Originally Posted by
mdcoram
I did a 30 mile trail ride this weekend on a buddies adventure bike with Jones handlebars. I was initially a bit confused exactly where to place my hands but as the miles past by it became clear that the beauty of these bars is the number of hand placements they afford. Thinking of switching my drop bars to a set of Jones on my Trek Checkpoint. I know they're a bit heavier but the sweep back is so darn comfortable. Anybody else? Thoughts?
I went the other way: Had a rigid 29er/fatbike that I put Jones bars on pretty much out of the gate, but eventually took them off and did a low-budget drop bar conversion.
My verdict: Jones bars offer a number of very comfortable hand positions. However, unlike drop bars, none of those hand positions are optimized to put you in a more “aero” body position, which was important for me. Additionally, the forward loop makes it difficult to mount aerobars, although there may be some workable solution on that front I didn’t get around to exploring. If I were to do it again, I probably would have tried the Surly Moloko bar or the Velo Orange Crazy Bar, but in the end I’m glad I went over to drop bars.
If aero is not a concern, they are a solid choice IMHO. I found them comfortable for long rides, and they offer some interesting options for bags and accessory mounting. Potential issues include: trying to mount your STI levers to the Jones bar (or converting to a MTB drivetrain) as well as bar positioning/stem choice.