Nitto Flat Bars & Milano Bars
 

If you have a bike fitted with the Nitto Jitensha Studios flat bars, or the Nitto Milano bars from Velo Orange, could you kindly post some photos?

When these bars are installed on a roadbike with saddle height and handlebar height roughly equal, what kind of posture do they put the rider in?

I am looking for an elegant bar for a vintage mixte that will achieve a posture similar to placing the hands on the flat top part of drop bars. I think that Moustache bars or upside-down North Roads might be too sporty, but Albatross bars would be too upright, whereas the Flat or Milano bars might be just right. Any suggestions welcome!

Jitensha studio flat bars:

http://inlinethumb32.webshots.com/16...600x600Q85.jpg

They were a bit too low, so I switched to North Roads from Velo Orange:

http://inlinethumb19.webshots.com/44...600x600Q85.jpg

I have the Jitensha bars on my Univega single-speed w/ a Nitto Dirt Drop stem. Riding position is quite upright, but not as much as with North Road-type bars.

http://web.mit.edu/nlerner/Public/Bikes/OrangeUni11.jpg

Neal

I own a modern Trek FX 7.2 which is basically a road bike with flat bars. A hideous beast to be sure. I am completely converting it so something more respectable. I don't recall the model but I added Nitto bars which are similar to the VO Milano bars and they were too short for the grip shifters I added to replace the hideous thumb shifters. That said the Nitto bars gave it a very sporty and compact feel and are ideal if you're only using brake levers and not shifters. Perfect for a bike with down tube shifters.

I replaced the Nitto bars with the VO Milano ones and they're long enough for grip shifters and brake levers and wider than the Nittos. The sitting position is still sporty, I lean forward a bit and it's not as upright as the photo shown in the previous photo.

I am delighted with the Milano bars and they cost about 1/2 of what you'd pay for the Nitto. I'm having the frame powder coated so I can't snap any photos for you.

Try flipped Northroads, there is some great bikes around with that. Try to search the forums.

Also look into the Sparrow bars,

So, the Nitto bars aren't long enough to fit grip shifters and brake levers. What about a riser bar?

A very tall stem would be required with flipped North Roads to get the bar height she's looking for.

Not nescesary. I did it on my mixte, mine is relatively smaller than hers. Northroads is swept back so grips are closer to the body. Therefor you do not lean forwards as much as you think to reach them.

Also Northroads can be reduced in lenght (sweep).I did this on one bike.

Some time back (bginning of summer?) there was a thread about older road bkes that was converted to more upright riding podsition. Several great bikes shown, but I can not find it, I searched. Can anybody remmber it?

Edit: At least there should be something in the mixte thread

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...right+position

Edit2: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=nitto+sparrow

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...hlight=upright

If I flip the North Roads on my yellow Carlton above, the grips will be at headset locknut level. Like I said, a very tall stem would be required.

Riser bar? I'm not sure what you're asking. The Nitto bars I used (similar to the Milano ones) have a short grip area. I'm sure they could accomodate shift/brake combination levers but when I used grip shifters I had very little room for grips. In fact I had to ride with my hand on the grip part of the grip shifter. it looked unbalanced and felt that way too. They would be perfect if you used anything other than grip shifters.

The OV Milano bars have a longer grip section so the grip shifters and brake levels fit and feel just fine. Ironically I hope to find a nice mixte one day and use the Nitto bars I still have, but with only brake levers (I'll want down tube shifters). If I were to do it over again I'd get the OV bars due to price, but I own this Nitto bar now so I plan to use it one day on a mixte.

I'm going with some VO porteur bars on my wifes mixte, with bar end shifters.

I've been waiting for those.

:)

Use a dirt drop stem if you want to flip the North Road. Thats what I did on my Raleigh Super Course.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58605563@N00/3672788253/

In retrospect I wished I had not flipped the bar and had just mounted the North Road conventionally with a standard height stem. I glued on cork grips so it will be a painful process of rectifying this.

Wow, that SC is beautiful. I have one hanging in storage that I've been wondering what to do with .....

Now I know! Thanks for the inspiration.


Scott

Found this today on the mixte flickr group.

this works well becouse your hands are closer to your body here than on drops. Therefor it does not feel as low as it looks. On my mixte the stem is approx as long (high) as the seatpost.

Edit: Almost like the present setup.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/k...ixte0709-1.jpg


http://www.flickr.com/photos/somafab/3023108796/

I just installed VO Milano bars on my wife's Univega Mixte. She found North Roads bars too narrow, so I went with the Milano which is sorta between North Roads and a ubiquitous flat bar (which is what she's used to). I'll try to get a picture, but my wife's posture is still pretty upright with the fairly tall Nitto stem.

I love the look of those new Soma Mixte's. They're so tastefully done, and with full braze-ons to boot.
-Gene-

A Nitto Albatross bar is based on the North Road but is wider and swoopier. Its a flat bar that doesn't look out of place on any bike.

yeah i cant wait to post photos, it's gonna be a cool old bike. nothing high end but it will be cool.

Defintely not a flat bar. A flat bar has no rise.

What I was asking was did you try MTB riser bars. Most MTB bars, actually all of them, will accomodate grip shifters.

Do the VO and Nitto bar use a 22.2 or 23.8 dia bar? I've got some nice old 4 finger MTB brake levers waiting for a place to go.

Both are 7/8".

The Jitensha bar requires a road-size stem.

Thank you all for the pictures and comments.

I did not mean to imply that I want to be upright on the bike. I want to be fairly bent forward, in a similar position as having my hands on the top flat part of the drops (but not down low, like the drops themselves would place me).

I've gone ahead and ordered the Nitto/Jitensha flat bar, as well as a longer stem. Will report how that goes.