Credits: Article and images by Tim Mosso @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/06/19/building-a-custom-road-bike-part-iv-the-ride/
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All the kit works well. THM’s Ulna handlebar required me to let go of the traditional bend Deda Zero100 Shallow that I had ridden as my sole bar since taking up road cycling 16 years ago. The “compact” shape of the THM offended my eyes, but Tim Gresh’s determination to relocate me to the bar tops meant I’d spend little time on the drops of the bar.
Having spent my entire road riding career in the drops, moving upstairs left me with concerns about grip and stability that proved unfounded.
Up top, the Ulna is a wonderful place to be. Its bar-to-hood transition is long and level for easy hours on the road. When climbing steep grades seated, the ovalized tops of the bar combine with the chunky Lizard Skins tape to provide a meaty grip.
Most importantly, the new upright position has relieved me of all previous back and wrist pain, and that’s a tribute to my bike fitter as much as the bar.
When the time comes to drop down for stability in fast descents, traffic, or tense pack rides, the compact curves of the Ulna prove to be more comfortable than they look.
Thanks to a small flat section at the end of the drop, it’s easy to rest my weight in the curved part of the bar without expending extra energy to avoid sliding off the end.
It’s hard to say much about the THM Tibia stem other than that it works. It’s my first carbon stem, and I used to believe that this was the single worst candidate among all bike parts for carbon use. While this stem isn’t meaningfully lighter than the lightest alloy stems, its combined strength with the THM bar yields little flex even during sprint-level efforts.
Moreover, there does seem to be something to the idea of a carbon fork, stem, and bar collectively damping high-frequency road buzz. The front end of this bike is less chatty in that regard than my old alloy-cockpit machine.
I regarded THM’s Mandibula seatpost as the single most intriguing and mysterious part of the build. A 160-gram suspension seatpost with almost no online owner feedback and a $650 price point required a leap of faith on my part. I shouldn’t have worried, because it works exactly as it looks.
Setup is finnicky. My saddle persistently shifted and refused to sit level until I revisited the fine print of the voluminous installation instructions. Correct installation of the Mandibula’s “clamshell” saddle rail clasps requires torquing, “settling” the clasps by applying body weight, and re-torquing after settling. Once adjusted this way, the saddle clamp held relentlessly.
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Credits: Article and images by Tim Mosso @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/06/19/building-a-custom-road-bike-part-iv-the-ride/