Mary and Single

[ssnoobie]

Mary impressions: Warning this is long

Today I rode with Mary on the trails for the first time. I should begin by writing that my impressions of how Mary handled off road may be shaded by the fact that this was also my first time riding my new bike (a KHS solo-one, rigid fork) off road. I am not familiar with how the bike handled before Mary. All my previous experiences are on an old Scott frame with Scott AT-2 bars, and a born again Trek 930 frame with a 100 mm fork and a specialized low-rise bar.

The review.

Smooth Climb:
My first trail ride today with Mary began with a half mile climb including 1/3 mile of gravel road. As a climbing bar on smooth roads, the Mary is great. I liked them more than the bar end position on the Scott AT-2 bars and a lot more than the riser bar. The position is a little different than your typical bar ends because you do not shift your hands forward to grip the bars as they do with bar ends.

Rocky Descent:
Right after the climb is a fairly steep, very rocky descent. On this trail there are bowling ball sized rocks interspersed among wheelbarrow sized rocks. This is where my impression of the bars may have been shaded a bit by being on a new bike, and also by being off the trails since January. My skills were a bit rusty, but when the going got rough (once it was downright frightening), I did not really notice that I was on the funky bar (this is a good thing). Possible advantages of the Mary: It is much easier to get off the back of the bike. It also felt very natural to let the bike roll under me while going up and down some of the rougher lines on the trail. I think riding these bars a bit more will give me a better impression of how specifically they handle the rougher spots.

Double Track:
The bike ripped on the double track. For those of you from the northeast, this section of trail is like a logging road. The bars gave lots of leverage for powering over the rises and for laying down some speed on the flatter spots. There are several areas where there are logs across the trails, and I found the bike easier to manual over the logs than the past bikes I have ridden. Even though motorized vehicles are prohibited from these trails, a Jeep or some other large 4X4 had ripped up part of the trail. The Mary bars allowed me to leverage out of the ruts easily. The smoother section of the trail that marks the final descent before turning around to head back has some water bars stretching across the trail. Once again manualing and bunny-hopping the bars were no problem with the Mary.

Rocky climb:
This particular ride was a sprint from work to my house, and back. On the way back the trail is pretty much the same as on the way out with one big exception; the rocky descent becomes a rocky climb. The Mary mars were great for getting the leverage you need to bump and power over the medium sized boulders. There was one point where my rear tire spun out and I lurched forward. My knee whacked the hell out of something up by the bars, but I am not sure what it was. It could have been the bar or the stem, but it happened too quickly to know for sure. My single speeding legs definitely need some conditioning after the winter months.

Conclusions:
I want to ride these more.

There is one particular trail with 3-4 foot drops that are ridable (I am not a hucker), and I am dying to get out on those. There is another trail that is your typical root infested New England single track.

I am very happy I got these bars. I never had problems with the risers I was running, but the Mary’s are very comfortable and natural to hold. They are definitely not any worse than risers, and I have noticed some definite advantages, particularly on climbs and steep descents. Yesterday where they shined the most were the rapid transitions from descending to climbing, or log/rock crossing to uphill climb. I know I was thinking about them too much from time to time, but when the trail got technical, and I got forgot to think about how they felt they just plain worked.

I will post my other experiences as I have them (Today I will be tackling the trail with the drops).

Happy riding

SSnoob

[ArmOnFire]

Great review ssnoobie, I look forward to your rooty singletrack review.
Where do you ride at frequently?

Here is a pic of the said bars for those that are interested

[ssnoobie]

I ride in Lebanon, NH most frequently. There are great trails right behind my work, so I can go out get muddy and stinky, and offend my coworkers after lunch. I can also commute on those trails. I also ride in Norwich VT, a little bit down by Ascutney, and the occasional trip to Kingdom trails.

It sounds like you guys have your own network of rides and riders in southern NH. There is a small group up here. I belong to the UVMBA, but I usually ride with one other guy. The UVMBA guys are great, but our schedules do not usually match up. I am planning on getting out with them more this year. We are setting up group rides for the third Thursday of every month (the first one is the 19th). All of the UVMBA guys have their favorite trails and many of them I have not ridden, so I hope to learn some more trails in the area. If you or anyone wants to check out some upper valley trails. I can add you to my ride e-mail list.

