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Old WTB/Specialized dirt drop vs new?

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JohnnyH

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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
I have one of the old WTB dirt drop bars found hiding in the back of a shop years ago. These are silver marked "Specialized" on one side and "WTB RM-2" on the other side. I am curious how these compare in shape to the new WTB bars. I haven't found a shop to see the new ones in person. My old ones seem to be the same width as the new - 600 wide at the ends? I'm curious about the drop and flare comparison.
Sorry! Never mind... found it here: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=368067&highlight=wtb+dirt+drops
 
#2 ·
Well if you don't like the shape of the old RM-2's let me know and I will swap you for my comfy but not vintage set of styling Midge bars.....
 
#6 ·
The Salsa Woodchippers are, I think, the closest anyone has come yet to the good/old WTB's. The feel and position IN the drops is just about identical.

The Salsas are quite different though above the brake levers: The top of the bar is much wider before it curves and that curve is much more abrupt than on the WTB's. This means you can have some reasonable hand positions on the top and both at and just behind the hoods that you don't on the WTB's.

The ends of the Salsa are longer than the WTB's and especially if you're using barcon shifters you may want to cut down the ends. 1-1/4" cut off leaves you with a length the same as the WTB's.

Finally, the hand position in the drops on Salsa 46's is very close to (maybe 1cm wider than) the WTB's -- so the Salsa 42's would appealing for anyone with narrower shoulders and/or who thought the WTB's were too wide.
 
#8 ·
dyg2001 said:
Anybody running SRAM brifters on their old WTB/Specialized/Nitto dirt drops? If so, what are your comments on that set-up compared to bar-end shifters?
Click to expand...
I've not run SRAM integrated shifters, but I have run Shimano. They worked fine, but not amazing. The shifting was good, however the shape of the integrated hoods wasn't great (and you may find the same thing with SRAM).

"Modern" Shimano shifters tend to be a bit bulkier than the older-style levers. When you ride the hoods and they are vertical (as they are on a traditional drop bar) everything is comfortable. However, when you tilt the bodies by 30 degrees (or whatever they are on a WTB bar) the bulky shape is really noticeable and less comfortable.

While riding dirt-drop bars I don't ride on the hoods nearly as much as I do on pavement, so the shape is not a deal breaker. I spend more time in the drops, and like I said the shifting works fine from there. I suspect that SRAM would work fine too. I'm not so sure that I'd recommend Campy shifters as reaching the thumb-lever from the drops might be a problem.

In the end I went back to barcons.
 
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#9 ·
Just a note on SRAM brifters from my personal observations. I hang out with folks that ride gravel and ride a lot of gravel roads myself. The folks running SRAM brifters seem to be having failures where the lever that does the shifting has its pivot work loose and the lever falls out of the lever body. When this occurs the shifter defaults to the highest gear, leaving you with no option but to walk unless it is table top flat.

This isn't a "few instances" either, it is wide spread in the gravel riding community. My theory is that it is caused by vibrations due to the rougher roads. I would tend to be wary then of using SRAM on an off road bike that sees a lot of mileage.
 
#10 ·
Guitar Ted said:
Just a note on SRAM brifters from my personal observations. I hang out with folks that ride gravel and ride a lot of gravel roads myself. The folks running SRAM brifters seem to be having failures where the lever that does the shifting has its pivot work loose and the lever falls out of the lever body. When this occurs the shifter defaults to the highest gear, leaving you with no option but to walk unless it is table top flat.

This isn't a "few instances" either, it is wide spread in the gravel riding community. My theory is that it is caused by vibrations due to the rougher roads. I would tend to be wary then of using SRAM on an off road bike that sees a lot of mileage.
Click to expand...
Any problems with Shimano or Campy? I was thinking of mounting a set of 9 sp Ergo levers on a bike.
 
#11 ·
I used campy brifters on my dirt drop bar for years - primarily on a somewhat aggressive 1+ hour urban commute, but also on some very rough and tumble mountain bike trails (the kind people would ride their 6" travel bikes on), and never had any problems The downshift lever (on the side) was not ideally positioned while riding in the drops, but i spent most of my time on the hoods. You really have to crank the cr@p out of the clamp to keep them from rotating while offroad, though. If you have it set up for riding in the drops primarily, clearly there won't be a problem with that.

No experience with extended gravel riding.
 
#16 ·
dyg2001 said:
Anybody running SRAM brifters on their old WTB/Specialized/Nitto dirt drops? If so, what are your comments on that set-up compared to bar-end shifters?
Click to expand...
The WTB (new or old) and Nitto dirt drops are VERY different bars.

I liked the original WTB with brifters and continue to use them on Midge bars. Generally I like the STI levers better than barend shifters, but barends are the next best choice for offroad use.
 
#17 ·
laffeaux said:
I've not run SRAM integrated shifters, but I have run Shimano. They worked fine, but not amazing. The shifting was good, however the shape of the integrated hoods wasn't great (and you may find the same thing with SRAM).

"Modern" Shimano shifters tend to be a bit bulkier than the older-style levers. When you ride the hoods and they are vertical (as they are on a traditional drop bar) everything is comfortable. However, when you tilt the bodies by 30 degrees (or whatever they are on a WTB bar) the bulky shape is really noticeable and less comfortable.

While riding dirt-drop bars I don't ride on the hoods nearly as much as I do on pavement, so the shape is not a deal breaker. I spend more time in the drops, and like I said the shifting works fine from there. I suspect that SRAM would work fine too. I'm not so sure that I'd recommend Campy shifters as reaching the thumb-lever from the drops might be a problem.

In the end I went back to barcons.
Click to expand...
I like the shape on the hoods. I tend to grip the sides rather that the top of the hood. Add the angle from the bar and I have a broader support platform.
 
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