In praise of the B115

For going on five years now, I've ridden my Cannondale commuter outfitted with Nitto moustache bars. I love the shape, I love the look, I love the feel of those bars. I've ridden countless thousands of miles with minimal back or shoulder pain and never had any reason to want to change them. And yet I did.

Last year my very good friend Mad Dingo, an occasional commenter on this blog, sent me a pair of Nitto B115, 45cm drop handlebars. I installed them a few months ago with a dirt drop stem, and put the moustache bars on my fixed gear. Now, every day, I ride the drop bars to work and, I have to say, I love them. The drop is perfect, the width is wonderful, and I've got less then minimal back and shoulder pain (as in none). For the first time in my life, I'm able to ride the drops with ease. I feel a little guilty dropping the moustache bars as easily as I did, but what are you going to do?

For those of you experiencing back or shoulder pain while riding, I highly recommend raising your stem height by 2-3 centimeters and getting a nice, wide Nitto drop handlebar.