# Why bullmoose bars are the best bars ever...



## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

This morning I started my normal routine by crawling out of bed and stumbling to the kitchen to make coffee. Yesterday I had thrown away an empty coffee bag, but I though there was another in the freezer. Unfortunately, to my dismay there was not. There was no coffee in the house. Thinking quickly, I grabbed a bike and in my bedroom slippers I pedaled off to the grocery store.

Returning home with my one item after responsibly declining a grocery bag, I found the perfect place to carry a pound of coffee. The bullmoose bar hold the coffee perfectly! Try this with your newfangled modern bars.


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

I ALWAYS make sure i have coffee for tomorrow morning therefore there is no need for a bullmoose bar.


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

jesus. that's your Stanbike?


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

I thought 29ers were the answer to all problems.. you need to get w/ the program: fix this post.


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## hollister (Sep 16, 2005)

Cheers


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

Pics of the slippers in the store or this whole thing is staged.... 

Nice bars guys, both of 'em.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

MendonCycleSmith said:


> Pics of the slippers in the store or this whole thing is staged....


I wear them a lot more places than I should.


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

laffeaux said:


> I wear them a lot more places than I should.


That's okay.

It's when you start thinking these pants are appropriate shopping apparel that we need to have a talk......


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

hollister said:


> Cheers


how cute. you use saucers.


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## hollister (Sep 16, 2005)

girlonbike said:


> how cute. you use saucers.


Sadly however, I was all out of tiny biscuits


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## Woodpuppy (May 10, 2014)

MendonCycleSmith said:


> That's okay.
> 
> It's when you start thinking these pants are appropriate shopping apparel that we need to have a talk......


I don't know... I think those would be too upscale for the local walmarts.


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## root (Jan 24, 2006)

Waiting for a retrotechnoweenie to show up with the carbon bull moose bars. Have yet to see one in the wild.


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## Uncle Grumpy (Oct 20, 2005)

MendonCycleSmith said:


> It's when you start thinking these pants are appropriate shopping apparel that we need to have a talk......


These are just starting to hit the shops here in Australia. Rad!

And how about that new singer, Irene Cara? Man, she's gonna go places!

This weekend, I'm off to the movies. Flashdance is playing.

Grumps


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## jeff (Jan 13, 2004)

I wanna see the machine that pulled the shots.


girlonbike said:


> how cute. you use saucers.


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## k-rod (Aug 14, 2015)

MendonCycleSmith said:


> That's okay.
> 
> It's when you start thinking these pants are appropriate shopping apparel that we need to have a talk......


The thing is, those pants first came out right about the same time Bullmoose bars were first hitting the trails too.

Period correct!


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

k-rod said:


> The thing is, those pants first came out right about the same time Bullmoose bars were first hitting the trails too.
> 
> Period correct!


Painfully, this is true....


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## chefmiguel (Dec 22, 2007)

@grumps Irene Cara? Pffft she's no Dixies Midnight Runners!



That's some fancy looking force guys. Mine always comes in a Wawa cup


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## 83stumpjumper (Feb 14, 2011)

*Bullmoose bars*

Sadly, none of the bars shown are original Bullmoose bars, just remakes of a bye gone era. NOTHING say's vintage like a real set of Bullmoose bars! If I knew how to use this modern computer, I'd post a photo of the real bars.


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## hollister (Sep 16, 2005)

This should be good..


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## Konasun (Jan 6, 2014)

*Bullmoose*








The real deal.


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

83stumpjumper said:


> Sadly, none of the bars shown are original Bullmoose bars, just remakes of a bye gone era. NOTHING say's vintage like a real set of Bullmoose bars! If I knew how to use this modern computer, I'd post a photo of the real bars.


Did you see hollister's bars?


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## 83stumpjumper (Feb 14, 2011)

I did, and they are nice. I should say I prefer the bars that came on the early Stumpjumpers. Yes, I'm biased. In the early 80's, the first MTB's to show up in a select few bike shops in the NYC area were Stumpjumpers, and they had those beautiful bars that no other bike I'd ever seen before had. And that's when I fell in love with the Stumpjumper, buying my first one, in 1983. Yes, I know Specialized took the design from TR, but as I said, that was the first time I'd ever seen them, and they looked great!


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## k-rod (Aug 14, 2015)

83stumpjumper said:


> _ If I knew how to use this modern computer_, I'd post a photo of the real bars.


Now THAT'S ^^ the true essence of the 'retro' phenomenon !!


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

83stumpjumper said:


> I did, and they are nice. I should say I prefer the bars that came on the early Stumpjumpers. Yes, I'm biased. In the early 80's, the first MTB's to show up in a select few bike shops in the NYC area were Stumpjumpers, and they had those beautiful bars that no other bike I'd ever seen before had. And that's when I fell in love with the Stumpjumper, buying my first one, in 1983. Yes, I know Specialized took the design from TR, but as I said, that was the first time I'd ever seen them, and they looked great!


I totally get where you're coming from but you gotta make accurate statements or you may get called out.  let's see your bars once you learn how to use your computer. :lol:


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

The first "Bullmoose" bars were Tom Ritchey's response to riding Wende Cragg's clunker, built by Alan Bonds, in the January 1979 Repack event that was filmed by KPIX. During the race, the handlebars rotated in the stem clamp. Tom overthought the problem and came up with the Bullmoose. 

It wasn't universal at first. Gary's first Ritchey frame had a traditional stem and aluminum bars.

Because the look was iconic, even if it wasn't the most efficient design, it took over the MTB world for a couple of years, before somebody realized that you could accomplish the same purpose with a much simpler design of a single bar-stem combo.

