Off road drop bars availability in Australia

User avatar
Bentnose
Posts: 1327
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:00 am
Location: N/E suburbs Melbourne, Victoria

Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Bentnose » Fri Dec 25, 2015 8:06 am

I'm after an off road drop bar for the cross bike, not finding the current set up riding in the drops to my liking. I was looking at the On One Midge until I noticed the shipping is $100 on a $20 USD bar. What bars are readily available in Australia? I specifically don't want to spend too much as I'm not sure if I'll like it.
No signature

User avatar
RonK
Posts: 11508
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:08 pm
Location: If you need to know, ask me
Contact:

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby RonK » Fri Dec 25, 2015 11:23 am

It seem ridiculous that a UK company redirects AUS customers to their US web site. But if you ignore that and go to the UK PlanetX website you'll be able to get them for $AUD73.50 (at today's fx) including shipping.

I doubt you'll find them offered at such a low price anywhere though.

I don't know who has stocks, but locally you are probably most likely to find Salsa Woodchipper bars.
Cycle touring blog and tour journals: whispering wheels...

User avatar
Bentnose
Posts: 1327
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:00 am
Location: N/E suburbs Melbourne, Victoria

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Bentnose » Sat Dec 26, 2015 8:03 am

RonK wrote:It seem ridiculous that a UK company redirects AUS customers to their US web site. But if you ignore that and go to the UK PlanetX website you'll be able to get them for $AUD73.50 (at today's fx) including shipping.

I doubt you'll find them offered at such a low price anywhere though.

I don't know who has stocks, but locally you are probably most likely to find Salsa Woodchipper bars.
I was on the UK website, the US website is a couple of dollars cheaper, mind you this is all USD, so they are an eye watering $AUD165, unless you have a secret way of getting the price lower, how'd you get $AUD73.50? Or am I doing something wrong?
No signature

User avatar
Bentnose
Posts: 1327
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:00 am
Location: N/E suburbs Melbourne, Victoria

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Bentnose » Sat Dec 26, 2015 8:33 am

$85 with postage for a Salsa Cowbell 3 from Bike 24 in black,would prefer white, thinking I might prefer a more subtle flare of 12 degrees, I'll think about it and see if local is worthwhile.
No signature

User avatar
RonK
Posts: 11508
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:08 pm
Location: If you need to know, ask me
Contact:

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby RonK » Sun Dec 27, 2015 8:42 am

Bentnose wrote:
RonK wrote:It seem ridiculous that a UK company redirects AUS customers to their US web site. But if you ignore that and go to the UK PlanetX website you'll be able to get them for $AUD73.50 (at today's fx) including shipping.

I doubt you'll find them offered at such a low price anywhere though.

I don't know who has stocks, but locally you are probably most likely to find Salsa Woodchipper bars.
I was on the UK website, the US website is a couple of dollars cheaper, mind you this is all USD, so they are an eye watering $AUD165, unless you have a secret way of getting the price lower, how'd you get $AUD73.50? Or am I doing something wrong?
Wierd!

If I put a black midge bar in my basket, the price is £20.83 + £14.99 shipping to Aus = £35.82 ($AUD73.25 at today's fx).
If I put a white midge bar in my basket, the price is £12.49 + £59.99 shipping to Aus = £72.48

Coming from the UK £14.99 shipping is expensive - £59.99 is ridiculous.There has got to be an error on their website, I'd be contacting them and asking to correct it.
Cycle touring blog and tour journals: whispering wheels...

gabrielle260
Posts: 1150
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2011 3:47 pm

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby gabrielle260 » Sun Dec 27, 2015 8:48 am

Bentnose wrote:I'm after an off road drop bar for the cross bike, not finding the current set up riding in the drops to my liking. I was looking at the On One Midge until I noticed the shipping is $100 on a $20 USD bar. What bars are readily available in Australia? I specifically don't want to spend too much as I'm not sure if I'll like it.
I've got a Ragley Luxy bar in excellent condition that I can sell you. PM me if you are interested, I'm in Melbourne.
Andrew

User avatar
Bentnose
Posts: 1327
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:00 am
Location: N/E suburbs Melbourne, Victoria

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Bentnose » Sun Dec 27, 2015 4:49 pm

$58 for an On One black Midge if you choose Royal Mail option, will e-mail to find out why it isn't the case with the white one.

PM about to be sent to gabrielle260.

