thehammerdog

I have the Cowbell on my monster gravel bike and like it. Anyone go with the wider drops on cx/graveler?
i need new barz...

mstateglfr 

https://salsacycles.com/components/c...ars/cowchipper

Go to the next bar in the lineup- the Cowchipper. Its right between the Cowbell and the Woodchipper bars.
I love my Cowchippers- they are comforable on the hoods, tops, hooks, and drops.

Elvo

wheelsmcgee

Im sure it’s a personal preference, but I have a bike with cowbells and another one other cowchippers, my vote goes toward cowchippers...just seems like my wrists are in a more natural position.

Bryan C. 

Woodchipper?

I have read a post about the inability for those wide bars to be set up for comfortable riding on the drops AND the hoods. Any truth to this? I'm curious if that's why Shimano GRX has the intermediate brake levers.

dwmckee

Cowbell for me. I am betting like a lot of other trends in bikes, bar flare trends will keep going wider to the extreme then the norm will settle back to something close to the Cowbell. I personally find the wider bars make you wider on the bike and that makes it harder to maneuver around trees, other bikes, bike path bollards & gates, and between ingenerous cars and cement shoulder barriers... I have had one incidence where I was crossing a narrow road bridge and a passing car squeezed me to the barrir on the side. I had maybe an inch on either side of the drops. If I had wider bars I would have had no room to maintain steering without scraping one side or the other (or both). If you do go to a more flared bar I recommend going to a narrower bar overall...

ober27

After looking at, and handling, all three Salsa bars at a bike shop, I chose the Woodchippers. I've ridden several hundred miles now since installation. I have to say that they are the most comfortable bars I've ever used, both on the hoods and in the drops. I have great access to the brake levers from both positions. The angle of both the drops and the hoods feel very natural to my arms and wrists.
The width at the end of the drops can be a challenge at times, especially since I have bar end shifters. It hasn't been a problem in the woods, or on single track since they're not any wider than many MTB bars. Moving the bike around in the garage is more of a challenge to keep the shifters from scratching the cars, hauling multiple bikes on our hitch rack requires a bit of adjustment with the shifters sticking out so far.
Obviously it's a personal preference, but I wouldn't want any less flare or sweep. One nice thing is if you try one and don't like it, they sell for very close to new price on Craigslist or Facebook.
Good luck with whatever you choose.

Marcus_Ti

Have a Cowbell on my rig ATM....replacing with with a bar similar to a Cowchipper:

https://spank-ind.com/products/spank...84%A2-drop-bar

Problem being I saved $30 by ordering it from the UK December 1, and it is still in the mail. Allegedly at JFK,. now. Ugh. Probably not seeing it until 2020.

DrIsotope

I'm gonna guess Salsa measures their flare per side, because my Thomson Dirt Drop is similarly listed as 25º flare, but has nowhere near the splayed-out look of the Woodchipper. The Spank bar mentioned above looks very similar to the Thomson, and is also listed as 25º flare.

If you want a lot of space for clamping stuff, take a look at the Thomson. It's my 3rd flared bar so far, and I'm perfectly satisfied with it.

tangerineowl

That's Steve from Curve in the pic, with a Walmer bar fitted.

shoota 

If you like your Cowbell bars why do you need new barz?

And what width are you looking for? I have a set of Cowchippers I don't need.

thehammerdog

if i was not clear it i s for a different bike .

shoota 

Ahhh, makes sense. So what width Cowchipper are you looking for? I'll have to double check the width of mine when I get home.

thehammerdog

i am just unsure how the wider bars feel and this is for a cx / gravel bike the other is a 26 inch gravel beast that i have cowbells on. Im seeking more top bar space but the wider flares 24 degrees i am not so sure so seeking feedback.

shoota 

If you're going to race cx with this bike then I wouldn't go with any more flare than the Cowbells. If it's going to be 100% gravel then the extra flare of the Cowchipper starts to make more sense

redlude97

cowchipper lover here as well for gravel. I still run without flare on the CX bike but in a wider width since I use the hoods 99% of the time there

biketampa

what's the reach on your cowchipper? It says 68mm on their website but other places I've seen 79.2mm and 96mm so I'm not sure how and what points they're measuring from.

Steve B.

My new Topstone came with a 42cm bar, I need wider so got these in 44, perfect size and a nice bar. Not seen in the photo is they have a bit of a flat top which I like. $35

https://www.jensonusa.com/FSA-NS-Adventure-Drop-Bar

mstateglfr 

I would be surprised if its more than the stated 68 since thats really awful to misrepresent such a popular product, and also because they seem relatively short reach to me.
Ill measure tonight.

biketampa

cool thanks. I think the other measurements I've seen mentioned might be somehow measuring different points and when I've seen pictures of the cowchipper bars the reach looks pretty short to me. I have the long leg, short torso issue so reach is always a slight issue for me so I was looking at the cowchipper bars in case I need to swap handlebars for something with a shorter reach. My current bars have a 80mm reach.