TiHabanero

Anyone here do multi month long tours using a "tourist" handlebar such as the Nitto Bosco or Losco? Pros and cons?

Small cog

Both of my touring bikes which I have used for tours of up to four months have a very upright riding position and I find it very comfortable on a long day, I tend to cruise at 10-12 mph but start early and can do 100 miles in a day. The only problem I see with the ones you mention would be if pulling hard up a hill, I have similar on a bike I use locally and they are very comfortable and would be fine on the flat or on slight hills but in hilly or mountainous areas would prefer a straighter riser bar.
I would post photos of my bikes but am not up to 10 posts yet but will be back with them as soon as I get there.

Yan 

I haven't toured on this style of bar but I've ridden plenty of it back when I lived in Asia. The position is very upright so you will catch the wind more. Most of the weight is on your butt, so you may have saddle problems after high mileage days if you don't have a saddle that works well for you. On the plus side, you are sitting up so you have a great view of the world.

djb

question--do you have bars like this, or have you spent any time riding with bars like this? I certainly would not consider a long, long , looong trip with any setup that I was not very familiar with, especially bars.

I can give some insight from having lived with Jones H bars for a few years now. They have sort of similar "far back" grip positions, but are at 45 degrees, not straight back like these.
What I do like is how one can be sitting more back and upright in the "grip" position, but also easily change hand positions (and the super important, back and neck angle position) by putting your hands on the other forward parts of the bars.
Useful of course also for headwinds.
So, I guess the main thing would be for you to see if these unique bars would work for you in multiple positions--because for me, any bars need to have really good multiple hand positions to switch often from one to another. This has always been crucial to my riding comfort, especially with day and day, week after week touring.

I switch my hand positions all the time riding, don't even think about it. I find this keeps my hands happy to change pressure points around often, plus the mentioned back and neck angle changes--super important and crucial to me for long distance riding.

caveat--I still have not done multi day rides with my jones bars, they have been on a few of my bikes that I do day rides on, and commute, but not riding all day, day after day.
I still find my dropbars setups to be my favourite for comfort with touring (and even saying "dropbars" has a wide range of diff dropbars, how high they are, the overall bike setup, the shape and dimensions of the specific dropbars etc etc)

Tourist in MSN

Your hands would be behind the steerer tube, thus would need a pretty long top tube unless you are sitting very very upright.

I have a 1960s vintage city bike that I occasionally use for errands with similar bars, but the bike is a bit small for me, do not use it much..

tcs

I did overnighters on my Varsity Tourist back in the early 1970s, but you want personal experience from months-long tours. Sorry, no can do.

However, these are similar to the standard bar fitted to American touring cycles before the ten-speed bike boom. Here's Frank Schwinn's (yeah, that Schwinn) 1952 Paramount Tourist:



Mr. Schwinn was a rider but AFAIK never left his business long enough for a months-long tour. But in 1938, Jim and Elisabeth Young rode coast-to-coast-to-coast using the old tourist bars:



and in 1947~48 Norma Jean Belloff rode coast-to-coast-to-coast with tourist bars, setting a women's record of 53 days* on the return trip:



*Hmm. 75 years later, 53 days NY to SD self-contained is still pretty speedy!

TiHabanero

Great input, thank you. I have cruiser bars on my cruiser and the longest ride has been 30 miles, but on flat land. Had not thought about climbing issues as was pointed out. It makes sense that they will be a problem in the mountains. Thanks again, everyone!

abdon 

Honestly you have to try and then fiddle with the position yourself to see how they jive with you. Everybody is different and finding a bar that is 100% perfect to somebody else may not translate to you.

tcs

Fun fact: in 1941 Schwinn referred to a similar handlebar bend on their "English Type" "Tourist Model" New World as a "Boy Scout handlebar".

djb

when I am climbing a really steep hill seated using dropbars, I always put my hands on the flats, it gives more arm leverage for hard pedalling--who knows, perhaps these bars would have the front flat section in a similar position to dropbar flats, given how far back the grips position is.......total speculation on my part though

TiHabanero

tcs, the bars in that Schwinn ad look exactly like the Bosco and Losco bars. Something old is new again! I ordered the Nitto Bosco bar even though I think they might make loaded climbing difficult. No way of knowing without trying. Not sure if they will accept Suntour Barcons, but if not I can always install the friction Deore thumbies I have. Won't ride until spring, but am looking forward to it!
Next up will be deciding on an appropriate saddle for the upright position. Not sure a B17 will work, but that is what I currently have and it is where I will start.

jkinner

I have a Thorn Nomad. I replaced the flat bar with a Jones H-bar and have done multi-week tours. I will never go back to flat bars or drop bars...

TiHabanero

jkinner, I tried Jones bars about 5 years ago and found my wrists did not adapt to them and was in discomfort after only about 10 miles. Drop bars always work for me, however this time around I want to try the more upright pull back style bar. I go slow and figured why not try them?

djb

Bars can be so personal, and the specific setup of a given set of bars. I've found with my Jones bars that I prefer them higher up. Already my h bars are the riser ones, plus the old bike I have them on has a quill stem , so a bit of wiggle room for height.
I've also found that the angles of the bars themselves and the grip angles (I use ergon grips) all change how pressure points occur on my hands.
I'd say that with all bars, it's very much worth experimenting with different heights, angles, stems.
My gut feeling is that for off road stuff, Jones bars would be nice, as we get off the saddle a lot. I'm not convinced for long road trips.

Have fun trying different bars and setups, it's the only way to really know isn't it?

jkinner

Spot on reply. I went with Jones H Bar, an adjustable stem, and purchased a new saddle to get me to the upright position I desired. It would be great if you could try before you buy!

GamblerGORD53

The only bar for me is old style steel bars. Only full 80d sweep works very well. I have 3 widths, the inbetween one at 52 c/c cm I like best. My tour bike had the narrower one the last tour, 48 cm. All the new ones are more like 54 cm and the ones on Pashley and Linus. They won't sell them as parts.
This bike came with a 60 d sweep bar that I got tired of.
I had to DIY make matching nickel plated steel stems, the bare alu Nitto ones are fricking awful. These SA levers are awesome. All the new rubber grips SUCK.
Jones and Denham bars are hideously wide 71 cm, WTH.