TOSCO BARS
Short description:
A spectacular medium-rise, sweep-back bar ideal for comfortable riding on trails, roads, anywhere.
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Long description with more nitty-gritty:
In 2016 or so we had NITTO make us the BOSCO bar, with 3.5-inches of rise, some flare at the grips, and lots of sweep-back (the bars come back toward you). It's a great bar.
Then BLUE LUG, a kindred spirit bike shop in Tokyo, asked NITTO for a variant, a low-rise version they call the LOSCO. Is the “L” for “low”? We opt to assume that, and we sell the LOSCO, too. A really nice bar, with less flare than the BOSCO. When we say "flare," we don't mean style or pizazz. We mean, literally, the ends don't point out as much.
Then we asked NITTO for a mid-rise version, but they were swamped and couldn’t do it. So we went to Taiwan, and after a year and a few prototypes, we got the TOSCO (for “Taiwan Bosco”) in cro-mo.
They're available in the following variations:
- 55cm - with 25.4mm clamp area
- 60cm - with 25.4mm clamp area
- 65cm - with 31.8mm clamp area
For rough trails, bumpy as all get-out, we recommend the Nitto Fillet Faceplate stems. For "gravel" kind of roads, dirt fire trails, and roads, a stem with a single clamping bolt is fine as long as you snug it tight.
Best for use with thumb-shifter or trigger shifters (modern Shimano, etc.). It comes back kind of far for bar-end shifters, but if you use a long stem and your bike's top tube isn't too short, it'll be fine, no problem.
Finish: Silvery, good enough for any bike. About 98 percent as good as NITTO.
Material: Cro-Mo steel