Edited PM name.
No signature

User avatar
Bentnose
Posts: 1327
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:00 am
Location: N/E suburbs Melbourne, Victoria

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Bentnose » Sun Dec 27, 2015 5:23 pm

Anyone thinking I'll need a higher rise stem, currently have an 8 degree, may need to buy an adjustable. Thinking the costs are starting to add up a little.
No signature

User avatar
KGB
Posts: 1629
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:49 pm

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby KGB » Sun Dec 27, 2015 10:22 pm

Coming from the UK £14.99 shipping is expensive - £59.99 is ridiculous.There has got to be an error on their website, I'd be contacting them and asking to correct it.
RonK, everything I put in my basket the other night was coming up as 59 squid for shipping, I even tried just a single tshirt. I gave up.
Image

User avatar
singlespeedscott
Posts: 5510
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:35 pm
Location: Elimbah, Queensland

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby singlespeedscott » Sun Dec 27, 2015 10:49 pm

Check eBay for a selection of good quality Nitto dirt drops at reasonable prices. Much better quality than the on one stuff.
Image

User avatar
Bentnose
Posts: 1327
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:00 am
Location: N/E suburbs Melbourne, Victoria

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Bentnose » Mon Dec 28, 2015 8:25 am

singlespeedscott wrote:Check eBay for a selection of good quality Nitto dirt drops at reasonable prices. Much better quality than the on one stuff.
The Nitto ones seem to be all traditional clamp size, the only 31.8mm was astronomically exspensive and they were all silver, so not really what I'm after, good suggestion though.
No signature

User avatar
RonK
Posts: 11508
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:08 pm
Location: If you need to know, ask me
Contact:

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby RonK » Mon Dec 28, 2015 10:05 am

Bentnose wrote:Anyone thinking I'll need a higher rise stem, currently have an 8 degree, may need to buy an adjustable. Thinking the costs are starting to add up a little.
Can't see why - these bars will have shallower drops anyway.
Cycle touring blog and tour journals: whispering wheels...

User avatar
Bentnose
Posts: 1327
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:00 am
Location: N/E suburbs Melbourne, Victoria

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Bentnose » Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:24 pm

RonK wrote:
Bentnose wrote:Anyone thinking I'll need a higher rise stem, currently have an 8 degree, may need to buy an adjustable. Thinking the costs are starting to add up a little.
Can't see why - these bars will have shallower drops anyway.
I'm also trying to get my position higher overall because my cross bike only sits about 1.5cm higher than my road bike, looking at having it at least 3cm higher, but we'll see, I may have to fettle the position a bit.
No signature

User avatar
Bentnose
Posts: 1327
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:00 am
Location: N/E suburbs Melbourne, Victoria

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Bentnose » Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:10 pm

This is the email I got back from Planet X:

Hello

Thank you for your email.

The shipping cost is automatically calculated from the size and weight of the order.

Regrettably, we are unable to reduce the cost of shipping items, as this is what we are charged by our carrier.


You would think if someone flags it they would check it, so I responded back saying I was puzzled as I would think the white bar and the black bar would be the same size and weight. They got back back to me saying:

It appears that the volumetrics have been set incorrectly for the white bar, with the weight being declared 2kg heavier than it actually is.

I've fed this back - and I imagine that this should be updated later today.


Problem sorted it seems.
No signature

User avatar
Leaf T
Posts: 957
Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:22 pm

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Leaf T » Mon Jan 04, 2016 4:31 pm

Well done. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. Shows it's worth inquiring in these situations. Did you order some bars? I broke a barend on my ergons and was thinking of trying some dirt drops for extra reach on a Thorn RT touring bike. I ended up buying more ergons and different mtb bars but am still keeping in mind some dirt type drops.

User avatar
Bentnose
Posts: 1327
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:00 am
Location: N/E suburbs Melbourne, Victoria

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Bentnose » Mon Jan 04, 2016 4:35 pm

Leaf T wrote:Well done. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. Shows it's worth inquiring in these situations. Did you order some bars? I broke a barend on my ergons and was thinking of trying some dirt drops for extra reach on a Thorn RT touring bike. I ended up buying more ergons and different mtb bars but am still keeping in mind some dirt type drops.
Currently trying to tee up some used Ragley Lux bars from a member here.
No signature

gabrielle260
Posts: 1150
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2011 3:47 pm

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby gabrielle260 » Mon Jan 04, 2016 5:10 pm

It's just waiting for me to get back to Melbourne from soggy Bright!

