swampyankee2

Pondering upgrades to the Robin Hood Lenton Sports. Its currently equipped with the OE steel drop bars. Since its more of a tourer than racer, I'm considering different bars. Moustache bars seem to be an interesting halfway between North Road and drop bars. But I've read they look better than they work, ergonomically.
Anyone have experience - good or bad - with them?

GhostRider62

They allow a more upright position, which for some like me is far more ergonometric.

They have fewer hand positions (three is what I get). This is not much of an issue to me but others complain about that.

easyupbug 

Now in my 70s I am going more upright and through a lot of bar and saddle changes. Moustache bars worked on a short ride grocery getter but not on a long ride for the reason above, my hands wanted more hand positions.

steine13

Here is my experience with the moustache -- it wasn't as positive as I had hoped, but this is a personal thing.

What I found was that I liked the look, and I liked riding with it -- in the end, not so different from a 46 cm wide Nitto Noodle I had on it before. This is a relatively short frame for me, and still I needed a short stem; the hands move far forward on this bar. Note how far the seat post extends here to get an idea of the fit.

I'd agree with the "three positions", but there is not much difference between grabbing the hoods and just having the hands on the bar. I rode it either way "at speed," and it was comfortable.

What I didn't like, and why I swapped the bar out after a while:
- The hands are rather close together in the forward position -- note that the "Albastache" has moved them farther apart.
- The "different positions" are for the hands, my back hardly moves, at least the way I had it set up.
- Worst of all, in iffy terrain, the backwards position was is just peachy, with plenty of control and a wide grip -- but ya can't brake! I found that just silly.

So: For a bike that might see some trail work, get a 48 cm Noodle and install 'interrupter' brake levers.
That will give you good control and plenty of hand positions.
I have a bike set up like that and wound up descending a real steep "path" between two vineyards, as I had misjudged where I was on the trail network on a really steep hill... when you're going down a 25 % grade, all of a sudden the hoods of a drop bar are not a great place to be for braking.

Finally, this bike is now set up with 40 mm Schwalbe tires and a Nitto "Allrounder" (as Tree Fort Bikes calls it" Northroads type bar. Racks and fenders are installed again, and II mostly use it in town. A longer stem, mounted lower, puts the hands in about the same position as before, but now I have brakes.See the picture below.

cheers -mathias






Not a good picture to see the bars... note that the bar tape is twined differently left and right. Right has the better way
Mid-march in Michigan -- one day of 60 F and we think it's summer.

branko_76 

hipster fashion

bamboobike4

Given the chaos arising from gravel….. I wonder how useful they are for that.

My Sports would benefit from them, sedate path riding, I think.

The flares I’ve seen range from 0 to 6 to 12 to 24, would a mustache be a furthering?

clubman 

Less about being a hipster and more like a dalliance. We all want to like them but usually don't. How many daily riders do you actually see with them?

Old school North Roads tend to have less rise and can be inverted to achieve the maximum hipness legally available to old guys.

daverup 

I've gone to moustache on a couple of bikes that had straight bars. I like the more upright position on those bikes. I think the inner portions of some moustache bars make a pretty good second position when bar taped.
It's usually more trouble to go from drops to moustache since brake levers might need to be changed.
I agree that drops are better for longer distances.

BradH

I managed to bend a set of Nitto B115 45cm drops once. I launched my drop bar converted '89 Rockhopper Comp off of my Jeep at 60 mph. In an effort to get it going again I put on some Nitto mustache bars already on hand. I'd say I like drops better for most riding but for snow and ice, what I use the bike for, the mustache bars work well. The wider mustache bars offer more control in the snow and I don't do much panic braking on the ice. If I wrap my hands around the hoods with my arms stretched out I can cover smooth stretches as quickly as I can in the drops. So overall I'd say mostly a Hipster thing but I do really like them on my winter bike.

bark_eater 

I have the Soma Mnt bike control Moustache bars on a Bridgestone CB-1. Their set up with dummy hoods up front and Mnt grips, brakes and Suntour friction levers. I realy only get the 2 riding positions and it took a lot of fussing to get the primary hand grip position dialed in. When I was riding it a lot and in some sort of condition I could do a 25-30 mile ride with no hand problems. Before I found a sweet spot, my hands would get numb after 5 miles. I tried inverted Soma "Swallow" bars with Mnt bar-ends as a forward aero position. I liked the primary better, but the forward position was too narrow and "cluttered" with the control cable, bar-ends and basket access competing for territory. I tried inverted Somas "Oxford" Albatross clones and the bar ends were hitting my knees, with the 100mm riser stem I use.