Now it has come full circle, since my "modern" bike has the handlebars clamped into the stem.


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## hollister (Sep 16, 2005)

83stumpjumper said:


> I did, and they are nice. I should say I prefer the bars that came on the early Stumpjumpers. Yes, I'm biased. In the early 80's, the first MTB's to show up in a select few bike shops in the NYC area were Stumpjumpers, and they had those beautiful bars that no other bike I'd ever seen before had. And that's when I fell in love with the Stumpjumper, buying my first one, in 1983. Yes, I know Specialized took the design from TR, but as I said, that was the first time I'd ever seen them, and they looked great!


slingshot stems are not bullmoose


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## jeff (Jan 13, 2004)

Bullmoose bars are stupid.


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## Mountain Cycle Shawn (Jan 19, 2004)

Have you seen those camel toe bars? I hear they spread your chest muscles apart so you can breathe better.


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## da'HOOV (Jan 3, 2009)

girlonbike said:


> jesus. that's your Stanbike?


Stanbike? hahahaha


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## Woodpuppy (May 10, 2014)

What's a "Stanbike"?


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

Woodpuppy said:


> What's a "Stanbike"?


Looooooooooooooooooong story from a galaxy far far away......


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## Woodpuppy (May 10, 2014)

I'm left to assume a guy named Stan went from "ludicrous speed" straight to "plaid."


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## da'HOOV (Jan 3, 2009)

You may assume that a "guy named Stan" tried to legitimize affordable Classic Bikes instead of Bikes the masses could never afford. His efforts were not looked upon kindly by the few that controlled the forum. No harm no foul. He moved on...but his spirit still lives on ;-)


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

He also tended to be dramatic and has somewhat of a martyr tendency. God rest his soul. He did like beer and BBQ which is alright by me.


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

da'HOOV said:


> You may assume that a "guy named Stan" tried to legitimize affordable Classic Bikes instead of Bikes the masses could never afford. His efforts were not looked upon kindly by the few that controlled the forum. No harm no foul. He moved on...but his spirit still lives on ;-)


how does one "control" this or any forum other than banning those w/ a differente POV? I say that's non sense and drama.. If you were trully stirring things up in a bad way you would have been banned. I was banned from many forums incl. roadbike review, retrobike and facebook so i know a thing or two about forum control.


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## da'HOOV (Jan 3, 2009)

colker1 said:


> how does one "control" this or any forum other than banning those w/ a differente POV? I say that's non sense and drama.. If you were trully stirring things up in a bad way you would have been banned. I was banned from many forums incl. roadbike review, retrobike and facebook so i know a thing or two about forum control.


it was long ago and far away...and I was 'banned' for a bit. I consider it water under the bridge. Life goes on..Relax, take a breath and laugh a little.


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## Woodpuppy (May 10, 2014)

So, a Trek fan?

/jk


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

da'HOOV said:


> it was long ago and far away...and I was 'banned' for a bit. I consider it water under the bridge. Life goes on..Relax, take a breath and laugh a little.


We are all laughing.


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## iamkeith (Feb 5, 2010)

I went camping over Labor Day weekend. One morning I woke up, made coffee, grabbed my mug, took a quick ride to see if fish were rising... and randomly found myself thinking about this thread, of all things.









Not quite bull moose, but the same spirit in more modern fashion. Life is pretty darn good some days, but a good handlebar always makes it better!


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

iamkeith said:


> Not quite bull moose, but the same spirit in more modern fashion. Life is pretty darn good some days, but a good handlebar always makes it better!


Looks like a good weekend!


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## J_Westy (Jan 7, 2009)

iamkeith said:


> Life is pretty darn good some days,


Love those Jones forks!

One of his bikes is on my lottery winnings list.


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## sryanak (Aug 9, 2008)

hollister said:


> slingshot stems are not bullmoose


Are you saying no early Stumpjumpers had bullmoose bars?


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

sryanak said:


> Are you saying no early Stumpjumpers had bullmoose bars?


The earliest Stumpjumpers came with "golf club" stem. Later models used slingshot stems or bullmoose bars.


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## hollister (Sep 16, 2005)

sryanak said:


> Are you saying no early Stumpjumpers had bullmoose bars?


no.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

83stumpjumper said:


> Sadly, none of the bars shown are original Bullmoose bars,


P.S. The bars in the original picture that started the thread are from 1986. They are the third version of the bullmoose bar that Tom made. The first had bars were similar to these but had a clamp the secured the stem to a brazed-in plug in the steerer. The second version included a quilled stem attached to the bar - although these might have all been out-sourced? The third an final version (as pictured) used a separate quill adapter that held the bar to the steerer tube (whereas the originals used a clamp).

Is there a history of the bullmoose bar thread yet?


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## rockychrysler (Aug 9, 2003)

For as long as I've owned her, ol' number six has always sported Dirtdrops.

I think she looks muy guapa with her new front-end bling.


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

rockychrysler said:


> For as long as I've owned her, ol' number six has always sported Dirtdrops.
> 
> I think she looks muy guapa with her new front-end bling.
> 
> ...


You want a Nitto seatpost.


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## CS2 (Jul 24, 2007)

da'HOOV said:


> You may assume that a "guy named Stan" tried to legitimize affordable Classic Bikes instead of Bikes the masses could never afford. His efforts were not looked upon kindly by the few that controlled the forum. No harm no foul. He moved on...but his spirit still lives on ;-)


Seeing as this was his last post where did you move on to?


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## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

Facebook?


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