User avatar
singlespeedscott
Posts: 5510
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:35 pm
Location: Elimbah, Queensland

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby singlespeedscott » Mon Jan 04, 2016 10:33 pm

I use to have sone luxy bars. I found them to be rediculously to wide. And that was for mtb. I couldn't fathom spending more then 10 min in the drops off these on a road type bike.
Image

User avatar
Bentnose
Posts: 1327
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:00 am
Location: N/E suburbs Melbourne, Victoria

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Bentnose » Tue Jan 05, 2016 6:13 am

singlespeedscott wrote:I use to have sone luxy bars. I found them to be rediculously to wide. And that was for mtb. I couldn't fathom spending more then 10 min in the drops off these on a road type bike.
My intention is to have them quite high, if I don't like them then I'll get a Salsa Cowbell, which isn't as flared, would like to give em a go though.
No signature

User avatar
singlespeedscott
Posts: 5510
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:35 pm
Location: Elimbah, Queensland

Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby singlespeedscott » Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:05 am

Image

This is the only image I could find of mine from 4 years ago. As you can see they spread your hands pretty wide. This is fine when pushing the pace but becomes tyresome when your cruising as you need a strong core to hold yourself upright. It's almost like doing a wide hand body plank
Image

User avatar
RonK
Posts: 11508
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:08 pm
Location: If you need to know, ask me
Contact:

Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby RonK » Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:46 am

Bentnose wrote:
singlespeedscott wrote:I use to have sone luxy bars. I found them to be rediculously to wide. And that was for mtb. I couldn't fathom spending more then 10 min in the drops off these on a road type bike.
My intention is to have them quite high, if I don't like them then I'll get a Salsa Cowbell, which isn't as flared, would like to give em a go though.
You may not be aware that Salsa recently released the Cowchipper which as the name suggests, falls between the Cowbell and Woodchipper and further broadens the options.
Cycle touring blog and tour journals: whispering wheels...

User avatar
Bentnose
Posts: 1327
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:00 am
Location: N/E suburbs Melbourne, Victoria

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Bentnose » Tue Jan 05, 2016 3:56 pm

singlespeedscott wrote:Image

This is the only image I could find of mine from 4 years ago. As you can see they spread your hands pretty wide. This is fine when pushing the pace but becomes tyresome when your cruising as you need a strong core to hold yourself upright. It's almost like doing a wide hand body plank
The idea is to put myself in the position were I'm cruising with my hands on the drops, the problem with putting drops on an MTB is that the top tube is long so putting drops on feels real long, the On One's in particular have a longer than normal top tube, I know because I have one. I want the drop position to feel as comfortable as the hoods but with a more solid grip on the bars a better breaking ability. Looking at it now I should have got a rigid 29er with a Jones bar or something like it.

I've seen the Cowchipper, I can see me having a million handlebars, the 2nd hand Ragley Lux is looking the cheapest option at the moment, I just want to experiment with different positions, I don't like to ride a bike and say that will do, I generally build my own bikes even if it costs more. In the last 23 years Ive had 12 bikes, 6 built from scratch, 6 off the shelf.
No signature

User avatar
Leaf T
Posts: 957
Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:22 pm

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Leaf T » Tue Jul 26, 2016 1:04 pm

How are you getting on with the bars? I want to try the Cowbells but it's a lot of money to spend on something I might not like. Can have them landed for $90A and thought my local BS would be worth trying as they're well priced on Velo Orange bars. Unfortunately it's $150 for the Cowbell 3 so I guess it's the distributor skimming the cream. I might have to take the Nitto noodles off another bike to see if I want to go back to drops but would prefer to avoid removing all the cables etc.

User avatar
Bentnose
Posts: 1327
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:00 am
Location: N/E suburbs Melbourne, Victoria

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Bentnose » Tue Jul 26, 2016 7:25 pm

Leaf T wrote:How are you getting on with the bars? I want to try the Cowbells but it's a lot of money to spend on something I might not like. Can have them landed for $90A and thought my local BS would be worth trying as they're well priced on Velo Orange bars. Unfortunately it's $150 for the Cowbell 3 so I guess it's the distributor skimming the cream. I might have to take the Nitto noodles off another bike to see if I want to go back to drops but would prefer to avoid removing all the cables etc.
I haven't actually put them on yet, I will eventually do it. I'd just put new brifters, handlebars and bar tape on the bike and wanted to wear them out a bit first, it takes a bit of time to change handlebars on a road bike set up, I have some zebra Cinelli handlebar tape on standby for the process.
No signature

User avatar
Leaf T
Posts: 957
Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:22 pm

Re: Off road drop bars availability in Australia

Postby Leaf T » Wed Jul 27, 2016 10:47 am

Hi Bentnose. It is a bit of a hassle swapping around but I'm using a Rohloff so makes it easier than having to deal with seperate shifters. If you get a chance can you measure the tops of the cowbells for me? I'm wondering how long the 31.8 section is. I want to mount a handlebar bag and inline brake levers.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users