KC8QVO

All,

I did my first "ride" on my Dahon Mariner D8 today - just 10 miles but it was a nice ride, though HOT (90deg F today).

I quickly started having trouble with my hands and fingers going numb.

On my Disk Trucker with drop bars I switch up my hand positions about every 2-5 minutes because of this, in a round about way. In the hand position changes I change my posture also (top of the bar, bottom of the bar, the brake lever mounts are further forward, etc). That has proven to be a saving grace to my stamina on rides.

With the straight bar on the Mariner I am severely limited and that is a problem for me.

Because the bar is designed to rotate for folding I am not sure there are many options to change out the bar? If I could put a drop style bar on the bike with the double layer foam tape wrap like I have on my other bike I would be in a million times better shape.

I knew there would be some nuances with the folding style bike, so I am not too disappointed. In fact, quite the opposite. I have found the bike to be a really good buy overall - rack and fenders standard on top of an 8 speed gear range. Everything on the bike is "solid" - it doesn't feel loose or flexible at all. It proved itself a very ridable bike today so I was happy to see that. I just have a few things to tweak to make it right for me.

The seat is also very nice, surprisingly. That is usually the first thing I can't stand on a bike.

Pedals already got changed out to SPD clips. I am using some Shimano ones I tried with my other bike that are reversible with platforms on one side. These are real slick in platform mode, so I may get the same ones I have on my other bike for the extra grip. They will work for now, though.

grayrest

I messed with bullhorns (do not recommend) before I found loop handlebars two weeks ago. The original is the Jones h-bar but I put a Origin8 Strongbow on my Birdy early last week because I wanted to match the original handlebar size/curve and keep the fold the same. I got it to have a much better aero position and it's great for that, my position is fairly close to being on drops and I get a pseudo-TT bar forearm rest so it's easy to hold. What I didn't expect is that I can ride with hands across the corners of the loop and it's the most comfortable handlebar position I've used on any bike. Holds my hands open for good blood flow, high surface area, doesn't hit any nerves, and I can drop from that position to the brakes really quickly.

For you with the rotating handlebar on the D8, the loop on either bar would want to be in the steering post if you rotated it the same way as the flatbar but if you can rotate it the other way then it could work if it doesn't interfere with a magnetic clamp or something. If it doesn't, there are quite a few other comfort mountain bike bar designs and one should work for you. You even get to avoid increasing gthe size of your fold.

Comments on my specific setup:


My handlebars don't rotate so the front loop sticks out a bit further on the side of the bike but not far enough to cause me problems on transit (at least so far) and I don't expect any problems.

I bought the bar to match my flatbar shape and it is the same sweep but slightly in front of where the flatbar was due to the (nice) curve in the rear loop so I had to adjust my rear quick release lever to catch the bar before it hit my rear disc.

I wrapped them with cork tape which resulted in plenty of padding but I did it wrong so they're quite ugly. The next time I put on tape I'll be starting with the front of the loop (leaving the center open for mounting stuff) and working down towards the corner and around the rear loop with the grips as a separate pass.

The loop corner is where I want the brakes to go if I'm keeping the width the same but I don't want to have the bars wider due to squeezing between cars. As a result the outer grip portion of my bars are cut down further than most people would probably want: the brake handles go past the bar ends at full pull. There's plenty of bar to leave if you aren't width obsessed but you should mount the bars on your bike with all the bar attachments exactly where you want and practice moving your hands around to be sure you're happy. I intended from the beginning to switch to reverse brake levers in the bar ends to better match how I want to use the bars and free up space on the grips but redoing internally routed brake cables was a bigger project than I wanted to mess with so it's slightly awkward in the meantime. Not enough to make me unhappy but leaving a few more cm on each end and cutting down to final size as part of the reverse lever project probably would have been smarter.

Duragrouch

You're right about the flat bars, I need to change mine out on my Dahon.

The problem with drop bars on a folder is that they don't fold flat.

