The Salsa Cycles entry into the off road drop bar market, called the Woodchipper, has been out for awhile now. We’ve had them on a couple of bikes so far and now it is time for a final review on these bars.
The Woodchipper has been great in technical situations, slow speed handling, and works wonders for longer mixed terrain rides. The 25.4mm clamp diameter version especially has a nice give to it that helps take the edge off the smaller trail chatter. The 31.8mm bar is slightly stiffer, but not bad in that regard. The Woodchipper has the longer extensions which add to this comfortable flex when you slide your hands to the outside of the bar.
The Woodchipper is enough different from any of the other off road drop bars that I think that making any direct comparisons is somewhat unfair. You may find that the other offerings have enough of a different character that you may want to own one of each! The Woodchipper’s biggest differences lie in the swept and longer extensions and the more vertical hook. The Woodchipper leaves your levers in a more of a traditional position, so if you are seeking a more road bike-like set up for your levers, the Woodchipper will come closest of any of the available off road drops. From STI levers to levers like the Tektro RL 550, you can set up the Woodchipper to have a usable hood position, if you desire it, quite easily. Other off road drop bars will compromise this a bit.
Conclusions: The Woodchipper is a welcome addition to the off road drop bar scene. It isn’t a bar that is so similar to the competition that it doesn’t make sense, and Salsa shows us that it did its homework well before issuing the design. It works great with a more traditional road lever set up, yet it isn’t anything like a road bar, which is a feat in itself. If there is one thing that is a negative, it is that this very feature- the more vertical hook section- that causes some riders to have too little wrist clearance while climbing in the drops.
The Woodchipper does everything else quite well off road-wise though. It has a nice sweep to the extensions, it has a great shallow drop, it is wide, it comes in two different widths and two different clamp diameter sizes, and it is very comfortable. If you are looking to try an off road drop bar set up, the Woodchipper should be one of your top choices. If you already are an off road drop bar user, the Woodchipper does a lot of things well that the competition doesn’t. It might be worth a hard look for you too. I give it my hearty recommendo.
Note: Salsa Cycles provided one Woodchipper for review, and we purchased two more Woodchippers to be included in this review. We are not being bribed or paid for this review. We will strive to always give our honest opinions throughout. Look for a long term update coming in the following months.
I think this bar needs to be considered as an alternative road and cross bar just as much as an off-road drop bar. I have the 25.4 x 46cm Woodchipper on my Handsome Devil and love it. http://thesteeves.org/dan/3j9
@Dan: Funny thing about that- I had to test ride a new Fisher Ion Pro at work the other day, and I just could not get into the traditional drop bars. My hands felt all wrong on the drops and I felt as though I was twisting my arms in an unnatural position.
I was thinking that Woodchippers would be great on it.
Roadies would cry foul all across the land, but………..
Great review Ted. And i wholeheartedly agree the Dan. The roadies might cry foul, but it sures looks like a good choice for “the rest of us.” The Woodchipper bend looks right up the ally of the Rivendell/Velo Orange/touring crowd and very similar to some rando bends I’ve seen. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Salsa crew got at least part of their inspiration from a sketch or two of old handlebars in Bicycle Quarterly. In fact, Jan Heine should do a test of the Woodchipper for rando use (if he doesn’t have it on the slate already). He’ll probably think its too wide for proper low trail bicycles, but maybe okay to reign in those ungainly modern high trail bikes. ; ) But it’d be fun to read anyway.
I have been using the Woodchipper now for four months on a rigid 29er and think it is a great bar. Highly recommend giving them a try. I like the position so much that I am considering putting a set on my road bike. I have mountain bike pedals on my road bike, use my mountain bike shoes and ride with a Camelback so what’s one more sin against roadydom. I am also building up a Jet9 with these bars. Wonder if there is any chance Salsa will ever come out with a carbon version.
Have them on my Vaya and I love them.
A set will be on my winter mountain bike as well.
I toyed with them on my 29′er Felt but stuck with the flat’s just because of shifting issues. Still to be contemplated though for sure!
I like going against roadie fashion. My road bike has long-reach brakes, 38C treaded tires, a 46cm wide Nitto bar, and a riser Nitto stem (1″ quill!) that makes the carbon racer crowd spew. I also ride this same steel road bike on trails, which gets the same dirty look reaction from the 6″ travel FS . Nothing is quite as punk these days as the Rivendell aesthetic.
Alt bars are great. I hope to try these on a Fargo of my own soon.
I ‘ve got a woodchipper on my Kona jts. I use this bike for everything, road, gravel, off-road. I love the bar.
I like the bar. The flex though can be a bit unnerving. It certainly was to me the first time I bombed a pothole filled hill at full speed. Unlike the case with a flat bar, a good deal of my weight rests in the drops. Failure would be catastrophic. I had to throttle back for fear of breaking the bar.
I’m getting more used to the flex, but my apprehension still has not gone completely away. I’ve simply moderated my riding style to compensate, to avoid flexing the bars too much.
