Jeff Jones Handlebars?

Does anyone in Chicago area have a bike that currently has one?

I am looking for either the Loop or Cut versions. The TL;DR version is that I want a bar that will be comfy all day, but isn't a drop or a mustache. I ride year round, avoid my car, and ergo feel the steep(!) pricetag is OK.

But before I go out and drop the $ on one, I'd like to try at least one bar, to see if it really is as nice as everyone says online. People in general say once you go Jones you never go back, but I'd like to actually ride one.

If anyone has a H-bar in their current setup, please reply and let me know. I'd be happy to split a six pack with you in exchange for letting me test ride it.

I'm not sure if anyone will, since this is more of a MTB bar, but if you do, let me know. I'm going to put this onto a 58cm Surly CC w a Nexus inter8 hub.

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Permalink Reply by Casey Carnes on October 4, 2011 at 10:50am

I have a similar pair (titec cut h-bar) sitting at home that I haven't got around to installing, you can throw them on a stem and try them out if you like. They do have a slight rise to them, unlike the jones h-bar, but you can flip the stem to offset this if need-be. Also they are cheaper than the jones'.

Keep in mind you will need longer brake and shift cables for this setup due to the lever location being further outboard on the bars. I bought the new hydraulic lines for my brakes but have been too lazy to do the swap yet b/c of this.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Sterling on October 5, 2011 at 4:26am

Thank you for replying.

I am familiar w the titec h and j bars. I want the Jones b/c of the Loop, and the hand positions it provides. I have an alfine trigger right now for my Nexus hub, but am thinking of going to the Paul components thumb mount and use bar ends, indexing w a travel agent if needed. Even if not, the Loop would still accommodate the trigger shift.

Do you have a shim by chance? I have a CC but it was a custom buildup, and my stem is a 31.8.

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Permalink Reply by Casey Carnes on October 5, 2011 at 4:48am

I do have shims around, I probably also have a standard sized stem. I have an alfine trigger shifter too, and although it fits on, it isnt exactly easy to access. With the titec bars, you mount the levers/shifter on the front side, I guess on the loop bars you would have to mount on the rear side...

I thought about using a JTEC bar-end, but these bars are already wide and I don't want them any wider with the bar-end. You can do the thumbie with 8 spd shifter and travel agent, but I would be concerned about long term hub wear if you aren't "just right" in the gears. Jtec is supposedly working on a thumb mount shifter for nexus/alfine but I haven't heard anything on that in over a year. I almost think a grip shift would be the best for this bar, but I'm not a big fan of them.

You've probably seen this...

http://bikehugger.com/post/view/alfine-hub-drop-bars-omg-i-wan

Anyways, I live in Roscoe Village, you can send me a message if you wanted to try the bars.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Sterling on October 7, 2011 at 6:07am

I will get probably get in touch with you, thank you again for the offer, Casey.

And to be clear, I'm from Minneapolis, my build is custom, done in part by two guys who used to work at QBP, which owns Surly. So yeah, I've heard plenty about the ways to do a Nexus w drops or other bars that just don't take a trigger/grip very well. Jtek is also a MN company, headquartered in the same city my mom lives in, actually. So yeah, I've seen this setup before.

And you're right, you'd have to adjust the spacing on the gears very frequently if you're using a travel agent. I know a couple people that have this setup and so far they've been OK as far as bike wear goes.

Thanks again!

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Permalink Reply by Joe Torres on October 15, 2011 at 6:33pm

Hey Adam, I just put these bars on my new Salsa Mukluk and can honestly say they are excellent! I got them from North Central Cyclery in Dekalb. I would be happy to let you take a ride on my bike and check them out. I'm out in the Orland Park area. I wouldn't sweat it too much on dropping the coin before testing them out. You will get your money back if you resell them. They are a hot item.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Sterling on October 18, 2011 at 4:02am

Damn, that is a sweet looking ride. I'm will most def. get in touch with you. Thank you so much for replying. I know I can resell them, I just want a feel for how they feel before I drop the money, and have to redo all the cabling on my bike.

I'll get in touch with you here. Thanks again.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Sterling on November 18, 2011 at 7:39am

Bit the bullet and ordered an aluminum loop hbar. Pics will be posted.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Sterling on December 6, 2011 at 8:33am

It took me a hot second to mount but here it is, almost done. Apparently there isn't a LBS in Chicago that sells cork grips, which Jones recommends, so I'm still using the shitty Oury grips from the flatbar I had before. Bars need to be wrapped, too.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Sterling on December 6, 2011 at 8:38am

Apparently I'm also too stupid to figure out how to add images to a thread already in progress. It's also annoying that when I click on "edit thread" I get bumped back to the top of the page, rather than actually being able to edit the thread.