I've just changed the bars on my Tasman and thought my findings might be of interest in that nothing is ever straightforward.
I have a fairly narrow passageway to negotiate on my way into Lemmy Towers. What was annoying was that my chosen rear view mirror, the Mirrcyle, which mountson the handlebar ends, hit the wall on each in/out. I wouldn't consider fitting another mirror because the Mirrcycle is the only one I've ever found with a rock steady rear image.
So, narrower bars it had to be. The bars on the bike measured 63cm overall width. As suggested by some folk here, I decided to try hacksaw the ends off as much as I could. It was better but the problem was large amount of bar real estate needed by the Magura brake and Shimano twist shifter. As you can see from the pic, the two together need over 18cm of straight bar. I could chop a couple of cms off that. It helped but didn't narrow the bars by more than a couple of cms. Not enough
Problem one, there is not one bar, other than the Tasman original with that length of straight metal at the end.
The next idea was a change of gear shift. I'm not overly keen on twist grips, so had several times thought of fitting Shimano quick fire trigger. This, fitted, saved a huge amount of space so that a Velo Orange Left Bank bar would fit. At just 49cm, a saving of 14cms width! The old Shimano twist shift is a one piece unit (it tells you so on the inside) and the cable cannot be changed. So, having hack sawed it apart I was left with the cable end to fit into the quick fire But it has it has to be threaded through the outer cable and through the frame to do that. Easier to use the cable already fitted to the quick fire. On threading it through, taking a bit of jiggery pokery it eventually appeared at the other end of the bike. Unfortunately, the supplied cable was too short. $£&*er!
So, take the old cable, clip it neatly and thread it through, hoping not to spread the strands on the trip through the sheath and frame. Again, much twisting and to-ing and fr-oing but eventually it appeared. Even clipped it had just enough length to attach and tighten the stay giving the specified 11cm (as I recall from the sheath stay on the rear fork and slot it into the hub slot.
Now fit the controls et al to the nice new (featherweight!) alloy bars. Now the fun starts, a new shifter, old cable, what fun it will be getting this into adjustment (not!).
Having fitted it all up, tightened the bars and lined up the yellow lines on the hub, I rode out through the side passage - no banging of the mirror now, a few cm spare in fact. Get onto the road, see what's happening with the gears. Love the new change, silky smooth, fast precise. Click to first...second through to top. All there! No slippage! Perfect from go! You have to admire this Shimano equipment.
The new bars are just right, wide enough for good control, narrow enough for ingress and egress to Lemmy Towers. I personally much prefer the Rapid Fire shifter to the twist grip. That is purely personal, I think. There is no difference in efficiency or accuracy, I just prefer the feel and action.
Original (above and below)
Nice new bars and shifter (below)
I have a fairly narrow passageway to negotiate on my way into Lemmy Towers. What was annoying was that my chosen rear view mirror, the Mirrcyle, which mountson the handlebar ends, hit the wall on each in/out. I wouldn't consider fitting another mirror because the Mirrcycle is the only one I've ever found with a rock steady rear image.
So, narrower bars it had to be. The bars on the bike measured 63cm overall width. As suggested by some folk here, I decided to try hacksaw the ends off as much as I could. It was better but the problem was large amount of bar real estate needed by the Magura brake and Shimano twist shifter. As you can see from the pic, the two together need over 18cm of straight bar. I could chop a couple of cms off that. It helped but didn't narrow the bars by more than a couple of cms. Not enough
Problem one, there is not one bar, other than the Tasman original with that length of straight metal at the end.
The next idea was a change of gear shift. I'm not overly keen on twist grips, so had several times thought of fitting Shimano quick fire trigger. This, fitted, saved a huge amount of space so that a Velo Orange Left Bank bar would fit. At just 49cm, a saving of 14cms width! The old Shimano twist shift is a one piece unit (it tells you so on the inside) and the cable cannot be changed. So, having hack sawed it apart I was left with the cable end to fit into the quick fire But it has it has to be threaded through the outer cable and through the frame to do that. Easier to use the cable already fitted to the quick fire. On threading it through, taking a bit of jiggery pokery it eventually appeared at the other end of the bike. Unfortunately, the supplied cable was too short. $£&*er!
So, take the old cable, clip it neatly and thread it through, hoping not to spread the strands on the trip through the sheath and frame. Again, much twisting and to-ing and fr-oing but eventually it appeared. Even clipped it had just enough length to attach and tighten the stay giving the specified 11cm (as I recall from the sheath stay on the rear fork and slot it into the hub slot.
Now fit the controls et al to the nice new (featherweight!) alloy bars. Now the fun starts, a new shifter, old cable, what fun it will be getting this into adjustment (not!).
Having fitted it all up, tightened the bars and lined up the yellow lines on the hub, I rode out through the side passage - no banging of the mirror now, a few cm spare in fact. Get onto the road, see what's happening with the gears. Love the new change, silky smooth, fast precise. Click to first...second through to top. All there! No slippage! Perfect from go! You have to admire this Shimano equipment.
The new bars are just right, wide enough for good control, narrow enough for ingress and egress to Lemmy Towers. I personally much prefer the Rapid Fire shifter to the twist grip. That is purely personal, I think. There is no difference in efficiency or accuracy, I just prefer the feel and action.
Original (above and below)
Nice new bars and shifter (below)
