On-One Midge handlebars & rough stuff

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Hi Guys,

Yesterday, I was pottering around with the bike and decided to check out the canal pathways. The new one on the grand canal looks brilliant for a safe commute and then I returned using the Royal canal pathway ... all the way from the N1 and came out near the Clonsilla station. After Ashtown, the track is gravel & mud all the way to Clonsilla. A couple of questions ..
1. I was on 37mm tyres - smooth, no treads. Running about 60psi front and 70 back ... do I need wider tyres for this kind of thing and with some sort of tread. As the main purpose of the bike is commute, does anyone have recommendation of tyres which can do both. The bike can take upto 44mm, though I will probably need a new wheel with wider rim for it. Should I be running lower pressures .. at one stage, when the track was full of roots, it got real jarring. Also, current tyres were slipping a lot on the gravel even with a slight incline - usually on the back.

2. The point of this thread ... I found the drop bars a bit uncomfortable. The hoods didn't give great leverage on the brakes and the drops, which are comfortable on the road were too low and not confidence inspiring in the rough. I was reading and came across a few reviews of the On-One Midge .. and wondering if anyone here used them. If so, how do you find it. Would it be a good compromise for the road and the gravely stuff? Is it setup higher up than the road bars ... its expected to be ridden in the drops all the time, hence the question.

3. Is there anywhere else around Dublin which could be tackled on a cross bike? Do people take off mudguards when they do this? It would be a pain in the butt to do it every time

4. Shoulders & legs in a bit of pain from being constantly standing on the pedals and absorbing the shock, being generally nervous and holding on to the bar each time the track ran straight into the canal ... it probably only tool 20 to 30mins in all, but was probably the most tiring 30mins of the entire 2.5hour ride yesterday.

Thanks for reading
SC

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A quick bump to see if anyone has anything to say about the midge bars on the thought that more people are probably looking at boards today than over the weekend. I am pretty sure I saw one on the bike pics thread, but unable to find it and not patient enough to go through it page by page ..

Morgan

Here's another one from the designer of the Midge:

http://www.ragleybikes.com/2010/05/luxy-bar-is-go/

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Morgan wrote: »

Here's another one from the designer of the Midge:

http://www.ragleybikes.com/2010/05/luxy-bar-is-go/

Stop confusing me with more choice ...

mayan

I've got a pair, used them on my cross bike for a while, but decided they were too wide, so swapped them for some salsa bell laps, which have a bit more drop and less flair.
The midges are very comfy, the brake hoods are at very unusual angles, but you get used to that very quickly it was just the width that put me off.
They're sat in the garage feeling unloved if you fancy them......

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mayan wrote: »

I've got a pair, used them on my cross bike for a while, but decided they were too wide, so swapped them for some salsa bell laps, which have a bit more drop and less flair.
The midges are very comfy, the brake hoods are at very unusual angles, but you get used to that very quickly it was just the width that put me off.
They're sat in the garage feeling unloved if you fancy them......

Thanks for that ... and that would be great. PMing you now.