Anyone like the Woodchipper bars?
03-04-16 | 10:00 AM
#27
meh
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 4,742
Likes: 1,129
From: Hopkins, MN
Bikes: 23 Cutthroat, 21 CoMotion Java; 21 Bianchi Infinito; 15 Surly Pugsley; 11 Globe Daily; 09 Kona Dew Drop; 96 Mondonico
03-05-16 | 01:36 AM
#30
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 4,513
Likes: 42
From: The Great Pacific Northwest
I have Salsa Cowbell bars on my Surly and love them. Slight flare in the drops and feel ergonomic for me. Tried the On One Midges and the tops were very wide for me (I take a 40cm road bar for reference), so I sold them. I also tried the Soma Portola bars in the 53cm width and like them a lot. The top fast part is a tiny bit narrower than the Midges and they feel very natural to me.
Of of course it's all subjective and someone else might hate them.
Of of course it's all subjective and someone else might hate them.
03-05-16 | 10:03 AM
#31
George Krpan
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,708
Likes: 1
From: Westlake Village, California
Woodchippers are criticized for not being ergonomic. The flared drops make hood placement less than ideal. The thing is, that they are designed to be ridden in the drops, not the hoods. I slide the brake levers down so far down that riding the hoods are not possible but braking in the drops is optimal.
It takes a leap of faith but it really is better, far better, riding in the drops. Unfortunately Gavenalle shifters don't lend themselves well to riding in the drops.
It takes a leap of faith but it really is better, far better, riding in the drops. Unfortunately Gavenalle shifters don't lend themselves well to riding in the drops.
I just set up my Pugsley with Woodchippers and Gavenalle shifters. I REALLY like the bars and shifters.
This is my first bike with anything like the Woodchippers and I'm mounting them to a fatbike.... not a typical setup. With 40 miles on these bars, I am working on the fine-tuning and I'm looking for other's preferences and let me know how you use the bike with their Woodchippers. I found this blog post from 2010, interesting information.
I changed out the stem yesterday, the stock 110mm stem was too much, I have a 70mm with minimal rise (~7 degrees). This was a BIG improvement in steer-feel on the hoods and drops. I've moved the angle of the drops around a few times; it's currently around 25 degrees, I think I'm going back closer to 20 degrees (how it was when we first set it up). I think we mounted the hoods too far down for this angle, but I'm going to wait to pass final judgement. Additionally, I'm going to move all the spaces below the stem.
My Pug does a lot of diverse riding, including single-track in summer and winter, winter commuting, and plans on some long rides, like gravel centuries. I'm seriously consider an on-snow fatbike downhill slalom race in a week - that will be a test of these bars in challenging conditions.
Here are a couple pictures from Monday, as it was set up when I rode home from the shop.
This is my first bike with anything like the Woodchippers and I'm mounting them to a fatbike.... not a typical setup. With 40 miles on these bars, I am working on the fine-tuning and I'm looking for other's preferences and let me know how you use the bike with their Woodchippers. I found this blog post from 2010, interesting information.
I changed out the stem yesterday, the stock 110mm stem was too much, I have a 70mm with minimal rise (~7 degrees). This was a BIG improvement in steer-feel on the hoods and drops. I've moved the angle of the drops around a few times; it's currently around 25 degrees, I think I'm going back closer to 20 degrees (how it was when we first set it up). I think we mounted the hoods too far down for this angle, but I'm going to wait to pass final judgement. Additionally, I'm going to move all the spaces below the stem.
My Pug does a lot of diverse riding, including single-track in summer and winter, winter commuting, and plans on some long rides, like gravel centuries. I'm seriously consider an on-snow fatbike downhill slalom race in a week - that will be a test of these bars in challenging conditions.
Here are a couple pictures from Monday, as it was set up when I rode home from the shop.
03-05-16 | 11:06 AM
#32
meh
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 4,742
Likes: 1,129
From: Hopkins, MN
Bikes: 23 Cutthroat, 21 CoMotion Java; 21 Bianchi Infinito; 15 Surly Pugsley; 11 Globe Daily; 09 Kona Dew Drop; 96 Mondonico
Woodchippers are criticized for not being ergonomic. The flared drops make hood placement less than ideal. The thing is, that they are designed to be ridden in the drops, not the hoods. I slide the brake levers down so far down that riding the hoods are not possible but braking in the drops is optimal.
It takes a leap of faith but it really is better, far better, riding in the drops. Unfortunately Gavenalle shifters don't lend themselves well to riding in the drops.
It takes a leap of faith but it really is better, far better, riding in the drops. Unfortunately Gavenalle shifters don't lend themselves well to riding in the drops.
I do not understand the ergonomic critics, Woodchippers are great for me! I won't want them on every bike, but moving from flat-bars to the Woodchippers is such an improvement in ergonomics.
I can see your point about the brake lever position. Since we set them up with little experience/knowledge, I took a couple short riders before taping the bars and thought we had it right. I'm not 100% on my set up, but I am going to ride it through spring - I want to ride some single-tracks before the final decision.
Last night we made a couple more adjustments, moving the stem to the top of the steer-tube. Additionally, I tried the 20 degree angle recommended in the blog post. With the shorter stem, I'm very happy with the set up, today I did 20 miles of icy trails, on road, and frozen limestone. I was good on the hoods, the brake lever are a reach on the drops, but they are available. This ride was really encouraging, the number of hand positions were great. I can totally see doing a gravel century with this set up (need better/lighter tires).
