is a good fit for me. I have also been thinking about North Road bars, but I like having more of a bent posture like my hands are on the hoods, since that is where they are most of the time. By the way, I like your shirt also. Good video for us bike nerds. Now I have to make more to spend more.
more sweep is fun, i got a fixed gear cruiser with full beach style bars running a front disc brake that i love to mountain bike. other than sometimes when climbing feeling like im in-between the bars with some occasional contact on the ribs. the relaxed grip angle has changed my mind on the shape that ive traditionally run. the extra leverage that more sweep offers can cause bar slip but its a strange combination of a bike anyway and a little loctite under the stem faceplate and a quality stem have pretty much limited this issue.
didn't try albstache, but tried the nitto all-rounder which is like which is like a smaller version of a albastachexalbatross, and its nice on some type of bikes for a more straight riding position
Looks totally comfortable to me,as well as a very retro cool vibe!which is important! I just need theRiv to go along with bars!🤣😉👌
You are slowly getting closer and closer to my beloved butterfly bars.
Would be able to skirt the drop/stem height issue by flipping them upside down? Or would you end up with a funky/weird curve at the gripping zone?
I don’t know it kind of reminds me of how I position my hands on the drops when I’m riding the Topstone since the drops sweep out slightly. I would practically grab the ends of the handlebars. It is a very comfortable position at least for me on long stretches of road and I’m just casually riding along relaxing my arms. I suffer the same wrist pain when started out riding hybrid bikes. The first time I rode a gravel bike I fell in love with the hood position. Your setup reminds my an awful lot of those old European style bicycles I see the Amish riding.
Thanks for getting into this. I also have major wrist issues and have tried 5 or 6 handlebars on my bikes over the past 6 months. I like fully swept back bars but don't enjoy being so upright and so far behind the steering axis. With my rivendell tosco I am running a 120 mm stem. The albastache looks like a great option. I'll probably fit one of my bikes with it in the near future.
Obviously what works for one person(or one wrist!) won't necessarily work for another but...my wrist issues have been effectively eliminated(I still have arthritis! but cycling doesn't aggravate it) by a combination of narrower bars and a slight inward angle to the hoods. If you lean forward and let your arms dangle loosely you can see how far apart and at what angle your hands want to sit. I'm 1.89,about 85kg&broad shouldered, but I now ride a 40cm bar on the road &a 42 on gravel. That, plus turning the brake hoods a few degrees in works for me. Of course I might just be some kind of freak....
@@davebolger3929 yeah that's true. I love tinkering with my bike but when it comes to my hands it's been frustrating trying out all these different set up (not to mention the cost of parts and difficulty acquiring them in Canada).
I have some Moustache bars and they effectively have no hoods because of the brake lever position. I am still experimenting with the arrangement and at the moment I have them inverted so they rise from the stem rather than drop. I think your brake levers are a good call.
Dig the whole set up👍
I'm trying a Jones Bar with Paul levers on my Evasion. Wanting to be madly in love with it but so far just like it enough not to change it out. Seems the Alt-Bar rabbit hole is pretty deep, hah
I feel like your hand position for your brakes may be quite similar to where I end up on my Corner Bar on my Ogre with my brake lever. I positioned my brakes and shifter differently than where I see most Corner Bar setups so that my hands are usually in the “drop” area as I feel most stable in that position on descents. Nice review and agree that it would be fun to have this setup on a Riv. Now to make some room in the garage…
when do we start taking road drop bars and installing them upside down? or rotating them 180' a'la the 70s?
Great review, thanks:)!! Very cool bars!
This has probably come up but have you tried inner bar-ends (SQlqbs or Spiregrips)? I love them. I’m using them on a full hardtail Mtb with 740mm bars and on my town bike with swept bars. I use spiregrips (as cheap on eBay) and my girlfriend uses SQlabs (and is also evangelical about them). They give a hoods-like position but with more support for the outer heel of your hand (which really helps with my painful thumb-joints) and access to flat bar width when you need it.
I love thinking outside the box and experimenting. On my road bike in an aggressive setup, I use steel child's handlebars upside down using shims to mount the brakes and shifters at the right place and angle. This is close to what racers used 100 years ago. The vertical tilt is critical. The rest of the setup I cannot reveal yet. Thanks for great vids.
Let's see it when it's done!
Years ago I bought a Schwinn Continental. Another bike at that time, the Bridgestone had Mustache handlebars. You don't see them around these days.
Have the moustache nitro with nitro stem Really like but speed suffers when in wind. End shifters are the best with this set up. My frame is a Ted Wojick. Yes steel is real!
I just put one of these on my city bike in place of a drop bar to have more space for the front carrier I installed with it.
What are those shifters called, and where can I get some (ideally in Canada)?
interesting, I ride on the hoods 90% of the time (love it for climbing or if Im feeling like putting out a bit of pace) but am wanting a more relaxed position for cruising along at a more party pace, I've been mulling a drop bar with more reach (a bit wider wouldn't hurt either) combined with a shorter stem, but this looks like it could work too....
Thank you for this handelbar teaching les 🤔✌🏼
This was so helpful. I’ve been riding an Albastache on my Sam H for years, with Dura-Ace levers. Can’t agree more on all the positions and superb climbing. Your video has me scrambling to locate some Grand Cru’s. Did you try the bars with a shorter stem, ie 5-8 cm, that Riv recommends? Thanks again.
On my frame a short stem would make it more cramped than I wanted.
