Billie Bar Review, with bonus Pine Tar Soap review

I placed a Rivendell order the other day to try out a few new products. My main purchase was a new bar for my Fuji. The Billie bar is an evolution of Nitto's Albatross bar: a bit wider and longer. I've ridden an Albatross copy a while back, but I didn't care for the narrow width and the bolt upright main position (the "Mary Poppins" effect).

So off came the Noodles, on came the Billie:

I'm running mine flipped over. Well, actually I *ran* it flipped over. I've already replaced it. I'm afraid the changes to the Billie, while nice, didn't fundamentally change it from the Albatross for me: the main grip position is too upright and too close, so I end up spending most of my time up on the forward curve. That's all well and good, until my ride last Saturday morning: I was on a short downhill approaching a sharp curve. The bike path was wet from the night's rains. I sat back on the bar to brake for the turn. I think this lightened the front end too much, and I could hear my front Hetre make a zipping sound as it slid out on the corner. A classic low side. The bike was fine, my left side was bruised and scraped up, and the Billie bar is into the parts bin. I might try it again someday on a bike with a longer top tube/shorter stem combo. Or not.

As I said, the Billie replaced a Noodle bar. I used this setup when I had a very rare chance to commute to work a few weeks back:

We had a Friday offsite meeting in Dublin. Just nine miles away, a pleasant ride on a late summer morning, compared to my usual 28 mile drive.

I need to find a way to work offsite all summer.

The other Riv product I bought with the Billie bar was the new Porcupine Tar soap. I can't say I appreciate it, either. Compared to Grandpas, which lathers up white and bubbly, the Porcupine stuff gives a few desultory bubbles amidst a sheen of brown water. It doesn't make for an especially clean feeling shower, particularly when I'm washing off road rash.