To accomodate our families we frequently ride in the morning and at nap times on the weekends. Weekdays we usually ride around 3:30, and I have not done it yet, but I am itching to try some night riding.

Later,
ssnoob

[ArmOnFire]

I have to go up to Dartmouth for work every once in a while, so if I'm ever in your area, I'll drop you a line.

Got any pix of you ss setup (with mary)?

-dan

[ssnoobie]

I keep meaning to take a picture. I'm one of those forum surfers that gets frustrated when there is talk about set up with no pics, and now I am guilty of it. I have one of those older clunky cameras that uses 3.5 disks, and The disks are full of kid pics right now, but I will try to click some pics tonight.

Please do drop me a line. What do you do at Dartmouth? I am a grad student there.

[ArmOnFire]

Lab controls-HVAC/fumehoods

I found this pic and thought it was a pretty good comparison of riser/mary

[gnurider1080]

those bars look pretty sweet. maybe ill get some when i pimp out my ss after i get another bike.

[ssnoobie]

Lab controls-HVAC/fumehoods

I found this pic and thought it was a pretty good comparison of riser/mary




Nice I probably have bumped into you before without knowing it. I am a molecular biologist/biochemist.

Be sure to drop me a line if you want to ride up here sometime.

Cheers.

[ArmOnFire]

Lab controls-HVAC/fumehoods

I found this pic and thought it was a pretty good comparison of riser/mary




Nice I probably have bumped into you before without knowing it. I am a molecular biologist/biochemist.

Be sure to drop me a line if you want to ride up here sometime.

Cheers.


Yup, so I'm going to guess that you must work in:Remsen/Wilder/Fairchild-Steele/Hitchcock/Cummings/Burke/Baker/..?

[ssnoobie]

Yeah. I used to work in Vail/Remsen. Now I work in Rubin at the hospital (its a new building right next to borwell). The nice trails are up behind the hospital.

On a bicycle note:
I just finished a second ride on the Mary bars. They were great. I was riding with someone, so I was thinking less about how the bars feel and I was just riding.

Rocky Descent part deux:
My impressions are the same on the rocky descents. I should say I am running Oury grips, and I like them a lot. I think they help with the rigid fork on the rough stuff.

Cross Fall line ridges and wheel grabbers:
I rode some trails with off camber roots and cross fall line ridges and rocks. I found it pretty easy to loft the front end to get on a different line on the opposite side of a root, etc.

Roller drops:
The ledges I rode today vary from 3 to 5 feet tall. They are huckable, but I prefer to roll them by forcing hte front wheel down the hill and getting off the back. I have written it before, but the Mary bar definitely facilitates off the back efforts. This is probably the single most noticable difference for me with this bar.

Rooty descent:
On a rooty descent the steering was precise and quick. This was particularly important for this descent, because there are some very tight spots that you need to thread. If you get off line, it involves some serious braking and a glancing blow off a couple of red pines.

Conclusion:
I am still happy with the bars. I am sure they have a limitation or drawbacks, but I have not hit them yet. Well maybe once. On one particularly heroic off the front dismount the grip came around (to be more accurate I came around) and whacked my thigh pretty hard. I have a pretty good rubber burn from the end of the oury grip.

Thats it for now.

Happy riding.

ssnoob

[ssnoobie]

Pics at last.

I took these last night. It was at the end of the day so the lighting is a little off, but I think you get the idea. I mounted a computer to my bike this year because I am mixing my mountain biking with my training for our local century ride (www.theprouty.org). The first is a picture of the whole set up. I am running fenders for those early season conditions.

I took a pic from the seat so you get an idea of what the cockpit looks like, and then I took a pic from the front. I can take any other perspective picture if someone would like.

[ssnoobie]

the whole bike

[ssnoobie]

The cockpit.

[ArmOnFire]

Nice pix, thanks

I want to ask how you like the soft tail, but....

[ssnoobie]

I like the soft tail . . .


I have only had two rides on the bike, but here are my initial impressions.

