Handlebar - Nitto Albatross, 55cm x 25.4

Nitto Albatross Bar

This 55cm Albatross Bar is a fantastic bar: great looking, extra comfortable, good for all kinds of riding on road, and is the only bar of its type (a lightweight, swept-back, old-fashioned type) that accepts bar-end shifters. It's perfect for converting mountain bikes to comfortable city bikes. Lots of our bike builds go out with these bars.

If you ride a bike and have more than two or three of them, you ought to have this bar. It is the only bar in the world with this luscious look, this super quality, and that'll fit mountain bikey brake levers and bar-end shifters. You could just as easily set it up with mountain bike shifters, but it was designed specifically to work with bar-end shifters, and doing it that way frees up more room in front of the brake lever, for a good off-the-saddle climbing grip. I/Grant like riding this bar now, and ride it a lot (average 60 miles per week year round on it); and I just know it's the bar I'll ride full-time when I'm rickety, too.

Albatross Cromo is made of steel (alloyed with chromium and molybdenum.) This makes it strong, long-lived, and dependable. You sacrifice a bit of lightness + stiffness compared with an Alu bar, but save money and gain peace of mind.
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The Albatross Heat Treated Aluminum costs more than the Alba Cromo because of the high quality aluminum and the extra step of heat treating, and it's both stronger and lighter. Otherwise, the Alba Alu and Alba Cromo are identical in shape and feel. Get the stronger HT Alu if you even think you're going gravel grinding or will ride fire trails more than 14.3% of the time.

If you want to use bar end shifters with this bar and your bike is 58cm or bigger then you'll probably need extra long shifter cables and housing.

Albatross bars have a 25.4mm stem clamp diameter.

You need the Nitto 26.0 to 25.4 shim (part#16-095) if you're gonna use this with a 26mm clamp stem. Stem, cork grips, brake levers, shifters not included.

Requires brake levers with 22.2mm clamp diameter.

Only available in 55cm wide. That's not as wide as it sounds. My daughter has been riding hers since she was 14. Try it on a good bike. It's worthy of the best bike you own.

Important, maybe

The steel bars may show a bit of surface oxidation inside the bar. It's not a structural concern, but if that worries you, just get the aluminum version. These are made in coastal Japan, and there's a lot of moisture in the air. If you'd like to get rid of it, spray a little Boeshield, or rust converter into the bar, give it a pass or two with a pipe cleaner, and it'll be gone.


Nitto name: B352

Note: "CrMo" and "Cromo" is used interchangeably because that's what Nitto does. They both mean the same thing.