bikingshearer 

Definitely not just just a hipster thing. They've been around far too long (at least 30 years, and they're based on an older design) to be "just" a hipster thing, just as fixed gear (around for well over 100 years) is not "just" a hipster thing. Moustache bars and fixed gear bikes may be current fads for "hipsters" (and I have no idea about that - I know as much about hipster culture as I do about speaking Urdu) but both are more than - and far longer-lived than - whatever the Flavor of the Month might be in some corner of the cycling universe.

I confess, I doubt I will ever ride either, FWIW (and it ain't much). Doesn't mean either is "just" a hipster thing.

nlerner

Rumor has it that Jack Lauterwasser was the original bike hipster.

orcas island 

I had a set mounted on a Raleigh international and I just couldn’t find a comfortable hand position. Just one data point here, but they made my wrists hurt.

John E

My solution is Ritchey mountain bike bars, shortened by 1-2 cm on each end, with extensions. I have at least two comfortable hand positions, and I am delighted with them. Neutral axial forearm rotation, the big benefit of drops, is essential.


CycleAware mirror on my Giro XEN helmet.

52telecaster

I only liked them when they were upside down... Or with positive rise. I finally realized I just wanted porteur or North roads. Either make me happy but there are definitely uses for moustache bars.

bikemig 

moustache bars = no bueno

Roger M

I put some mustache vars on a Gitane a couple of years ago. I haven't done any rides longer than twenty five miles with this bike, but I haven't had any issues with them.

I have plenty of other bikes with drop bars, so these are a fun change every once in a while.

I'm fairly certain that northbend has a few thousand miles and a few centuries riding with mustache bars.

T.W.O.

Ron Boi frame set up as single speed.

RRB frame with moustache bars
I like moustache bars and have two pair of the original Nitto model that Rivendell was selling back when. I bought the first pair because I liked the look but quickly learned that they were a big help on bikes that didn't quite fit me. Moustache bars generally need a shorter stem than a set of drop handlebars. I favor bike frames that have a relatively long top tube for my frame size and have found that moustache bars give me a comfortable riding position on frames that might have a shorter top tube than I would prefer. I currently have a set on a Ron Boi frame that Skip Montanaro will recognize.

swampyankee2

I do have flat bars with extensions on my Specialized Sirrus, and also on my Trek mtn bike. I like them alot for those bikes, especially for riding the bike paths with the wife.

Bad Lag

I've tried North Roads bars. They are terrific if the bike is set up for them. That means sprung saddle, different (shorter) stem, appropriate gear controls and brake levers. You'll likely need new cables and housing all around, too. The experiment was not inexpensive.

I also tried inverted North Roads bars. They required an entirely different set up than normal North Roads bars. I never did get the controls and brakes done properly because,...

Inverted North Roads were too much like drop bars without the benefit of drop bars.

I took them off. Put my drop bars back on and called it a learning experience. I still have the bars, and levers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John E

Neutral axial forearm rotation, the big benefit of drops, is essential.

This is spot on! If you don't have it, you will miss it,... a lot.

squirtdad

for me anyway I agree 100% the bolded statement. my wording is: palms need to be parallel to the body.

just drop your arms to you side and relax...look where your palms are naturally positioned, that is what you want IMHO

Flat bars are simply not ergonomic

swampyankee2

I get that. I use the flat bars on my Sirrus, but often switch up to the extensions, or upright, no-hands position on downhills.

swampyankee2

i have the OE Northroad bars on my Sports and I'm tempted to rotate them down a bit to put the grips into a more normal position

Fredo76

Of the four bars I tried on my brother's Clem Smith Jr. this is my ranking:

Soma Clarence
Soma Sparrow
Soma Oxford
Soma Mustache



Soma Clarence handlebars



Soma Mustache handlebars

I guess I just prefer a compromise between flat bars and the fully turned-back styles. The mustache bars offered the most positional variety, but I didn't like the primary position so much. My brother's preference may be different.

arex

I tried moustache bars on my Raleigh Sports, and while they looked cool, I found that I really hated to ride with them. Replaced them with drop bars last summer.