The bike climbs really well, especially on climbs that have the occasional root and rock that can cause the tire to jump off the trail and lose traction. It might be the softail; it might be the frame geometry; or it could be a combination of things.

On gravel road climbs, it definitely smooths things out, although I did not have any problems with the other frames I used.

I have not felt a lot of flex climbing, but I am sure it does flex a bit. I have it on the firmest setting. I have read people complaining about it squeaking, and I have not noticed it on the trail.

I did notice it on a short road ride, but it was not that bad. Then again, I am not easily irritated by things like that.

I am not sure I would go out of my way to get a softail frame, but I would not go out of my way to avoid it either. I got the solo-one because it was the cheapest prebuilt single speed I could find. So far I am very happy with it.

[nembabill]

UPS says that my Mary bars will be arriving Saturday. Can't wait to try them.
Thanks for that good review. I'll add my impressions when I've got a few hours on the bars.

[kernel crash]

Mary should stay single. That broad is ugly :P Reminds me of those crazy road bars that Bridgestone put out about 15 years ago that went nowhere. My wrists hurt just looking at those pictures.

[ssnoobie]

Yeah, they are probably not for everyone.

I noticed your last ten posts were pretty negative, so I am not sure if you are trying to flame me or if you have some experience with different bars. Ride what makes you happy.

I can tell you that they definitely do not hurt my wrists. In fact they were designed to prevent the development of wrist pain, though I never really had a problem with risers or flat bars. I decided to give them a try to try something different, and because the ergonomics made sense to me.

I am not sure which bridgestone bars you are referring too, but they are quite different from both the moustache bars and the dirt drops that were put out in the past. Though, On-one produces an updated version of both of those bars too (the mungo and midge respectively). I have heard that the mungo is not great off road, but some people swear by the midge.

Happy riding

SSnoob

[kernel crash]

Nope. Wasn't trying to flame you. Actually I'm probably one of the most optimistic people you will ever meet.

[ssnoobie]

Good to know. Sometimes I find it difficult to catch where people are coming from on forums.

If you ever get a chance to sit on or ride a bike with high sweep bars you should try it. You might find you like it. Though there are several people over on another forum that tried the Mary off road and promptly moved them to their townie bike.

Cheers,

Ssnoob

[DT]

Mary should stay single. That broad is ugly :P Reminds me of those crazy road bars that Bridgestone put out about 15 years ago that went nowhere. My wrists hurt just looking at those pictures.


That wouldn't happen to be the coveted Dirt Drops would it? I've seen singlespeeders spend over $100 to get their hands on those crazy wrist hurting bars...which happens to be why Brant came out with the Marys, all be it with a couple of slight changes.

If you've got a higher rise stem, you might try turning those Marys upside down. That's how a buddy of mine rides them on his Karate Monkey...loves it.

DT

[ssnoobie]

If have seen some people running them inverted, especially on the 29ers. They have been working great for me running them right side up.

As an update, I rode my riser bar on Sunday for the first time this season, and I had a couple of thoughts.

-I really like the feel of the Mary bar going up technical climbs. I find it more precise and the leverage makes it much easier and more natural to loft the front of the bike over especially hairy rocks, ledge, etc. My impressions are clouded by the presence of a 100mm fork on the geared bike and a rigid fork on the single speed.

-I really like the feel of the Mary bar on extended climbs, compared to my riser. This may be solved by running bar ends on the riser.

Not Mary related, but SS related:

-I like high torque SS climbing better than spinning especially when the going gets rough. I ended up running most of the trail in my middle ring. A 1X9 set up may be in my future.

Cheers

SSNoob

[ssnoobie]

I recently had a chance to ride the rooted trail I referred to in one of my earlier posts, and I have some new impressions of Mary:

Rooted Climb:

I think I tend to get out over the front too much when on steep rooted climbs, leading to spin outs. It is something I have to consciously avoid when I climb these sections. I am not sure the Mary bar changed that, but it does make it easier for me to change my position rapidly. I have written this before, but going uphill the bars give a lot of leverage. They also make it easier to loft the front wheel to get over something or changed lines. Unweighting the back of the bike to clear roots or slick rock on these climbs was also quite natural with the Mary.

