steve-in-kville 

I have a pair of cheap Fyxation bullhorns. I'm in the process of rebuilding the Kilo this spring, and I'd like to upgrade my bars as well. What bars are the most comfortable, in your opinion?

JohnDThompson 

Bullhorns aren't designed for comfort; they're designed for aerodynamics. If you want comfort, you'd be better served using a bar that offers more hand positions than a bullhorn.

Bandera

Yep.
Drop handlebars for road riding have been the accepted standard for the last century because they simply work best on the road regardless of what flavor of drive-train is fitted. Having a lack of various hand positions to choose from when descending, riding into a headwind, negotiating an off camber turn at pace, climbing a long or steep grade or just plootering along is a self inflicted penalty that is not necessary. Bullhorns are a relic of '80's TT tech that have somehow become fashionable. If you want "more hand positions" fit a set of drop bars that match your shoulder width and have at it.

-Bandera

steve-in-kville 

Okay, but I never ride in the drops.... maybe I've had all the wrong drop bars over the years.

Bandera

A properly sized & fitted drop bar set-up will take some adaption if you are used to bullhorns. If you are going to be doing LD riding there will be considerable adaption to the machine required w/ lots of seat-time anyway.

Ride the drops when:

Into a headwind
Taking your pull
Descending
Cornering
Sprinting
Going fast
Hard braking

Other than those use the various other positions a drop bar offers, that's what it's designed for.

-Bandera

seau grateau

+1 to all this. Took me a little while to get used to descending in the drops, but it's really the best place to be.

steve-in-kville 

Hmmm.... maybe I should go drag the original drops out of storage and give it a whirl again. Perhaps I have matured??

StirFry

I really liked my Cinelli Lolas when I had 'horns. I personally don't like the ones that angle down at the bend, because I find the hand position to be very awkward when climbing.

Bandera

Oddly enough standing and grasping the brake hoods (fit a "dummy" brake/hood if only using a Fr brake on a FG) on a drop bar is a highly effective method with strong leverage and balance for getting up and over when the grade won't permit sitting any longer. The same position allows a nice standing stretch as conditions permit on the flats w/ the hoods providing a solid/secure base if one hits unexpected rough surfaces. Just as on a geared bike "hands on the hoods" is where one spends a lot of time w/ elbows bent taking the road shock and and being in firm/relaxed control on long FG rides.

-Bandera

Broctoon

I have the Lola on one of my bikes, and like it a lot. It's flat on top near the center, which gives a nice position when I want to shift my hands somewhere besides the ends occasionally. Farther out, it's round, allowing for a solid grip when sprinting.

This is on my track bike, which has never actually seen a track, but is super fun to ride on road courses with rolling hills. I've had plenty of road bikes with drop bars, and I find I spend the majority of my time on them gripping the brake hoods. It's where I always go when sprinting up hills--something this bike excels at, and cruising on flat ground, moderate climbs, or moderate descents. I only go to the drop position when fighting a headwind or descending a steep/fast hill.

I realized the ends of a bullhorn are in about the same position as the brake hoods on a drop bar, relative to the seat. So to me, the Lola is a simple, elegant component that facilitates a riding position I favor. It's stiff, light, affordable, nice looking, and reasonably comfortable.*

* I've had the bike for a year and just recently found some adjustments that make it comfortable to ride. This had more to do with the bar's position than its shape, and with the seat's adjustment. Right from the start I liked its shape.

veganbikes

My favorite bars are the ZIPP Vuka Alumina bars. Their bars seem to be my favorite for all my bar choices. I am kind of curious to try the Deda Dabars because the shape seems intriguing, very curvy but with that nice comfortable flat top.

Carcosa

Sprint up a hill in the drops. You'll change your mind.

Or go fast at all maybe.

pcf

Reversed Chop & Flop

UltraManDan

steve-in-kville 

That kinda makes my eyes hurt.

seau grateau

Cool to see that bike still popping up in places where no one asked to see it.

motrheadsroadie

that bike sucks.

hardboiled718

pursuit style bars might be a good go between since you said you never use the drops anyway. They get you a little lower and have the same forward hand position as bullhorns. I also like the sloped tops for a more comfortable hand position when riding more upright

veganbikes

Agreed

nightfly

The most comfortable pair of bullhorns I ever had were some flop and chop ones I made from Nitto road bars. They were shorter and curvier than most pre-bought ones and I rode them for years.

Nitto has some nice premade ones in this vein RB-02, RB-10. I've also always been curious about the little Nitto B263/B264 bullhorns. Never cared for the pursuit style ones.

One thing with bullhorns is that if the horns are too long, they get pretty flexy.

Phyoomz

For what it's worth I've had a Nitto RB-021 on my fixed gear for a little over 3yrs now and I love it.

pcf

So based on your experience of riding and wrenching on this bike, what specific items lead you to that conclusion?

seau grateau

I just remembered you can put people on ignore.

veganbikes

You can look at a Huffy and know it is crap without having to ride or wrench on it. Point being you don't have to work on the bike to know stuff about it.

pcf

So the Huffy's that won gold, silver, and bronze medals at the 80/84 Olympics were crap?