I do like the bar though. I have the wide version, and am thinking to try the narrower version. On the one hand, it’s tough for me to imagine wanting anything narrower. OTOH, my wrists want to flare more than the bar does now. I’m thinking that moving my wrists inwards to fit a narrower bar would change the angle at which they want to flare, and that thus my wrists and bar might be more in synch w/each other.
Been using them on my Fargo (XT build with the bars swapped out). They rock. Climbing works well using the back portion of the flare. At least when standing. Otherwise, haven’t had problems in the drops.
My only negative is would actually like the top flat to flare, either up or back. Nitto Randonneur or Noodle style. But that’s my preference.
Tried them on my Surly LHT, not so much fun. With them really jacked up on the Fargo, that’s another story. Especially on mixed terrain. Or even just long climbs.
Nothing like a timely reply…I’ve been using these ‘bars on a new Lynskey Ridgeline for about 5 weeks now. The other night, I was noodling around the Salsa ‘site and I saw a pdf for the Woodchipper bars, which noted that the extensions were extra long, to allow trimming. Shazam! Out to the garage, hacksaw flailing, and after 10 minutes, I had trimmed about 1.5 inches off of each end. Doing so ended the “unintended-knee-shift” syndrome I was seeing sometimes. There’s still plenty of room to move my hands around, and they’re a little narrower than previously (I have the 42 cm versions). The pdf also notes the presence of cable grooves, which I am unable to detect, but I like the full round profile better.
hi I`m a little late, hope someone replies.
I like these bars from a tourer perspective, but what about shifters? are expebnsive STI`s the only solution, or will deore`s on the hoods work too?
I read the specs from the salsa site, no can do with MTB tech.
stupid diametre`s
that`s xxxxxx up, sorry for the following, rant.
drop bar afficiandos are left with the leftovers from decades ago. sure STI`s are great, but triple the price tag of comparable MTB shifting/braking.
the choices are so thin on equip for drop bars, please MTB readers do not buy these and save yourself a lot of hassle.
salsa please make a full MTB compatible version i want those shifters on the hoods.
@qx87: I understand your frustration with the shifter situation. However; until a specific 25.4mm diameter brake lever is made for off road drop bars, I’d rather stay at the 26.0mm diameter and be able to stop. I like being able to stop more than I like to shift.
Also, it wouldn’t take much for a 26.0 clamp diameter adapter to be made to accept a Shimano trigger or a SRAM trigger system. In fact, I’m pretty sure that is coming.
exactly it`s just a stupid clamp.
going for drop brake lever on smaller diametre bars is no big thing, some chewing gum will probably work, I like my brake levers a bit loose so that they flip when I crash. but trying to put the smaller MTB parts to a road bar, grr.
I hope you are right with incoming 26mm clamps.
thanks for your response.
If you need another shifter option, Paul thumbies.
Hi Guitar Ted!
(see picture in my profile http://forums.mtbr.com/member.php?u=484325)
I am trying to fit my midge bar to my singular swift size L, I am quite tall eg. 190 cm (which I think is 6 feet 3 inches… I am from Denmark, Europe..) and I have quite long reach.
Do you have any comments or suggestions on my setup at the moment beside the lack of tape on the bar
I tried it on the road yesterday, and it’s feels right, but on a short part of a singletrack I found the handling a little poor and the gearshifting a bit difficult. No problem going down hill with the low grip position.
I also tried the setup with as many steem spacers as possible for more hight and a little more angle on the hooks (for more natural hand position when going on road) but it also didn´t feel good up steep singletrack sections.
My stem is +10 degrees & 90mm.
My ambition is to get a great bike for pendling to my favorite single tracks (appr. 30-40 km and going for a couple of rounds (17-30 km) and back home on the road again.
Cheers,
Christian
ive got hydraulic disc brakes on my specialized29. will the brake levers mount onto this bar? thx
@Flyinn Hawyn: No- these take road bike controls.
wood chippers are awesome!!!!! and i put a set on my synapse canondale ive done the STP twice on these bikes and yes they freak the roadies out.and my other bike is a fargo and it freaks roadies out to,get dirty get some wood chippers
sea ya steve
my road bike bar is 44cm wide…with the flare and all, should i get the 42 or 46 woodchipper? not sure if the 46 at its widest will be too much for me.
@Razak: I would suggest the 42cm one.
Thanks GTed…between the woody and the midge, can you tell which is better? Im actually turned on by the low price of the midge bar though.
@Razak: Well…..this is absolutely my own preference and personal opinion, but I happen to like the Midge Bar a little better. For a widely swept, great choice for a single speed drop, I use a Ragley Luxy Bar. I do have a bike set up with Woodchippers, and it also is a single speed. I really didn’t like the way brifters worked with Woodchippers myself. I might change my mind if I set up a Woodchipper with Retroshifters.
Will a sram X9 grip shift//brake lever fit on the woodchipper bar? I SO want to take my El Mariachi and convert to these bars, but dont want to upgrade the components.
@Gike: No- not without modification and creativity.
fantastica bike! Vorrei montare il manubrio su una vecchia Marin mtb ,che ne dite? Ciao a tutti!