Rooted descent:

I find the Mary bar to be quite stiff. It is very precise while descending. If you need to shoot a small opening to get the sweet line, you just point and go. For the steeper stuff, they make it easy to get off the back and control where the front of the bike is going. Be sure your grips are attached securely. There is a lot more pressure on the grips pulling back towards the end of the bar with the Mary than on my risers. I put mine on with WD40, and have had no problems. One particular section of the trail is particularly rough, and it was covered with a thick layer of leaves. The bars is stiff, and I am running it with a rigid fork. I was very happy to have teh Oury grips, and would suggest something similarly cushy.

ENDO:

I did endo on one section of the trail with a desceptively deep hole. I entered the hole, and was surprised when my wheel sank to the hub, and I felt the back of the bike rise up beyond the point of balance. I was able to control the direction of the endo, and avoid crashing too hard on the rocks. I had a similar incident last year, so I do not think it was the bars that saved my hide, but I was happy to find out they did not make it any more difficult to control the bike in situations like that.


Fireroad Slog:

This particular trail is my favorite in my area. The only drawback to the trail, is that to loop it up you have to put on a few road/fireroad miles. I found that on some of the longer/seated climbs, It was very comfortable to grab the bar at the forward bends. I have larger hands, so even with the my hands at the forward bends, I could put a finger or two on the brakes if I needed it. This position was another unsuspecte advantage of these bars.

Conclusions:

I am still very happy with these bars. I do not have a second pair for my geared bike yet, but that bike has not seen many miles since I got my single speed.

[ArmOnFire]

Can you confirm the width of Mary?

645mm (25.4") wide

-dan

[ssnoobie]

I'll measure them tonight Dan.

I can measure end to end and center of the grip to center of the grip.

Some claim that center of the grip is a more accurate measurement of their width because of the sweep.

I will say that when I took them out of the box they felt narrow. When I put them on the bike, they did not.

I'll post the widths tonight or tomorrow.

Later,

SSnoob

[ArmOnFire]

Very Cool

Thanks.

[ssnoobie]

Here are the measurements.

I got 25.5" to the center of the outside of the bars, and 22.5" to the center of the grips. As you can probably tell from the photo, the grips are Ourys and I measured from the second block from the end on one side to the second block in on the other side. I hope this makes sense.

[ArmOnFire]

Very nice, makes perfect sense.

Thanks for taking the time to measure them for me.

I think they are going to be getting ordered from my LBS today.

-Dan

[ssnoobie]

Which LBS?

I was talking to the guy that owns my LBS, and he was asking aobut hte bars, and who the US distributor is. I didn't even think to try to order them through him, but I guess he could become an on-one dealer if he wanted.

Enjoy the bars.

[ArmOnFire]

Wheel Power in Exeter, NH

PutAwayWet bought a Inbred from them, nice ride BTW.

What are you doing Monday, June 20th? (http://www.nemba.org/yabbse/index.php?board=33;action=display;threadid=6790)

-Dan

[ssnoobie]

Wheel Power in Exeter, NH

PutAwayWet bought a Inbred from them, nice ride BTW.

What are you doing Monday, June 20th?

-Dan



Thanks. I have been enjoying it, though I have to force myself to spend time on my road bike because of an upcoming century ride. The solo-one has completely replaced my geared bike.

I have been following the development of the Monday ride. It would be nice to meet up and put some faces with the avatars, but with my job and kids, it is a little to far for me to manage on a Monday night. I could send down a cable cutter for you to use on any geared bikes that try to sneak in.

I have also been following the development of the Kingdom Trails ride on the other forum. You guys sound like you have a pretty active riding group in southern NH.

I have offered before, but if you every find yourselves up here, drop me a line, and I will show you some of our local trails.

Cheers,

ssnoob

[ArmOnFire]

Here are the measurements.

I got 25.5" to the center of the outside of the bars, and 22.5" to the center of the grips. As you can probably tell from the photo, the grips are Ourys and I measured from the second block from the end on one side to the second block in on the other side. I hope this makes sense.




I measured from the center of the grips on my 27" wide Azonics, and was amazed that they are 22.5" as well.

Look more enticing...