mat_brook

Have heard people talk about a mountain style drop bar, i take it they mean the flaired ones. Has anyone tried using them, are they much different and can anyone stear me towards any good sets?

Cheers

Mat. brook

Andy_K 

A few examples are...

the On One Midge



the Origin-8 Gary



the WTB Mountain Road



and the Salsa Woodchipper



The idea, I think, is that a lower position gives you better control, but unlike traditional road bars, which are now commonly designed for riding and braking mostly on the hoods, dirt drop bars are meant to make the brakes most accessible from the drops. The flare also puts your hands in a much more neutral position than most flat or drop bars.

I haven't tried any of these, but I do have Salsa Bell Lap bars, which are still flared but much less dramatically so, on my 29er and I will say that the flare is nice.

TimJ

I tried the origin-8's for a while and liked them OK on my singlespeed but ultimately got rid of them b/c realistically you only get one position with those bars and that's in the drops. Some people use midge's and say they use the hoods too but it wasn't possible for me. The salsa's look like you might be able to use the hoods b/c all the flair seems to be at the ends on those and not start at the top of the bend. But anyway, in general those bars are built for riding in the drops all the time. I like having multiple positions so I went with some short and shallow drops (biomax).

mijome07

I thought about getting 'dirt drop' bars for my SS 29er, but felt my hands would be uncomfortable in the hoods.

Wood chipper on Fargo:

TimJ

The problem for me was I needed to have the bars up fairly high to use the drops all the time which made them too high and too forward to really use the hoods, but the hoods were real uncomfortable anyway.

c_m_shooter

I have the Origin 8's on my Monocog, Tricross and Cross Check. They can be set up so that the hoods are usable, but the drops aren't as nice then. My Tricross and Monocog are used for strictly off road, so those two are set up to be ridden strictly in the drops.

bamacrazy

You can't go wrong with the Salsa Bell Laps. Lots of comfortable hand positions; I use the hoods about 1/2 the time.

rnw1964

I use the Salsa Woodchipper. Can use both the hoods and drops.

Elisdad

I run the Gary bars on my Iro and they're set up to be most comfortable in the drops. I plan to give the Wood chippers a try on another bike in the near future.

Here's what the Origin 8s look like on the Iro.