I like the look of that solution - I kept my hands in line by going back to drop bars - the only comfortable set up for me. But I almost never ride on the drops or the flats. 95% hoods. What I don't get is the very tall front end. Can't see your position, but that looks too upright for me - unless the bike is on the small size for you. I also think there must be a tidier answer to the cabling? The only thing wrong with those nifty solutions for your camera storage is that footage of riding includes a lot of bag shots. Lastly do you prefer bar end shifters to downtube? I'm assuming they're friction? Nice looking bike though.
Have you compared it to the Jones Loop Bar? Thank you for showing slightly unusual stuff and making me feel less weird. :)
They look fun! More sweep back the better
I bet that bar-end break levers (typically used with bullhorn handlebars) would work on this as well.
I run with Jones bars.
If you superimposed them on top would be very similar.
Love the marmite reference, Russ. 😂
Would these bars feel good with a single speed setup?
The hand position and width appears very much like a Jones bar. Jones even recommends tilting the bar down, as Russ did.
The Jones bar is much better for a front bag.
My multi-year alt-bar journey ended with the Jones H Bar Loop. I'd tried various dirt drops, moustache bars, etc, and nothing compared to the H Bar in terms of utility and comfort
I'm running some "vintage" alt bars, apparently from an old Dutch bike, but upside down to make a sort of alba-drop. I quite like them with road levers mounted so that I can use the side of the lever body as a grip position, one thing that doesn't work well is using the very end of the bars, because they sit behind the steering axis, and the fork has quite a bit of rake this makes the steering suddenly feel super twitchy, as in I move my hands 2 inches and it goes from stable to terrifying...
That's what I call informative 👩🏼🔧
If they were mine would put time trial levers in the end for brakes and thumbies for shifting
Similar idea to a flipped On One Mary bar, ie run upside down, but "only" 40 degrees of sweep....
BSA SLR INDIAN BIKE (90s)....... Was a one cycle with this like handle bar.....
I used handlebars like this to make space for a front child seat and the respective legs. I just switched back to drops but I'm sure I'll revisit these bars when they feel less... useful...
also now that I think of it. Would like to try these with bar end brake levers. would just have to get a thumbie friction shifter if the bar ends are occupied :)
I'm kinda trippin about how tall that stem is set. I love this channel for being experimental and judgment free.
Off topic, but those tires look like Cazaderos. What size did you manage to cram in there?
50
Please review the carbon Whisky Winston Mustache bars!
On a flat bar you can move the shifters in on the handle bar to match your physique. Don't cut the handle bars just move the shifters further in, this allows you to match your physique/inner shoulder width and gives more positions to move your arms around on the bar. I combine this with a 4-D stem. My 4-D stem came when I purchased my bike from Marin about 15 years ago. I rarely see 4-D stems today. Ritchie makes a nice 4-D stem you can purchase and add to the bike. The 4-D stem allows you to adjust the handle bars to almost any position or angle you need to make you comfortable. The 4-D stem also absorbs a lot of road buzz into the moving parts.
Sure. But your hand angle is fixed and like I said at the very beginning my hands don’t get along with flat bars. Width is only one part of the equation.
@@PathLessPedaledTV There is a slight backsweep to the handlebars that adjusts the wrists into a natural off-angle position. I also adjust the upward/downward position of the shifters to position my wrists so they are natural, not upturned, which would make the wrists numb. The combination of everything allows for a position that suits me, and for movement. I did all of this for comfort and to prevent soreness. I think it takes some creativity with positioning to be right for you. Allowing for some movement and softness in the arms helps.
I love those bars!
had the moustache bars on a brand new XO-1 [the purple one] and a few subsequent builds. Never lasted, I think the damming thing about them is that they're on a singularly horizontal plane. Not unlike bars on mountain bikes. Most of us need the relief of drops and a few hand positions to made riding anything other than short rides possible. Only benefit, IMHO. is when you're pulling the distant end of the road brake levers, you are getting maximum leverage, whereas pulling the brakes from a resting position, say, on the hoods, you're not really maximizing your brake system's potential. I really must have been a hard sell for Grant back in the day
This bar is totally on brand for your channel 👍
I use mustache bars on both my Rivendell Atlantis and on my IF Crown Jewel. Perfect for 75 year young cyclists who still pedal 5000 miles/year but want to drop the drops. Just say’n !
It's almost like you ended up back at the Billie Bars your bike came with, right? What are some of the benefits you've found in this set up so far?
Nope. The Billie bars shoot straight back from the stem. These place you in front of the steering axis.
It is close to my "dream bar" but needs improvement. First, as seen on your current video thumbnail, you can't grab the middle straight part fully, it must be wider so that one can grab it by full fists there. Second, I'd prefer compound curve at the point where brake levers attach, slightly going down (to allow for better posture in handholding change) and then more outward. For best visual imagery I'd call such design a "Buffalo Bar" (as in more side protruding "horns"). With such changes it would be on par or better as traditional dropbars for the multiplicity of changeable had holding and posture positions that help particularly on long and hard rides.
I actually tried a homemade version of this from my friend. Surprisingly not that bad, just don't use STI shifters like we did
What are your thoughts about Inverse Brake Levers?
I had inverse levers on my Nitto/Rivendell Albatross bars. And a friend set up his Rivendell Quickbeam up with a Mustache + inverse brake levers. What is nice about the inverse levers is that your strongest finger (index finger) has the most mechanical advantage - the opposite of traditional brake levers. It is a feeling you have to experience to understand how nice it feels.
I like these setups but typically prefer ergon rear swept grips instead of tape. I also think regular mt bike triggers work great compared to bar ends but I don't
run friction and I don't need to maintain any riv bike cred.
Like I said in the vid the diameter is 23.8 not 22.2 so mountain controls are not possible.