I have these Ritchey bullhorns and I am trying to figure out how to set them up or if I should just move them along. They seem far to long, even with the short stem I am hard pressed to get to the ends where I am considering mounting my brake lever. I was also considering triming them after the ergo bend. Any suggestions would be great, thanks.

ps I finally came out of the closet and posted my old and current rides. The exception being this jewel that I am trying to get dialed in,

Very nice.

I'd mount the brake levers where you can reach them comfortably. See how they feel at that location. No need for cables, just a few minutes of riding will be a decent test.

Once adjusted and you are happy with the position, mark a line on the bar a few millimeters past the brake lever hood's base. Remove the levers and cut the bars using a pipe cutter (I think a 1" should work). This extra section of bar allows a little adjustment in case you need them to move out slightly in the future. Clean up the ends with a file and mount the brake levers.

Looking at the bars, I'd try to mount them on the last curved section before the last straight section. This allows you to adjust the distance between the lever and the bar just be changing where the hoods are along the outside of the bar's curve.

You can install a top mount CX brake lever to bring the lever closer to you. Or you can mount a regular road lever, but just slide it back closer instead of having it on the end of the horns.

I have CX levers on my longish Profile bars.

nomore

I would make sure you are comfortable riding with your hands on the bar tops, next to the stem, before you cut anything. You may have to change stems. My bullhorns are very comfortable except when I'm on the bar tops. I feel very upright, which isn't that comfy.

Once you have the stem length correct, you can cut the bar ends to length as everyone else describes. I had to cut off the very end of my bullhorns to get the brake levers to sit properly and it was a breeze. A minute or two with a pipe cutter and a file did the trick.

Sorry, this isn't 100% on topic, but I have seen several messengers around my area with some really short bullhorn bars. I think what they are doing is taking a regular drop bar and cutting off the drops, then they mount the bars upside down. They look like mini cowhorns, because there is still a slight upturn at the end. At first I couldn't figure out what they were- if you chop off the ends of a regular bullhorn, then you lose the upturned ends.

I don't know if they are actually hacking up their drop bars, or if they just found some really short cowhorns...........eh?

I think what they are doing is taking a regular drop bar and cutting off the drops, then they mount the bars upside down.

That is exactly what they are doing.

Yup, they are flipping and clipping. I was running those Chucksbikes rebranded Syntace horns, but I didn't like the drop at the flats, so I just bought a pair of cheap road drops at Performance ($7). Ten minutes with a hacksaw and I've got short horns with flats.....

same here on a yard-sale bike. no worries.