With a little help from various internet friends (thanks!) I drop-barified the Bontrager. Midge bars, Dia-Compe 287v brake levers for the V-brakes, bar-end shifters. The friction shifters seem to work fine with the 9-speed drivetrain, but I’ve yet to use them while tired and climbing on dirt. The stem extender is the key, here. According to Miles’ BikeCAD drawing, it would take a 180mm stem with a 52 degree rise to get the bars to the same spot.
I thought the bars were short in the ends, but the length is perfect with the bar-end shifters installed. Like they were designed for that. I did have to wrap the Planet Bike cork tape ‘foreskin’ fashion to cover up the scratchy bolts in the shifter pods, but it’s working okay so far.
Ahh… I think that’s the best look for the front of a bike. They seem to flare a little less at the ends than WTB drops, and the tops are wider. I think I can hang my Carradice “Junior” bag up there, which is too wide for the WTB bars.
I’m a dork. Portly, too.
How not to photograph a bike. Junky backyard crap and a dog’s tail! Zero contrast in the part of the shot you want to show off… can a bike photo get any worse?
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