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So, as Lung knows from our ride discussions, I love love LOVE the look of the Taylor bars on Ghostal, which was it’s original vision. But in actual practice, for city riding they remain as uncomfortable as they were on Fix-e when I first bought them. The issue is that the bars drop into the, well, drops, almost immediately, leaving very little at the top of the bars for you to rest on in an upright position. Further, there’s no ‘hood’ position as with conventional bars, so you really have two choices: ride in the drops themselves the entire time, or do like I frequently have, and perch on the crown awkwardly, one hand on the top of the bars and one on the BREAK I MEAN BRAKE itself. This is fine for a jaunt across town, but it’s an awkward position for controlling the bike in the clutch, as per our modern parlance, and frankly, maybe if I was 135lbs the drops would be fine, but that’s too much pressure on my diaphragm, especially with a bag on. Fine for a climbing ride, not so much for riding around town. Meanwhile, I haven’t had my bulls on a bike since I pulled them off of Fix-e for a change-up (putting the Taylors ON, ironically enough)… so I thought hey, this Ghostal is one smooooth ride… how fun would it be with bulls? And so I did. This morning. Squinting at it given the dim light of my bikeBasement(tm) and the lask of near focal capability as my eyes heal from those shark lasers.
Here’s where you come in, dear reader.
Should I keep the Ghostal scheme, and wrap these bulls in white Kierin grips again, or should I use the Brooks wrap to match the saddle, as I have done in the past. I’m of two minds, so I thought I’d see what you thought.
I’ve included the bars as they are now, one-side wrapped, so you can see the Brooks leather tape…

…and here’s a gentle mock-up of the grips.

Let it be known!
Follow this topic in the R3 Forum here!
Related posts:
- Bike Build Process Log: Ghostal – Naked Bulls
- Bike Build Process Log: Ye Blacke Death – Over the Moon
- Bike Build Process Log: Ghostal – Make it Stop!


