Crack Monkey

Hey All,

I'm in the process of building a Soma Buena Vista for my wife. It will be used as an all-around bike... commuter, bar-hopper, farmer's market runs, etc. She's looking for something more upright and comfy than her road bike.

It looks like the Nitto Albatross is a common choice for this application. My one concern is the width - it appears to be a VERY wide bar. Is it going to work for a 5'3" woman of average (for a woman) shoulder width? Are there other similar bars that we should consider? Pluses and minuses of any of them? The bike will be set-up 1x10 with a trigger shifter.

(Yes, I know there are tons of bars, just trying to find out what people are using or not using)

Thanks,
Alistair

weshigh

We just picked up my fiances Soma Buena Vista about 2 weeks ago. She is 5'2" and has Albatross bars on it. We've put only about 30 miles on it so far, but she likes it. Said it felt a little wide when she first rode it, but doesn't have a lot of other things to compare it to. Since putting some time on it she said it feels better and doesn't think the width is a problem. Let me know if you need any other info on how we set it up or dimensions.


Here are a couple photos of the setup.

modernjess

I love the albatross, so comfy, it's part of my winter commuter set up. But I'm 6'2'' so the 55cm width is good for me but might not be for her. The way they sweep back you can't just chop 10mm off each end to narrow them like you can on a straight bar .

There are very similar style bars that aren't as wide. The Nitto North road is 48.5cm wide, and Soma makes the Sparrow in 2 sizes the narrowest ones being 49cm wide. They might be not as sublimely perfect as the albatross is but they look plenty good in pix anyway.

Crack Monkey

Nice! I'll be doing a similar build, but sticking with 700C wheels and a derailleur, mostly for compatibility with our other bikes.

How did the length of the 50cm work out for your wife? I waffled a bit on size, but ended up with the 50cm as well.

weshigh

Thanks. So far I think 50cm was the right choice for us. When she test rode it, it still have 700c wheels on it, and it was just at the edge of being too tall, but with the 650b wheels it makes for lower stand over height and allows her to be more comfortable when putting one or both feet down.

For some reason their site won't load for me with the dimensions but I think the next size smaller wasn't actually that much smaller in the ways we needed it, besides having the 26inch wheels.

weshigh

make sure to post some pictures when its all done!

Chesha Neko

Nitto North Roads is a bit narrower:

https://www.ecovelo.info/2009/11/23/n...tto-albatross/

fietsbob

I use my bike with the Trekking bars the most..

figure 8 bend , far reach gets the headwind tuck,

Laying an open palm across the end loop most of the time..

arevinotion

good,I use my bike with the Trekking bars the most..figure 8 bend , far reach gets the headwind tuck.

Crack Monkey

Got her built today. Decided to give her to my wife a few days early, as some friends had a "cruise around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights" bike party.

Current specs:
Nitto B302AA All Rounder bar (moustache with slight rise)
Shimano 1x10 shifting (mountain bike SLX shifter, XT derailleur)
IRD brakes and levers
Leather grips
Brass bell (wife loves it!)
wheels are a set of take-offs from one of our road bikes
saddle is a take-off from her old townie (Specialized BG something-or-another)
Velo-Orange crank
Soma seat-post

Loose Ends:
fenders and racks (wanted to let her pick them)
stem (parts bin, might need to drop it a spacer and go 10mm longer, will get a nice polished/chrome stem)
shifting bits (she needs to decide if she wants a front derailleur, chain case, or something else)
saddle (she wants a matching brown leather saddle)

Overall, the build was a success. She loves it. Fits her well.




The only hiccup was my own stupidity. I ASSumed Shimano 10-speed road and mountain parts were interchangable, and bought an SLX shifter and Tiagra derailleur. Spent over an hour trying to get it to shift before a friend walked in, took 10 second look, and declared me a moron. LBS came to the rescue with the XT rear derailleur - not quite the look I wanted (long and black), but it works for now. Will figure that out later.

gerv 

I have Nitto Albatross bars on my winter bike. I've set it up with bar tape around the the bends for more positions. Also flipped the bars for a slightly different look.



Only negative point is that the bars are somewhat flexy at the ends. Never such a problem on any Nitto road bar.