Following Hornsby’s debut earlier this week, I said the jury is still out on the Salsa Corner Bar. It took less than a day for me to realize I wasn’t going to be happy with it, even wrapped in nice, padded tape. It puts the hands too far forward and too far down. Hornsby is my upright bike, and needs to have a flat bar to achieve that position.

I had a problem as well with the tires not seating properly on the rims, so I took Hornsby to the shop today. Just the 3km ride to the shop drove home my decision about the bars.

Moar pressure

I was greeted outside the shop by one of the mechanics. I told him the issue with the tires, and he said this is common with the combination of tubeless-ready rims and non-tubeless tires. The fix is just to pump the tires up to their maximum rating, and they should sort themselves out.

To my surprise, he got a simple floor pump and pumped the tires up by hand. The front had to go a little above the maximum rating, and then it gave a couple of pops and the problem was sorted. The rear seated itself without any popping noises when he filled it up. We discussed the optimal pressure for the tires, and he set me up at the minimum. (I’d been riding them a bit below the minimum, so I’m glad he let me know.)

Then he spent a few minutes admiring the bicycle, complementing me on the job. Nice to hear it from a pro. I told him the Salsa bars didn’t suit me and he commiserated. (Note I’m not criticizing them — they’re the perfect solution for a lot of people, and I’ve seen a lot of reviews where people were happy.)

Flat and shiny

I’d looked online before coming and had a good idea of what I wanted. A salesperson soon had me sorted out and I put everything in my bag and brought it home to the Workshop in the sky.

It took more time to remove the accessories from the Corner Bar than to remove the bar itself. I couldn’t see any anti-seize grease on the bolts of the new Nitto stem, so I took a minute to take care of that. The shim to fit the handlebar in the stem is very thin, but the fit is perfect. (Shim, stem and handlebar are all Nitto, so the fit should be OK.)

I added the grips before tightening up the brake levers and shifter. Last came the bag, headlight and bell. I did everything in the stand and then moved the bike back to the workshop floor to check that everything was aligned and easy to reach.

I’m happy with how it all looks sitting on the Workshop in the Sky. I may revisit the cabling at some point — the front brake runs quite close the bag. But for now it all works and there’s no binding.

Unlike the Corner Bar, the Nitto doesn’t present the possibility of bashing into the top tube. So there’s no longer any need for the bit of padded handlebar tape there to protect the tube. But I’m leaving it for the moment because it’s not hurting anything and I like it.

A Guy Jean project

It wouldn’t be a Guy Jean project without:

• something broken and needing to be replaced
• bloodshed
• a purchase that turns out not to have been needed or used in the end

This project has had all three. I don’t know if I’ll use the Corner Bar on another project or find a new home for it. At the moment it’s resting in the Workshop.