neo_pop_71

Life got busy again, I had to shelve the project for a day. Today before I started sanding I played around with the handlebars again, plenty of options with pros and cons. I think I've addressed all my picky wants and the winner is... SOMA Sparrow. I like the fact that the Sparrow has a shallow drop, isn't too wide (I opted for the 52 instead of the 56), and has a tight center grip area for commuting into the wind. I also dig having the option of going from a drop bar to a "Townie" set up just by flipping the bar over. Unlike a number of very nice conversions in this thread, I'm running thumb shifters instead of Barcons. I've never been a fan of bar end shifters, I've tried them on a couple different builds but they just don't do it for me. I've had a set of XT thumb shifters sitting around for a couple years so it's nice to finally get to put them to use. I went with an old faithful when it came to the brake levers, it's hard to beat Dia-Compe "Batwing" levers. These levers are unique in the fact that they can be adjusted for reach, cable stretch, and spring tension... plus their bizarre look is cool!