From what I’ve read, this setup was pretty radical in western markets when it was introduced (although maybe too far ahead of its time). My question is regarding the use of road style brake levers on the XO-1. Was this the choice because long pull MTB levers weren’t available at the time? Was that just the Bridgestone designers working with what they had? Is there any ergonomic advantage to using the road levers or positioning them as they did? I’ve seen some modern bikes set up with this identical cockpit while others use long pull MTB levers closer to the bar ends. Would love to see photos if anyone has their own interpretations of this setup and/or hear experiences from those that ride this cockpit.
by corporateoverlord69
8 Comments
It’s has nothing to do with long or short pull ratios, mustache bars provide different hand positions almost like drop bars.
I rode moustache bars with road levers for a while but ended up switching out to dirt drops. I found the hand positions better than flats but still way short of what you get with drops. Moustache bars leave the hoods pointing inward and horizontal rather than forward and up where they provide a much better riding position. The bike sure looked cool with them, but not very functional imo.
https://preview.redd.it/e1ao7m9zd0zc1.jpeg?width=6240&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7345135b59577d2b845307593a4fe6cf989ff90
I have this setup on my tooling around town bike and I’m still deciding if I like it. I can still sort of ride on the “hoods” but its not as comfortable as a traditional setup. But I do really like the more laid back position riding on the bar ends, feels more like a cruiser. So its a bit of a compromise but it gives me the variety I’m looking for.
Hook your thumbs around the hoods and you have a pretty comfortable narrow (aero) position where you can still get to the brakes. Ride on the ends and you can sit more upright and maybe still get to the brakes…
I have a single speed setup like this. It’s not my favorite setup but it was comfortable and efficient for getting around a large, flat city. It was an upgrade from some deep drops that didn’t serve my riding purposes. Back in the Bridgestone days there wasn’t the prevalence of compact drops that most ride today for more comfort, dirt drops were kind of a novelty, etc.
A fan of this setup, it’s what I use on my commuting rig. In my experience, the range of grip options is great. I think John Stamsted (spelling?), a notable ultradistance racer in the nineties, used these.
The actual lever of these follows the curve of the bar. MTB levers, as well as looking weird, would be a lot farther away from the bar and harder to use. Plus these levers have the aero cable routing so you don’t have a bunch of exposed brake housing mucking things up.
my wife uses moustache handlebars (minus the barendshifters) on her vintage racer. she likes the different hand positions they offer minus the drops which she hardly ever uses, anyway.
I own a ’93 XO-1 that I bought used in the early 2000’s and rode with Nitto Mustache bars for 15 or so years. I had mine set up with a second set of backward facing brake hoods (levers removed) near the stem, which gave an addition place/platform to rest my hands.
As for the road levers, they are really nice because of the flat surface areas they provide. The forward facing levers also provide a nice and very stretched out position if you hold onto the hoods while riding.
However, overall, I was never happy with my XO-1 until I swapped out the mustache bars for a set of swept back Rivendell Tosco bars.
The mustache bars provide plenty of hand positions, but NONE of them are comfortable enough for a day in the saddle, the reach is just too far, and the bends seem to be optimized for looks rather than for holding onto. You really need a very short and tall stem to get the bars close and high enough to be tolerable. And, this is coming from someone who spent 15 years really wanting to make three bars work for them.
A much better and similar alternative, if you’re just using it for a commuter are the Velo Orange Porteur bars, which have far less reach, and more forgiving curves.
For reference, here are some photos of my XO-1 with it’s current set up and one of its prior mustachioed setups…
https://www.reddit.com/r/xbiking/comments/196kz27/1993_bridgestone_xo1/
…and, here’s my 1980’s Dahon set up with some VO Porteur bars:
https://www.reddit.com/r/xbiking/comments/ziauaq/my_1987_dahon_folder/