Help me decide

for my new mixte:

Niitto Moustache bar or Nitto Albatross bar

Comments welcome!

I love the Albatross because they have a little more rise than the Moustache... and may be getting them for my new fixie (or possibly the Soma Noah's Arc, I can't decide).

My vote is for the Albatross bars, but purely for aesthetical reasons. Plus I think your basket will fit on them better.

Albatross:

And because I have no idea how to do more that one attachment per post:

Mustache

Darn it! The picture is too big to upload, so I had to link the url instead. :(

Another vote for Albatross. I've read a few cyclists' accounts of how they switched from moustache to alb. and loved the better comfort level.
My DH had straight bars on his old Trek hybrid (like what you have on Lotus Blossom) and he switched them to albatross and LOVED it. They look elegant too.

Thanks sgtiger for posting pics. I had no idea what either one looked like.

I vote for the albatross!

Help again.

I was all ready to order the Albatross bars and the Nitto Technomic Stem. Trying to decide how long of a stem to get.

For some reason I decided to take my bike into the bike shop first, just to see what they had. They didn't have a thing I was interested in, but measured my stem and :eek: my stem is a 22.2 mm diameter stem!!!!

The Nitto Technomic Stems only come in 25.4 and 26.0.

We looked in a catalog at the bike shope and 22.2 is an odd size. There's not much selection.

So, what do I do?

I'm confused... If you are getting new handlebars anyway, then why does your current stem measurement matter? The stem has to match the handlebars, no?

Apparently I'm the one that is confused! There were only two young girls working today and they must know as much as I do.

The 22.2 is the size where it goes into the steerer tube. Is that standard? The girl at the bike shop seemed to think that mine was an unusual size.

22.2 just means you have a 1" steerer which is standard. The Technomic will fit that. The 25.4 or 26.0 refers to the handlebar clamp. Just make sure that matches the handlebar you are buying. :p

Ok, and if I buy the Albatross bar at Rivendell which one fits it?

I'm sorry I am so dumb! ;) I really AM learning a lot.

You're not dumb at all!!! I knew nothing about this stuff 6 months ago!

The Nitto Albatross bar at Rivendell is a 25.4

25.4...which means that I then get to select 9 or 10 cm length. Any suggestions?

Sandra- you need to know whether your bike takes a threaded or a threadless stem before you order stuff. I think DebW can help you with how to figure it out- PM her first!

I think it's pretty obviously a threaded quill stem...

9 or 10 is a matter of comfort. That is the measurement from the center of the steerer tube to the center of the handlebars. With albatross bars, it's not such a critical thing since they are very forgiving...