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More Confidence with Flat Bars - Anyone Else?

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More Confidence with Flat Bars - Anyone Else?

Old 03-13-18, 08:13 AM
  #26  
mikeoclt
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At 57 with a pretty beat up back the bikes that get the most miles with me either have flat or trek bars. For me they allow for longer rides & more comfort than riding drop bars.

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Old 03-22-18, 09:09 PM
  #27  
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For off road bikes I use riser bars. I could use flat bars with a taller stem but the riser bars result in a shorter/lower stem and perhaps a little more clearance in case of a "Flying Wallenda" moment over the bars

I'm just not able to bend down to a normal drop bar setup with a good degree of comfort so the drops were always wasted on me.

A few years back I got a set of moustache bars for a single speed I had at the time. Very much liked the bars but not how the brake levers had to mount when used on the inner area. A bit later I bought a Redline 9to5 that came with bullhorn bars and bar end levers. I found that this setup was a natural for me. Very comfortable wrist angle on the road with some additional hand positions as options where flats or riser bars don't have any options.

The thing is flat bars or riser bars used off road with a more elbows up and out stance for control provide a pretty natural wrist angle for me. But on the road or casual riding I don't hold my arms in that manner and it shows up on the wrists. The bullhorn bars on the other hand give me four positions for variety with two of them providing a very naturally straight wrist angle.

There's the main position with my hands on the outer portions just behind the kick up front ends. Then there's back a little on the bends with hands either thumbs out or in depending where on the bend. Then there's the more sitting upright position given by the hands in on the straight across middle portion. For hills I have my hands on the outer forward horns and move them forward to hold around the front of the brake lever bases. This encourages my forearms to drop and pull me down. But I'm stretched out so my head is automatically not having to bend back sharply and my chest isn't scrunched up like I am with drop bars. So I can breath really well and put energy into the pedals.

This worked so well that when I built up my Soma Double Cross using brifters I used drop bars because I had to but I mounted the upper portion up flat and mounted the brifters up quite high so the center, bends and run to the brifters matched bullhorn bars with bar end levers. I then cut off the drops just below the brifter bases. The setup has worked really well for me. And it's a worthy alternative to flat bars thanks to the variations on hand positions while still providing a usable lower crouch option that works really well.

Really bad dark hallway picture added to show the cut down drop bars masquerading as bullhorn bars with brifters.
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Old 03-24-18, 10:11 PM
  #28  
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Most of my road-riding bikes are sporting drop bars. The lone exception is a MTB-style bicycle I built up with parts I stripped off an old Mongoose IBOC and other stuff out of my parts bins. I tried a drop bar on it, but could never get comfy. I changed it to a flat bar (with about 30mm of rise) and it works perfectly. Its in the 'mix' of bikes I use for general road riding, and I'll use it for rides of up to 25 miles, but anything longer and I like a drop bar bicycle due to the variety of hand positions they allow. YMMV
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Old 03-25-18, 06:50 AM
  #29  
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I actually got back into riding about 3-4 years ago with a Fuji Absolute flat bar hybrid. I'm done with singletrack and off road stuff other than gravel and dirt roads at this point in life, but wanted something other than a pure drop bar road bike. I've got thousands of miles on that Fuji and still ride it frequently on shorter rides. I put the Ergon grips with bar ends on it for multiple hand positions to solve that problem on longer rides and they did the trick. I've resurrected a vintage Motobecane road bike recently, and it took some time getting used to using the narrower drop bars. I seldom ride the drops, but do enjoy the ride. It's not that I'm more comfortable or confident on straight bars over drops, but it's just that it feels different.

Cheers
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Old 03-25-18, 10:28 PM
  #30  
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These comments are interesting. Definitely a case of "what is comfortable for you is what you should do". I rode drop bars in my college years on the mandatory 10-speed (Schwinn Continental). However, I don't recall using the drops much, but more the bar center. In those days, there were no brake hoods, so you had two positions down or up center. The nice thing was the shifting levers (friction only back then, no indexed shifting) were mounted on the stem, so riding on the top center of the bar made sense. Thinking back, however, I don't think it was good for control.


