When I first built the Xtracycle, I was running regular straight mountain bike bars. I was noticing a lot of wrist pain after spending even a small amount of time on the bike. And living in a sprawled out area, I was spending up to 30 miles a day in the saddle. At one point, it hit me that these bars were different than anything I'd been running on my other bikes... and they were causing the problem.
After some research and thought, I decided to go with something that would put me a little more upright and turn my wrists in just the slightest bit. I came across enough literature in favor of the Nitto North Road bars that it was nearly a no-brainer. I did toss around the idea of the Nitto Albatross for a while, but went with the North Roads because they weren't as wide. At 5'7" tall, I don't have an incredibly large wingspan.
Get out there.
Nice mini review. I've been riding upside down Nitto Mustache bars lately, and have been thinking of trying Albatross bars. Its nice to hear from someone who rides more then 5 or so miles a day using some, as I average around 30 or so myself.
ReplyDeleteI like the Albatross for the wider bar, and able to use bar end shifters
Joe,
ReplyDeleteCan you not use bar end shifters on the North Road bars? I'd like to eventually shift over to bar ends on the xtra. But I was thinking about ordering Albatrosses on my wife's bike just to see the difference face to face. Perhaps I'd like to swap.
Joe:
ReplyDeleteCool bars!. I love my Velo Orange Porteur bars (not as swept back and hefty as moustache bars, nicely priced! They are on my re-purposed Takara 650B conversion - which serves as my town and fall-spring commuter. I have 90's Trek 830 that is my snow bike which I'm putting some north road bars on (the straight bars give me a pain too)
Cheers!
Mark