03-05-16 | 02:55 PM
#33
George Krpan
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,708
Likes: 1
From: Westlake Village, California
I ride single speed cyclocross, no suspension 29er, no suspension 29+, and gravel bike on mountain bike trails.
I actually don't use Woodchippers any more, I found something I like better but my bars, in the drops, are essentiallly the same as Woodchippers.
I started out using a WTB Mountain Road, in 2008, which is very similar to the Woodchipper and then got a Woodchipper when they became available.
I started out, like everyone else, setting them up so that the hoods were ridable. But, as you know, reaching the levers from the drops is awkward. Gradually it dawned on me to slide the levers down. I was reluctant to give up the hoods, it went against my dogmatic beliefs. I finally made the leap of faith and haven't ridden hoods for 7-8 years. Riding the hoods is suicidal compared to the drops for the kind of riding that I do.
My drops are a tiny bit pointed down from level. I do it this way because it's better for standing, and I stand a lot. At 20 degrees down, it feels as if my hands want to slide of the end of the bars.
I actually don't use Woodchippers any more, I found something I like better but my bars, in the drops, are essentiallly the same as Woodchippers.
I started out using a WTB Mountain Road, in 2008, which is very similar to the Woodchipper and then got a Woodchipper when they became available.
I started out, like everyone else, setting them up so that the hoods were ridable. But, as you know, reaching the levers from the drops is awkward. Gradually it dawned on me to slide the levers down. I was reluctant to give up the hoods, it went against my dogmatic beliefs. I finally made the leap of faith and haven't ridden hoods for 7-8 years. Riding the hoods is suicidal compared to the drops for the kind of riding that I do.
My drops are a tiny bit pointed down from level. I do it this way because it's better for standing, and I stand a lot. At 20 degrees down, it feels as if my hands want to slide of the end of the bars.
What kind of riding do you like to do with the Woodchippers?
I do not understand the ergonomic critics, Woodchippers are great for me! I won't want them on every bike, but moving from flat-bars to the Woodchippers is such an improvement in ergonomics.
I can see your point about the brake lever position. Since we set them up with little experience/knowledge, I took a couple short riders before taping the bars and thought we had it right. I'm not 100% on my set up, but I am going to ride it through spring - I want to ride some single-tracks before the final decision.
Last night we made a couple more adjustments, moving the stem to the top of the steer-tube. Additionally, I tried the 20 degree angle recommended in the blog post. With the shorter stem, I'm very happy with the set up, today I did 20 miles of icy trails, on road, and frozen limestone. I was good on the hoods, the brake lever are a reach on the drops, but they are available. This ride was really encouraging, the number of hand positions were great. I can totally see doing a gravel century with this set up (need better/lighter tires).
I do not understand the ergonomic critics, Woodchippers are great for me! I won't want them on every bike, but moving from flat-bars to the Woodchippers is such an improvement in ergonomics.
I can see your point about the brake lever position. Since we set them up with little experience/knowledge, I took a couple short riders before taping the bars and thought we had it right. I'm not 100% on my set up, but I am going to ride it through spring - I want to ride some single-tracks before the final decision.
Last night we made a couple more adjustments, moving the stem to the top of the steer-tube. Additionally, I tried the 20 degree angle recommended in the blog post. With the shorter stem, I'm very happy with the set up, today I did 20 miles of icy trails, on road, and frozen limestone. I was good on the hoods, the brake lever are a reach on the drops, but they are available. This ride was really encouraging, the number of hand positions were great. I can totally see doing a gravel century with this set up (need better/lighter tires).
03-07-16 | 07:42 AM
#36
meh
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 4,742
Likes: 1,129
From: Hopkins, MN
Bikes: 23 Cutthroat, 21 CoMotion Java; 21 Bianchi Infinito; 15 Surly Pugsley; 11 Globe Daily; 09 Kona Dew Drop; 96 Mondonico
I ride single speed cyclocross, no suspension 29er, no suspension 29+, and gravel bike on mountain bike trails.
I actually don't use Woodchippers any more, I found something I like better but my bars, in the drops, are essentiallly the same as Woodchippers.
I started out using a WTB Mountain Road, in 2008, which is very similar to the Woodchipper and then got a Woodchipper when they became available.
I started out, like everyone else, setting them up so that the hoods were ridable. But, as you know, reaching the levers from the drops is awkward. Gradually it dawned on me to slide the levers down. I was reluctant to give up the hoods, it went against my dogmatic beliefs. I finally made the leap of faith and haven't ridden hoods for 7-8 years. Riding the hoods is suicidal compared to the drops for the kind of riding that I do.
My drops are a tiny bit pointed down from level. I do it this way because it's better for standing, and I stand a lot. At 20 degrees down, it feels as if my hands want to slide of the end of the bars.
I actually don't use Woodchippers any more, I found something I like better but my bars, in the drops, are essentiallly the same as Woodchippers.
I started out using a WTB Mountain Road, in 2008, which is very similar to the Woodchipper and then got a Woodchipper when they became available.
I started out, like everyone else, setting them up so that the hoods were ridable. But, as you know, reaching the levers from the drops is awkward. Gradually it dawned on me to slide the levers down. I was reluctant to give up the hoods, it went against my dogmatic beliefs. I finally made the leap of faith and haven't ridden hoods for 7-8 years. Riding the hoods is suicidal compared to the drops for the kind of riding that I do.
My drops are a tiny bit pointed down from level. I do it this way because it's better for standing, and I stand a lot. At 20 degrees down, it feels as if my hands want to slide of the end of the bars.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
texasdiver
Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling
21
09-28-10 02:25 PM
