I was at REI yesterday seeing if there were any Novara bikes that I wanted to spend my 20% coupon and dividend on and I came across a Buzz. It had the WTB Mountain Road Bar. Is that their modern version of the dirt drop? I have been looking at flared dirt drops for my next bike. I was thinking Woodchippers, but those looked pretty nice.

I have a Salsa Bell Lap that I like a lot. The flare isn't so severe that the brifters are at an awkward angle.

I've got a set on both of my rides, with bar end shifters on one of them. I love mine.

Geez I'm so glad I took these pics a couple weeks ago, because I keep finding places to use them!

Top to Bottom: 46cm Woodchipper, WTB Mountain Road Dirt Drop, and Salsa Bell Lap






The Bell Laps were stock on my Cross Check, which I swapped out for the Woodchippers.

Warning: bar tape hack job!

The bars are rather comfortable on long rides, I set in the hoods most if not all the time. To get into the drops it is well quite a drop, if WTB would do this bar in a shallow drop it would be perfect.

EDIT: The internal diameter of my bars is not wide enough for a standard bar end shifter, my LBS got me a smaller set (don't know which ones) which work but do not fit all the way. Jagwire makes a piece that goes over the bar vs inside if you do in fact use bar ends.

JAG and Mr. Pink, thanks much for the pix which have assured me that I've made the right decisions:

Pink - I'm building up a Fisticuff as a singlespeed monstercross rig. The more pix I see, the happier I am with my choice in framesets.
JAG - I went with the 46cm Woodchipper over the WTB dirt drop for the long flats, rather than the ergo hook section.

JAG, these bars are showing up all over the place, I think you need a pair of the Origin8 Gary, and a Moustache bar, just so you can have the full spectrum.

Still want those Salsas? I'll take em.
I like the WTB you show there. The woodchippers just seem so drastic with all that rearward bar. I think they are meant to be positioned with the flats even or above the saddle height so the drops can be used primarily.

I had a Gary bar at one point, never used it because bar end shifters didn't fit. I do have some Origin8 Tiki (moustache) bars somewhere in a box though! The Tikis are reserved to end up in the stoker position on my xtracycle someday, the Bell Laps and WTBs are for sale (PM me).

I chose the Woodchippers for the long tops as well. I like riding the hoods and tops mostly, but wanted a shallow drop for the rare occasions I ride them. The Bell Lap drop was too "deep" for me and I couldn't get comfortable. Even after my cross levers and accessories, there's still a ton of room on the tops for my hands.

I have Shimano 8spd bar ends and they work flawlessly with the WTB bars. WTB says on their website that the bars aren't compatible with bar end shifters.

Mr. Pink: Your bike is gorgeous and I'm jealous

The Fisty has fit those 47c you see in the pic with fenders so there are a lot of options. I also have some old school Conti RK 2.2 (2.0) that will fit. Right now I am in road mode until things start to dry up, but that's the beauty of this bike versatility.



These are Gary v2 bars, more of a dirt drop setup so I was on the hooks all the time. Not nearly as comfortable for long rides like the WTB set is now, I could easily go 40 miles comfortable.

Odd, I have an Origin8, a first generation even, and my bar end shifters fit fine. I've been using suntour shifters if that makes any difference.

I just started running the On-One Midge bar on a fresh build, and after only a couple of shake down rides, I am fairly pleased. I like that the top section is wider than my previous drop bars and I like the shallow drops for the wind. I'm not real flexible, and I struggle with neck pain, so I'm not comfortable getting tucked into deep drop bars, but I wanted a little bit of drop to get out of the wind from time to time and to just have some more riding options on long rides. I also like that the flared drops put my bar end mirror further out from the bike. I have rotated the bars so that the drops point down a bit, rather than being more or less parallel to the ground. This way when I put my hands in the drops it feels like the added weight on my hands is more distributed across my whole palm, rather than just at the back of my hand. But like I said, I have just started using this bar, so I may change it in time.

-T.

I run the WTB Mountain drops on my Vaya. I had Dura Ace bar end shifters in there and they fit with no issues at all. I have since swapped them for 105 brifters which I find much more comfortable. They are canted in a bit, which allows the brake levers to clear the bar and keeps my wrists nice and neutral.

I ride on the hoods, 90% of the time, but climbing out of the saddle while in the drops feels awesome. They are nice for ducking the wind, as well.

New WTB take barcons, the olderer (2008) don't. The WTB dirtdrops bars, like the woodchipper, gary bary, soma junebug etc are dirtdrop bars and designed to be riden in the drops all the time with the tops even or above saddle height.

I have use(d) the woodchipper, wtb, origin8 bar and the bell lap. I have the woodchipper on my s/s mtb and absolutly LOVE it. Bell lap are on my crossbike. I hate traditional drops and love flared ones. The Gary bar 2 is more hood friendly, the original wasn't. WTB is closest to a road bar with the ergo bends, but the woodchipper is the best IMO. It can be set so the hoods are ridable and still be able to nestle in the bends and grab the levers. The wide tops offer room for hands, cross levers, lights etc and the long drops are great for climbing. The woodchippers are the shallowest and have the shortest reach. I have used barcons and brifters on them and brifters on the wtb.
Woodchippers



WTB

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