Old Fat & Slow Gear Vol.9 - Handlebars

I've been riding flat bars for a long time now, and have generally accepted numbness in the hands as part of the game. So I never really planned to do anything about it, but last night I was at REI getting a replacement for my itty bitty swiss army knife that didn'tmake it through airport security, when I came across an Easton riser bar for $18. Being a cheapskate and knowing that I'd probably never see a price like that again, I grabbed it. I installed it last night, having to replace only the front brake cable housing. Hit the trail this morning and was in for a big surprise. The new bar is at least 6 inches wider than the old one and the rise is about 1.5 inches. My first impression was that it felt like driving a school bus with a giant steering wheel. Every steering motion took way more input than with the old bar. The riding position feels much more upright even though its only a small change, and the whole balance makes Mr Klein feel like a completely different bike. I don't know if I like it or not.

Out on the trail, it seems like the change in riding position causes the front wheel to have less bite and the front fork seems stiffer, since my substantial weight is shifted back. I feel like I have to steer the bike around obstacles rather than just flow along and make little tweaks as needed.The jury will be out for a while on this one.

I think the bar is probably too wide, about 6 inches wider than the old flat bar, but I'm going to ride it as is for a few weeks and see whether I get used to it. If not, I'll start by cutting about an inch off each end. I could just cut 2 inches off one end, but it might look a little funny.

On my trip to the hellhole of the southwest (Las Vegas) I took a few pictures of Hoover Dam.

Now, I realize that Hoover is one of the great engineering feats of the early 20th century, but being used to the dams on the Columbia River, this one seems kind of small. The other striking thing is the water level, 100 feet below normal and never expected to be full again. Wonder if that has anything to do with Los Angeles and the 5 million people in phoenix?