Flat bar's actually look painful. Your hands are locked in an unnatural position, and the more weight on them the worse it gets. It probably depends on the bike, Some seem to be fine. All it takes is a slight angle to make a huge difference in comfort. The Soma Clarence bars look much better. Other options are bar ends like badger 1 suggested, or drop bars, But staring at the ground or craning my neck to see using the drops looks worse then straight bars. Good though if your fighting strong wind, and we do have the option of using the hoods or top of the handlebar.