I'm gonna try the setup I've had on my roadbike for decades: Bullhorn bars (which DO fold flat, but I used them long before folding was an issue), angled up to what you find comfortable (I think mine are about 30 degrees (?) up IIRC), bonus points for "grab-ons" (thick dense foam tubes designed to pad handlebars, I use Edge shave gel to slide them on, they grip when dry). This will improve your hand comfort due to the longer grip area and vertical orientation, and have the brake handles immediately accessible at any given time. And yes, you can use standard road handles or brifters mounted on the end of the bars, varying the position on the end curve for optimum handle reach, you don't need the special handles that fit inside the end of the bars. (The Dahon OEM flat bar mountain brake handles may not work in terms of reach.) Bonus points for adding a set of clip-on bars, with forearm pads that are adjustable for both center-to-center width, and height, for optimum comfort; on very long rides these take pressure completely off my hands; clip-ons that adjust for everything independent of the main handlebars are, in my opinion, superior to all-in-one time-trial or triathlon bars. Regarding folding with the clip-ons, I need to remove the forearm pads (two allen bolts), and swing the handlebars forward instead of back, the long stem nests perfectly inside the clip-ons. (Some models of Dahons may require removing the small screw under the handlebar clamp to allow swinging the bars fully forward.)

YMMV.

fietsbob

I use Ergon combo grip/bar ends on my 2 straight bar folding bikes, instead of round grips..





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tds101 

Ergon grips help immensely: Ergon Grips

Duragrouch

To my disappointment, they don't, and they weren't cheap. I had both mounted on a dual shifter bike (moving the grip shifts inboard), hesitating to saw them to the correct length for shifters. Over years they didn't seem to improve things, but maybe things would have been worse with normal grips, I thought. Then I got my folder with only a right-hand grip shift. So I left the round grip on the right and swapped out only the left grip. Rode it for two years that way. The Ergon was not better, in fact I started to have pain in the large paddle area, resolved when I put back the original grip on the left. For me, the only way to alleviate pain and nerve issues is to frequently shift hand positions if possible (not possible with current flat bars) or remove hand pressure entirely by fitting and riding on the clip-on bars whenever possible (when not in tight traffic, high speed descents, or climbing out of the saddle). I hope this year to duplicate the setup on my old road bike, replacing the flat bars with bullhorns covered with grab-on foam, far-inboard grip-shifts or bar-end shifters, and the clip-on-bars with high forearm pads. With my weight on the forearm pads, they don't even need to be padded; I've left off the adhesive-back foam pads so I can easily get to the mounting bolts, and the hard plastic (cradle?) matches my forearms so well, they are comfortable without even any foam padding on top.

tds101 

Then you most likely need butterfly touring bars. I'm contemplating bullhorn bars on a bike right now, but that's as far as I'll go. I get hand and neck pain & numbness due to spine issues.

reppans

One of the limitations of folders... I put bar ends on my Speed P8 and that helps my hands by giving it a second grip position, but my issue is back angle. The adjustable height of the Dahon bars is of little use since I need to vary my back angle while riding, usually depending upon uphill/flat/downhill.

This where Brompton excels yet again - the P bars provide multiple grip and back angles, although are odd looking (too old to care), and I rigged a aero drop grip in the bottom of my M bars, along with Ergon bar end grips for two back angles and two two grip positions.

Duragrouch

As noted above, the setup on my road bike (which I want now for my Dahon folder), is bullhorn bars, with clip-on aero bars. This gives me three hand positions:
- On the outer horns, hands vertical. Position set for back comfort.
- On the inner part of the horn-bar (same as inboard on a drop bar), hands horizontal, back slightly elevated versus horns but not the big difference like with drop bars.
- On the clip on bars and forearm pads; This can be a lower and more aerodynamic position, but tilted upward slightly and with taller forearm pads, can be more upright, which is how I have mine set, I just want them to take the pressure off my hands.