I have decided to get a hold of a couple more Woodchipper bars and I have some swapping yet to do, but now I have two rigs set up with Woodchipper bars with a third coming soon. I also got one of these in the “regular” flavor. Woodchippers vary from the Moto Ace Woodchippers in that the regular one has a 31.8mm clamp diameter and is made from 7075 T-6 while the Moto Ace Woodchipper has the 25.4mm clamp diameter and is a 6061 aluminum bar.
The Woodchipper is claimed to weigh in at 332 grams. My example weighed in at 330grams on my digital scale, so that seems right on. A Moto Ace Woodchipper weighs in at 360 grams on my scale versus a claimed 353 grams. Hmm……..seems okay to me. Let’s face it though, you don’t get an off road drop bar because of weight. Still, it’s nice to know that the 31.8mm bar saves you a few grams.
The Woodchipper bars also come in a 42cm width, but I have chosen 46cm width examples since I wanted to use these off road and wanted maximum leverage. It must be said though that the Woodchipper is really wide! Much wider than the Midge bar, so if you have some close trees or other tight spots on your trails, you may want to go with the 42cm bar.
The second set of bars went on the Singular Gryphon that is in for test/review here. I’ve had a few rides so far on it as well. The Woodchipper is a forgiving bar in the Moto Ace flavor. It definitely has some give over rough stuff. The sweep of the extensions seems about right to my mind for comfort and helps in getting your elbows out more effectively for slow speed, techy stuff. This manifests itself as leverage which allows better control when the front end gets crazy on my rigid set ups. As the spring time progresses and more trails open up, I hope to explore this a bit more on single track.
One of the questions concerning the 31.8mm Woodchipper is about compatible stems. Salsa makes the Moto Ace in black, but as I was researching stems for the Woodchipper, I came across these Bontrager Race Lite stems available in black, silver, and white for color and in a 40 degree rise. Running a bit lighter weight than a Moto Ace, my example pictured here weighs in at 150 grams. Perfect for the 31.8mm Woodchipper. Several reaches are available as are other rises. It should also be mentioned that IRD also offers some 31.8mm stems in a 30 degree rise. So a good range of 31.8mm stems does exist for these.
Look for more Woodchipper updates in the coming weeks.
Where on earth are they measuring the 46cm if you’re saying it’s much wider than the Midge GT? Can we get an actual centre to centre (or outside to outside) measurement across the ends? I’m interested, but for the mean time you won’t get me off my Midges – at least until the Luxy comes out…
Sam – check this out: http://twentynineinches.com/2010/01/03/salsa-cycles-woodchipper-bar-a-comparison/
G-Ted, another good stem for use with the 31.8mm Woodchippers but only up to a 17 degree rise is the 3T ARX Team. Comes with Ti bolts too and is very light weight based on specs. I don’t actually have one yet, but soon!
I’ve had my woodchipper for about a month. so far, so good. this is a nice handlebar. I went with a 42 cm width, stem is 31.8mm. it’s on my kona jake the snake.
I simply must demo a dirt drop bike. Thanks for getting this in front of me.
Wondering though, why the bars are so heavy. Are they necessarily more beefy than the undeniably lighter road drops (not talking carbon here)? Is the bonus in hand position and comfort worth a bar almost twice the weight of a good big sweep flat?
I have been wanting to build up a drop bar mountain bike for some time. Found an Access XCL 9r frame at Performance for $99 including the headset and took that as a sign. Put the 42cm wide, 31.8mm Woodchippers on it and they feel great. It has pretty much been the only bike I have been riding for the last month. I like the positioning so well that I am thinking if I ever get my Jet9–end of April now, but I’ll believe it when I actually have the frame in hand–I am going to build it with the Woodchippers.
the woodchipper weighs at the most 100 grams more than a salsa flat or riser bar. that’s about 3 oz. the apple I plan to eat today weighs 6.5 oz. 3 oz. is nothing in my opinion. But I don’t pay attention to weight on my bike. In fact, I have never weighed either my 29er or my cx bike.
the bar does have to be strong to withstand the abuse of off road riding. I’ve noticed a bit of flex in mine. I like that as I’m riding a rigid bike.
the hand positions are really nice. my old drop bar was very shallow and getting into the drops was not comfortable. the woodchipper has opened up more positions for me. I’d say there are 6 positions I regularly use.
I have this bar on a cx bike(kona jake the snake), not a a true mt. bike. I use the bike for a variety of rides, pavement, gravel and single track. here’s an example:
http://monkeyread.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/fall-ride/
I was able to test one of the bars, before I bought it. It’s a unique bar so I was happy to be able to try it before buying.
It looks like, from the Bontrager website, that the 40deg race lite stem is available only in black or white, but he 25 deg stem is available in silver.
I am looking to change to a drop bar, but my Kona has got hydraulic disc brakes. Has anyone got any advice on whether there are any (STI style?) brake and gear levers that are complatible with hydraulic disc brakes and drop bars? Thanks very much!