Ed Wiser

The best thing to do is to have a bike fit do for you. Ask at the local shop if they do it. Most good bike shops should be able to do it. Or know who in the area does it. It will save you a ton of time and pain. By measuring your body they will be able to point you in the right direction. As far as seat height type of seat the position of the seat. The right handle bars width steam length. Lots of small things will lead you to a more easy ride.

ramzilla

reggy88

How did you know 70d was the right fit for you and no let's say 45d? How do you judge this?

I want an upright cruise/comfort position on my bicycle.

GamblerGORD53

I grew up with swept comfort bars that came on most bikes until the 1980s, if they weren't drops.
The handle bar I had with my dad's old Rudge SS bike is now on my 1973 CCM, it is 80d and 3 1/4" rise. I also better measured my other 2 old bars, they are 75d.
Last year I got a new roadster, it had 60d. After a while I decided I didn't like it or what it's made of.
You can just hold you hands in the air to mimic their position with various angles. Less than 60d, your palms will be pointing down. Go to a bike shop with Linus type bikes and take a test ride. You will need a long top tube bike for these. Even so, I still have some knee overlap with sharp turns.
The thing with a 75d bar is you also have easy reach adjustment positions. I often have only my right hand ahead on the bend, that just doesn't work with drops. MTB bars have ZERO of this, why they are so horrible on the highway.
What makes hands go numb is pressure over the carpal tunnel. The outside corner is where your weight should rest on.

Jeff Neese

That is a very valid point, as I'm discovering right now. I'm setting up my '89 Trek 970 (rigid MTB frame) with Albatross bars and have been experimenting with brake lever position. I definitely think my levers are going to end up in a more forward position, more toward the bend, for better control under hard braking. Your weight shifts forward and with the levers further back I felt like I was struggling to maintain control. Like you said, not a big deal for tooling around the neighborhood but it didn't feel right to me. I like my brake levers to be where I have the most steering control if I have to brake hard.

delbiker1 

The reason I dislike most of the "Dutch style" of handlebars is the width, too wide. I have been experimenting with some bars, the one of this style I like best, so far, is the Velo-Orange Porteur bar. They work really well for me with the more relaxed positioning and plenty of ways to change one's hand position. Low price is a bonus.

Jeff Neese

I just finished my own setup. This is an '89 Trek 970 (rigid MTB frame) that I has had straight bars, dirt drops, butterfly bars, drop bars, and now these Soma Oxfords which are a clone of the Nitto Albatross. These are the keepers for sure.

I really wanted to maintain maximum control under hard braking, and after riding around with an Allen wrench trying different positions and tweaking the brake lever position, this is where I ended up. Under maximum braking my weight presses into the handlebars and I have excellent grip and control, maybe even a little better than straight bars because of the more natural wrist position. Two-finger braking works very well. I'm loving this setup so far. It's a lot of fun being able to sit in an upright beach cruiser position with your hands all the way back, complete with tiller steering, but then be able to immediately drop forward and ride it as a mountain bike, if the going gets rough. And in between is great for climbing. The color turned out not to match my brown leather saddle very well and it looks kind of cheesy, but maybe after it gets a little dirty it will be better.

Velo Mule

I would like to try the Albastache bars, but I need a second job to afford them. Rivendale Abastache Handlebars

I like the way Russ has them set up with the brake levers on the flatter, more rearward part of the handlebars.

SkinGriz

He could have outran the airplane if he had drop bars.

PDKL45

Ergotec has a whole selection:

https://www.ergotec.de/en/products/l...ng-lenker.html

Korina

The only way to figure it out is to try different bars. Like saddles, what's comfortable for me (V-O Tourist Bar) may not be comfortable for you. It can get expensive, but you can sell whatever doesn't work. HTH.

Reflector Guy

My thoughts exactly. My hands get sore from riding regular straight bars (like on mountain bikes) because they are much wider than I like. Angling the ends to provide a more-natural wrist angle probably helps but it doesn't change that the bars are still too wide. But that comes from a lifetime of riding drop bars (and if I'm not dropping the hammer, I am probably riding on the tops which is even narrower). So I am used to narrow.

Remember that guy Cheez who lived in a shed in Indianapolis? Everyone gave him a lot of flack when he narrowed the handlebar on his fancy new mountain bike. Yeah, he probably narrowed it TOO much, but I kept thinking, I might actually like that bike now!

ramzilla

This is my Giant Quasar. 2 x 7 trigger shifters. Soft black sponge grips. Rides like a dream.

This particular set of handlebars is the most desirable & my most successful upgrade for selling vintage bikes. They're getting much more expensive & harder to find. Last pair I bought cost about $45.

gorillimo

Here’s mine!
Cross Check with Satori Noirette plus bars.

GamblerGORD53

How about you putting that bar on a bike 2 sizes BIGGER??

Kapusta

Different bars for different riding, IMO. Everything has its place.

I find highly swept bars more comfortable for casual / utility riding in a more urban environment (like what most people in the world actually do with their bikes).

But also backsweep is related to width. The wider the bar, the more back-sweep seems to make sense. For me.

However, I hate them for mountain biking. Its about control. I ride with my elbows bent and out a bit which turns my wrists out. My favorite bars are 7deg backsweep, 5deg upsweep.

But these are not great for cranking out a bunch of road miles (paved or otherwise).

gorillimo

Nah, I’m good. Surly’s tend to have short head tubes. You see a lot of spacers on them. Fits me well, is all day comfortable for roads or trails….

Kapusta

Because then the bike would be too big for him.

ofajen

For me, the key trade-off is that the swept bar gives a very comfortable and stable riding position with hands back around the steering axis but you lose the excellent bar top climbing position that drop bars offer (and of course the very useful drops positions for hard efforts and aerodynamic stance).

Contrary to what some online reviewers have said, I don’t find the swept bars as good for seated climbs with hard pedal force as the bar top position.

At the moment, my road bike is again sporting drop bars while the MTB is currently set up with what is typically called a “horn bar” these days. It’s the Scott AT-3. In effect it’s about like the top, ramp and hood positions of drop bars, but no drops (and wider, being about 54 cm).

But going back to the swept bars for the MTB is not out of the question.

Otto