Originally Posted by
fietsbob
Problem I see, personally. : that big lump of tape over the clamp holding that drop-bar ends on .. That is where,
with a conventional drop bar, the curved transition from top to the downward direction
is where actually, riding long distances, I spend most of my time ..
& that big lump is a no-go for that
have a 48cm wide Nitto bar on my loaded, tour for months, bike..
...
I agree. This is why I have also the straight barends. Those are 44 cm apart, and this is what I am using if I want to have a position similar to "on the hoods". I use the drop ends mainly to ride "in the drops". Yes, it feels a little bit wide, but not bad, and I am using it at least half of the time during longer rides.
Overall, it is a compromise. I would prefer a regular wide drop bar --- but this is incompatible with the Brompton fold. I have tried a number of things with folding bikes (Bike Friday Tikit, Brompton), and the dropends are the best solution I could come up with.