Carbon full sus drop-bar gravel bike experiment?

[Madmax1993]

Which flared bars were they? I've been struggling to find the right ones for my retro-mod road bike. I tried Genetic Droves(IIRC) but they weren't as flared as I wanted, so then I tried the On One Midge bar, which had enough flare, but the bars didn't curl fully parallel to the ground, which I'm not keen on. Your ones look good in profile, have you got a picture of them from the front?

 

[Fatal Swan]

Which flared bars were they? I've been struggling to find the right ones for my retro-mod road bike. I tried Genetic Droves(IIRC) but they weren't as flared as I wanted, so then I tried the On One Midge bar, which had enough flare, but the bars didn't curl fully parallel to the ground, which I'm not keen on. Your ones look good in profile, have you got a picture of them from the front?

There are 3 different bars in the photos based on different options I tried. The ones from April have an old alloy unbranded standard drop bar. The photos from May have a flared alloy gravel bar that I got from Ribble for £6 (available from me for the cost of postage if I can find a box!) But I didn't like it and decided against flared bars in general. The latest photos from July have a standard road drop bar with no flare, a Cannondale Escape Hanger carbon bar, which is what I've settled on.

 

[Madmax1993]

I'd gladly take you up on the Ribble ones, if they're going actually!

 

[Fatal Swan]

I'd gladly take you up on the Ribble ones, if they're going actually!

I'm currently away from home for a few days but will PM when I'm back home to arrange

 

[Fatal Swan]

A bit delayed again as I wanted to get hold of a new stem and seatpost to make sure I can get the fit spot on before I complete the build with the brakes, shifters and bar tape. Syntace P6 inline seatpost brings the saddle a bit further forward and that's let me run a slightly longer stem at 65mm.

I also got a more recent set of Ultegra levers in the meantime which are a lot larger than the older style and I think the extra surface area will give better control off-road. I've run it up and down the road now as set up in the new photos and it's perfectit handles a lot better with the longer stem and there's also a bit more rise in it too, which I hadn't noticed but it gives a nicer position. I think it's going to ride so nice once I can get it out on the tracks and give it some.

Can't wait to get the brakes installed (just waiting for one caliper to arrive) and get out on it!!

 

[Spankyfart]

Have you looked at the Surly Corner bars?
They weigh about as much as half your bike but you could use all your old gear and get the gravvely feel you are looking for.

 

[Fatal Swan]

Have you looked at the Surly Corner bars?
They weigh about as much as half your bike but you could use all your old gear and get the gravvely feel you are looking for.

I hadn't seen these, no! Looking at the description is almost a description of what I had planned when I started to think about this:

"Used to be if you wanted to throw drop bars on your off-road rig, you had to fork over your allowance for a new drivetrain and brake levers. We made the Corner Bar so you could conduct all your dirt-drop experiments with your current brake and drivetrain setup. I mean, why spring for the whole buffet when all you want is a salty snack at the bar?"

Though then again, I've done a couple of conversion-type projects that I've ended up breaking up, and by the time I got around to this one I really wanted to commit and try to make it into a proper bike where everything was completely compatible, the geometry worked and the spec made sense for the purpose.

And actually, it's now pretty much finished!