Making a decision on an upgrade from a Specialized Crossroads Sport, I had to decide on flat bar or drops. I borrowed my daughter-in-laws cycloscross bike and rode it around our property. Scary. For one, as someone else mentioned, I just didn't feel in control of the bike in any situation other that on flat pavement. Even more concerning was the fact that, when on the drops, I could not see ahead through my bi-focals. I also found it har to keep a neutral wrist in any of the bar positions which would only lead to worsening of my milk carpal tunnel issue in one wrist. So glad to find out flat bars are a good option.


I picked my new ride yesterday - a 2018 Specialized Rockhopper Pro (Women's frame). My LBS expert fitter knew very well what I needed - thank you, Karl at South Coast Bicycles in Bandon, OR. He even recommended the Ergon-5 bar ends I had been looking at. I'm excited to get my bike, hopefully next Saturday. I've been training at the gym on a stationary bike and am anxious to get in some real road time before a 25-mile charity ride I plan to participate in on May 19. My ultimate goal is to ride in the Tour de Fronds on June 16, but this will require some serious hill training as the 33 mi out and back is a steady uphill grade most of the way out. My son and daughter-in-law have ridden this ride for the past 7 or 8 years - once on tandem; my son on a single speed another time, and lately pulling their two kids in a trailer (see pic attached - son pulling the trailer with 2 yr old Elsa; DIL is on the bike with baby Finn due in 5 mos) This year one is pulling the two yr old in a trailer while the other gets the 4 yr old on a tag-along. They have challenged me to enter this year and I think I'm up to it, even if I have to walk park way. Wish me luck.


https://www.tourdefronds.com/index.php
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Old 03-26-18, 06:25 AM
  #31  
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Back when my wife and I lived near Acadia National Park in Maine, we mostly rode flat bars for the unpaved carriage trails. However, we used our drop bar touring bikes for other riding. Back in 2011 I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and had to have an ICD implanted. That changed how I ride. Trying to get into the drops puts pressure on my little 'electronic pocket protector" so it's flat bars for me.... I only wish that some of the bike manufactures would offer more upscale flat bar road bikes like the ones available in Europe. I would love to own a Canyon Roadlite CF 90 LTD for example. Until then my wife and I are happy with our Giant CoMax 1's plus the mtn bikes for our trips back to Acadia in the summer. However, it doesn't matter what bike you ride as long as you RIDE it!
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Old 03-26-18, 06:41 AM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by Planemaker
I just recently added wider drop bars with a 16 degree flare to my gravel bike. The difference in handling is dramatic.
I went from a 400 compact to a 440 with a 24 flare bar and I can say the same. Ritchey Venturemax in my case, the Salsa Cowchipper is similar. Totally changed my drop bar experience off the smooth. To be fair, the 400 I had in any shape was too narrow for me anyway. Like Canklecat mentioned and I went through the same process when I returned to riding (no injury history though). For me too, the comfort of a flatbar is great for 20 or so miles with some hills but I too just can't get the any sustainable power delivery in a flat bar upright position, even with my dropbar on the flats.

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Old 03-28-18, 11:39 PM
  #33  
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Suza, if you are playing with a mild carpal tunnel issue you owe it to yourself to find a bike with bullhorn bars and try it out. Flat bars put a lot of twist into our forearms so the two bones are well rotated around each other and the wrists are still bent at an angle unless you're riding with the elbows outward. Bullhorns take very nearly your natural hang of the arms and hands and simply angle them out in front. And I find that my wrist sits at a very well centered neutral angle when riding my bullhorn bar bikes. Find one and give it a whirl!
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Old 03-29-18, 04:36 AM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by BluesDawg
It's all about proper setup.
There's a lot of details to work out to do a first class dropped bar to flat bar conversion.
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Old 03-29-18, 05:06 AM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by John E
I have kept the stock Ritchey flat bars on my mountain bike, but I added the extensions mentioned earlier in this thread, to provide the neutral axial forearm rotation position afforded by drops. Without these, I hated flat bars, because they limited me to a single hand position.

