Friday, March 27, 2009

Nitto: Silvery Elegance



Nitto doesn't have much of a presence on the American road racing circuit. And because they're products are made in Japan and not Taiwan or China, they aren't exactly price competitively with mainstream brands. They don't make anything super light or in sexy carbon fiber. But I have to say there aren't many bicycle parts I like holding in my hands more than a smooth-like-satin Nitto bar or stem.

Nitto has released a new road bar. The M179 SSB is neither not classic or vintage, but is totally modern...uses a 31.8mm center (26.0mm available, too), is optimized for STI levers (especially Dura-Ace 7900 STI levers which work best on double-grooved bars), and has a mildly short drop and reach (131/80mm). So if you are a lady or need/like shorter drop bars and are tired of black components, this should be on top of your list.

We carry that and the matching Nitto UI5 Ex stem on the SomaFab Shop.

3 comments:

Horrible Old Man said...

damnit so close to perfect yet what's with the stupid ergo bends?

Anonymous said...

Hasn't Nitto made this bar for a long time, just not in 31.8? I have a pair of a road bike which are optimized for STI levers. It even says "STI" somewhere on the lever.

I agree with Horrible Old Man, without the stupid ergo crap, these would be perfect. Nitto needs a 31.8 Noodle bar - period.

Anonymous said...

I think this is their first (at least in this century) double groove bar optimized to work with the new Dura-Ace STI's. Last gen Dura-Ace worked OK with single groove bars, so Nitto's last few road bars had single grooves.