Before I embark on fitting my woodchippers to the Croix de fer tomorrow night has any one got any tips, swearing experiences or is it straight forward?

It's simple enough. Make sure you go for a decent test ride and experiment with various bar angles/lever positions before you tape them up though,

Thanks for the advice - thought that might be the case. Any issues with cable length, routing or tension?

None that I was aware off doing mine.

Amazon by ScotRoutes, on Flickr

I've just swapped the WTB Dirt Drops on my SS to Chippers and very nice they are. The only thing I would think about is where you position your brakes ... these things are meant to be ridden on the drops (mainly) so make sure your brake levers are set pretty low to allow for it. You see quite a few with the levers set higher ( CX / road style) which IMO means you can't actually brake well from the drops or the hoods!

I've got mine so the hoods are a bit higher than that photo to make it comfy as that's where I tend to ride.

Stu's right though, the brake lever reach is a bit iffy when in the drops.

The tail of the drop also seems to end up at quite an angle off the horizontal, like in the pic.

All pretty comfy and no particular foibles when setting up. I do like mine, especially in the wide variation.

^ agreed that they seem to be intended for use in the hooks full-time. They're tricky / near-impossible to set up in a way that makes both hoods and drops equally useable, I thought. Worth experimenting with for a while for bar angle as well as STI position ie straight-out, angled in etc. I set mine based on the angle of the lower / hook part then made the rest fit as best as I could.

issues with cable length

the STIs don't change position too much, just a little wider so should be fine. May be worth trying the bars higher than normal tho as the CDF's not a really tall front end and woodchippers felt better to me when fitted a couple of inches higher than the previous std drops - higher again may have been better still but my steerer limited that.

Despite what I said about no foibles I now agree with J-o, fitting them higher is probably a good thing. As mine are on a Gryphon and this has a higher HT / designed for dirt drops then it didn't occur immediately. I still run quite a few spacers TBH, but I think that's down to being an MTB boy used to years on "traditional" bars.

In other newss, got those Luxys. Quite looking forward to trying them

Fitted (by Salsa) on a prototype fatbike




Hoods are angled up a wee bit more than my setup


If I'm doing on -road touring, I flip the stem to make the whole setup a wee bit lower. It's a bit more aero (enough to make a difference) and I'm less likely to be needing to change gear in the drops on the road so a wee bit extra stretch doesn't bother me.

This is how I've got mine, levers set quite low and in-line with the bars. Bars set at a height where the drops 'feel like' where you actually want your hands to be ... If we're not going to ride technical stuff on the drops, what's the point of having wide, flared bars in the first place?

s8tannorm wrote:This is how I've got mine, levers set quite low and in-line with the bars. Bars set at a height where the drops 'feel like' where you actually want your hands to be ... If we're not going to ride technical stuff on the drops, what's the point of having wide, flared bars in the first place?

To look cool and niche, of course

I seem to spend a lot of my time on the hoods, even over rougher stuff - it must be my manly grip and the steamroller effect of 29" wheels

Seriously though (ish), I can get to my levers from the drops but it's a little stretched, they're not out of reach. It's hard to tell from that photo but being on the hoods would look to be quite tricky with the way your levers are set. This might just be me putting my bias / physical inflexibility onto you though, particularly if that's a cross frame with a short TT that'll put your torso further forward than I'm assuming

I really must have a look for a steep rise stem, it'd be better than the stack of spacers I suspect. The more we talk about this the more I seem to be convincing myself the set up is a right dark art. Should probably just go for a ride

Cheeky Monkey wrote: particularly if that's a cross frame with a short TT that'll put your torso further forward than I'm assuming

It would be nice to see the seat height too. That's probably the most important consideration for bar height.

being on the hoods would look to be quite tricky with the way your levers are set

That's my point ... I'm not braking from the hoods.

particularly if that's a cross frame with a short TT that'll put your torso further forward than I'm assuming

No, it's a mountain bike frame. I'll take another pic of the entire bike showing the relationship between bar / saddle height.

No, it's a mountain bike frame

I think I should give up. I'm clearly not very good at this

Just jumping in guys, I've recently got a Croix de Fer, I do rather like it, top fun and a great road/trail transition of my hard tail...bloody good fun, did I say that..:)

Anyway, I'm still on stock bars and stem, and as its the smallest size, 52cm, it is nice n short up top, and I know it's more about my height & size...but the bars are also a 40cm C to C width...I'm no skinny fella, 40-42" chest, not sure if that matters, but I'm certainly thinking wider bars...do you have any news on the CdeFer fit yet?

Red

I've got them on my Fargo..





Love them.

Currently debating a 2nd set to replace the Cowbells on my Vaya.

few slightly different positions to try out there by the looks - thanks for the insights
I nearly went and bought a fargo, but found the brown colour offended my eyes and reminded me of late 70s clothes I had to wear as a kid

I nearly went and bought a fargo, but found the brown colour offended my eyes and reminded me of late 70s clothes I had to wear as a kid

It'll be getting Powdercoated once I think of a nice colour for it!

They've certainly altered the look of the bike (it's got 28mm Gatorskins on at the mo, but switching those to some new Smart Sams).
Will mess around with the lever positioning in the morning, but they already feel comfy and a fairly natural position sat on the bike in the living room.
Plenty more room for the bar harness and dry bag now

Looking forward to trying it off-road - the croix is already pushing me to find its limits off-road
Once again, thanks for the help folks

Colour choice for a Fargo. Difficult choice...

I've just remembered reading these a few years ago ... worth looking through if you're playing about with 'off road' drop bars.

http://www.63xc.com/mattc/midge.htm

http://mtbtires.com/features/bikes/why_dropbars.html

Having looked at the pics on here and then at how my Gryphon was set up I decided to raise the bar height a little. Will see how it feels next couple of rides. As it only involved spacer shuffling and a fiddle with bar angle it's easily reversible.

Having done this I now have a secondhand pair of Luxy bars that I don't want to fit before I've tried out the new setup. I think the roadrat might be getting a makeover from the parts bin and the Luxy's instead

totally superb in my opinion!

On my Tripster and are perfect on and off road with 105 levers.

Love them - wouldn't consider anything else!

Sheffield-20140507-00441 by scandalous29er, on Flickr

Sheffield-20140507-00442 by scandalous29er, on Flickr

the reach is long and low with the current oem stem. So thinking of a slight rise in the stem, as you seem to have found cheeky monkey.
will get some images from next weeks bikepacking trip with harnesses and drybags fitted.