Dirt Drop Bars For Touring

Nitto rm 013 ht dirt drop heat treated handlebars flared 48cm width 26mm clamp.

Dirt drop bars for touring.

Drop bars offer a lower and narrower body position which puts you in a more aero position. Drop or road style handlebars from nitto of tokyo and soma fabrications are made with function ergonomics and durability in mind. Typical flat bars measure 58 60 cm wide. The idea is that you can ride with your hands on the hoods for comfort and you can get into the drops for rough stuff and still maintain control.

Surly disc trucker is a pure bred drop bar touring bike that can take you from one end of the world to the other if there s a road to travel on. The basic tenant of using dirt drops is that unlike traditional drop bars you want the brake hoods to be at least the same height as the saddle preferably higher. With its massive 45 flare the alpkit love mud bomber is definitely more in the dirt drop style. These are the medium width version.

On average drop bars are around 20 cm narrower than flat bars. The main difference between the two or so i thought is the diameter of the bar at the stem clamp sleeve. This difference comes in handy if you spend a lot of time weaving through tight traffic while commuting in a busy city. The bar is constructed from 60601 aluminum and designed for on and off road adventure riding.

Drops can fit through more narrow spots in traffic standard drop bars measure around 40 46 cm in width. There is a version that is narrower and one that is wider. Compared to many of the radically flared dirt drop handlebars on the market these keep your brake levers in a more vertical orientation rather than angling them outward so the lever position is more akin to a traditional non flared drop bar. There s an aero advantage to fitting drop bars to your bike.

I recently did a side by side comparison and was surprised to see just how different these bars are. In the hoods or drops you can tuck your elbows in and reduce your body s frontal area. The rm 013 is 26 0mm and the rm 014 is 31 8 mm. Handlebars with multiple hand locations allow you to switch it up giving your muscles and joints a much needed break on a long ride.