Bike Tinker

State of the Bontrager 3-13-12

Bontrager Privateer 1999

Written by

philip

in

Mostly Stock 1999 Bontrager Privateer

orange and blue 1999 Bontrager Privateer

Steel OX Platinum, wishbone seatstays, special Bontrager-specific black-crown SID fork
Bontrager “by Chris King” hubs; replacement rear rim (Ritchey Girder)
Geax Blade on the front, Panaracer Fire XC Pro on the back
9 speed cassette, XTR derailleur, XT front derailleur, Suntour bar-end shifters
On-One Midge bars – flared offroad drops; Newbaum’s cloth tape in blue and orange
Ugly stem, spray-painted blue

Bontrager Privateer 1999This year I want to try Jeff Jones’ H-bars or Loop bars. I’ll keep an eye out for the budget Titec version. Hopefully I’ll ride enough to wear out these tires, too.

Comments

6 responses to “State of the Bontrager 3-13-12”

  1. gregclimbs Avatar
    gregclimbs

    get the alloy from jeff himself – price is reasonable and lighter than the ti model…and better than the titec.

    -g

    Reply
    1. philip Avatar
      philip

      Thanks for the tip – I still have a mental model of Jones bars costing $500. Not that I’ve ever paid $120 for handlebars… but I’ve probably gotten $120 worth of joy just looking at Jeff Jones’ bikes… :^) .
      http://www.jonesbikes.com/h-bar.html
      In an ideal world, I’d get the full steel Jones setup, 6 cog cassette and all.

      Reply
  2. andre Avatar
    andre

    $40 is a pretty good deal to try out the style though…
    http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/16092-195_TITHH7-3-Parts-664-Single-Speed-Parts/Titec-H-Bar-offer.htm?utm_source=SLI&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_campaign=FTP&zmam=3075515&zmas=1&zmac=43&zmap=195%20TITHH7

    I had the J bar on a bike for a while, I felt like outer ends of the bar that point back were the only effective grips locations for me. The inner straight section felt like too narrow of a gripping space for me and the forward curved sections were also kind of narrow, but more importantly they felt too far from the controls for me.

    With mustache or drop bars I notice that I have more hand positions and it is easy to slide my hands along the bars to reach them.

    There is aways a new bar to try though. I’m really curious to try a well executed flared drop offroad bike just like the privateer you’ve shown here. The origin8 gary bar i have isn’t bar end compatible though.

    Reply
    1. philip Avatar
      philip

      I like the Salsa Woodchippers I have on my Gary Fisher Gravel Roadster. They’re the narrower ones. I absolutely love the WTB drops on my Quickbeam, and these Midges are okay. I think it’s as much about the balance of the bike (weight distribution) along with the bars as it is about the actual shape of the bars. The Woodchippers are more different from the WTBs than the Midges are, but feel more similar.
      Guitar Ted and Shiggy are the maestros of flared drop testing, I think.

      Reply
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