JP Bike Research

For the last few weeks, karen and I have had a regular Thursday night babysitter. We’ve seen our first in-theater movie in a while, done some relaxing shopping, but last night with the great weather, we took a bike ride. We stayed looking stylish and cruised around, enjoying the spring air. We headed to booksmith in coolidge corner to browse around. I’m getting really used to the xtracycle, and the funny thing is that the bar-end shifters are really the most noticeable difference with any other bike I’ve had. We ended up at the Belgian beer serving Publick House and chilled outside next to the bikes, while waiting for a spot. A beautiful evening! Once inside, we tried a variety of beers, along with some mussels and Belgian frites. We had a delightful, slightly-drunk ride home in the cool air.

The next morning (today), I got up at 5:30 to get ready for my first bike-train-bike commute to work. Fortunately I looked at the schedule last night to see that all the trains are on Good Friday schedules. 25 minutes of biking down the Jamaica Way and along the Esplanade was so refreshing and scenic. I got to the train station faster that I had expected and so I had a bit of a wait. Boarding the empty train was pretty basic and there were only three other passengers heading outbound. I got off at the Reading stop and biked another 45 minutes — grand total 19 miles. I have to do it on the way home too, which ought to be fun!

My buddy Mike had an extra pair of Nitto Moustache bars hanging around and so I thought I’d try them. The first thing I noticed is that there are actually a few different shapes of moustache bars:

These are the high quality Nitto made of heat-treated 2014 T6 aluminum.  They’re nice and light and have a shorter handlegrip area.  These won’t fit cork grips, and are better made to be taped.  They also work better with bar-end brakes or drop brakes mounted on the front.

These are the different shaped Dimension version — this is more like the style I have on my city bike, since I can’t actually find a link, having bought it from a bicycle discounter.  The hand grips are longer and work well with MTB brake levers, which is how I have my city bike.

I mounted these on, sort of like the first image, and while i loved the feeling of the brakes and the bars, they were not high enough. The Ross is a bit too small for me, but perfect for my xtracycle conversion, so I think the moustache is out.  and so, I just ordered the Albatross bars that I had mentioned before, to set up with MTB levers and bar end shifters.  If those bars don’t work, I’ll just set ‘em up on Karen’s bike.