I use drops exclusively on my road bikes, and I probably spend more time down in the drops than most people do. I agree with Machoman that this provides great control.
Actually with the addition of bar ends you get an extra hand position. Even so, you are correct, drop bars are much more versatile giving you all of the above and then some including much improved aerodynamics.
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Old 03-29-18, 10:47 AM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by BCRider
Suza, if you are playing with a mild carpal tunnel issue you owe it to yourself to find a bike with bullhorn bars and try it out. Flat bars put a lot of twist into our forearms so the two bones are well rotated around each other and the wrists are still bent at an angle unless you're riding with the elbows outward. Bullhorns take very nearly your natural hang of the arms and hands and simply angle them out in front. And I find that my wrist sits at a very well centered neutral angle when riding my bullhorn bar bikes. Find one and give it a whirl!
Mustache bars are another option.
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Old 04-01-18, 10:01 PM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by BCRider
Suza, if you are playing with a mild carpal tunnel issue you owe it to yourself to find a bike with bullhorn bars and try it out. Flat bars put a lot of twist into our forearms so the two bones are well rotated around each other and the wrists are still bent at an angle unless you're riding with the elbows outward. Bullhorns take very nearly your natural hang of the arms and hands and simply angle them out in front. And I find that my wrist sits at a very well centered neutral angle when riding my bullhorn bar bikes. Find one and give it a whirl!

My bike arrived and I went in for a fitting Friday afternoon. My LBS fitter spent a good two hours dialing in the bike which I will ride for a few weeks then return for adjustments.


As far as the handlebars, I love the Ergon GP5 bar ends. The bars might be a tad too wide, but will ride a while before committing to shortening them.


After riding a bit we made several adjustments:


Raised the seat and adjusted tilt and fore/back
Adjusted the grips and bar ends to allow a more neutral wrist position
Raised and moved the handlebars closer; with the initial settings my arms had no bend at all


LBS installed an adjustable stem to make handlebar adjustments more precise to get the best fit


So far, I'm liking the ride although it is taking a while to adjust to the 2x10 gearing.


Not sure I will get used to the hard seat (nothing like the comfort seat on my hybrid that I didn't even notice was there). It might just be a matter of positioning the seat better, though we did make several changes during the fitting. Any suggestions for an appropriate comfortable seat?
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Old 04-03-18, 01:03 PM
  #38  
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I have four bikes fitted with the JONES LOOP bars. They just work for me.
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Old 04-04-18, 09:32 AM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by caloso
Mustache bars are another option.
I built up my first single speed bike from parts and used moustache bars. Quite liked the bars for the variety of hand positions. But the brake lever reach that the curves pretty well demanded was less than stellar.


Going back to the flat bars with bar ends. I had a bike with them for quite a while that I commuted with. The bar ends do offer up a nice place to put our hands and they do ease the twist in our forearms. But it was always a bit of a panic to get back to the brake levers when riding around in crowded conditions or in traffic. So I tended to not use the bar ends as often as I might have wished.

So I think that is part of the reason why I like the bullhorn setup so much. It puts our hands into that nice natural "bar end" position but the brake levers are right there at our fingertips.

I'm glad you're enjoying the new ride Suza. There's nothing like that "new bike smell" But somewhere, someplace when you run across a bullhorn bar setup with the proper brake levers give it a try.
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Old 04-04-18, 09:44 AM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by fitlerbend
I have four bikes fitted with the JONES LOOP bars. They just work for me.
I'd never heard about those. Looking at some pictures with the angle they have and the right angle in the stem I think those could be a VERY nice option. I don't see them giving a lot of useful variety in the hand positioning but I think that they could be set up for a very natural "at rest" forearm and wrist position. So a lot of options may not be something that was really needed.

Along that line Soma has a variety of angled back bars that are much like the Jones Loop but without the forward accessory bar. The Jones setup is a great bit of kit for anyone that wants to install lights and device holders. But the forward portion really has no use if we don't need room for our bits and pieces. The Osprey and Clarence bars from Soma provide that same angle for the grip area without that forward cross piece.
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Old 04-08-18, 06:05 PM
  #41  
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I have never met or encountered another person who uses these, but to me they are awesome. I have them on my touring bike and on a bike I do some commuting and semi-sporting riding on. The allow all the hand position of drop bar bikes, but with controls on the flats where I like my hands to be when I am most likely to need the controls. I put foam grips over them for additional comfort.

https://www.modernbike.com/product-2...RoCB7oQAvD_BwE
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Old 04-08-18, 08:57 PM
  #42  
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Well, I feel pretty confident in drops, but I wouldn't take them on mountain bike trails and only mild single track. I commute on gravel and croshed limestone trails and feel much more comfortable on a drop bar gravel bike than I ever did on a flat bar mountain bike. And I'm faster.
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