ikeonabike

Anyone run their trekking bars with brake levers mounted on the sides? Are there any considerations I need to take into account as far as the brake levers I use if I go with this setup?

I'll likely go with bar end shifters, either mounted on Paul Thubmies at the forward-outside corners of the bars, or at the ends of the trekking bars if I can figure out a hack to make it work. Seems like I should be able cut the ends off the trekking bars and somehow affix the cut off ends of a road bar in their place.

bktourer1

What would be the point of brake levers on the outside of trekking bars? Seems they would catch on anything you would pass close to. In their typical positions inside the bars you would get more leverage and stopping power. You might want to searching for phots of other trekking bar setups before cutting the bars up. IMHO

ikeonabike

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I'm considering putting brake levers on the vertical sections of the trekking bars, so my hands would be in a similar position to how they are when I brake from the hoods of my drops.

~ike

fietsbob

Vertical sections? how are you thinking of mounting these?

here's a Mustache bar and a mustache bar like setup with Trekking bars
https://sheldonbrown.com/deakins/handlebars.html

and here is the setup I have used for many years
https://www.cyclofiend.com/working/20...clark1008.html

the bars as you see are gently sloped, to a comfortable angle.
the reach to the 10:00 and 2:00 portions of my bars on the sides
is somewhat like reaching the hoods of my road bike..
though a bit closer.

Perhaps if you are insecure without brake lever under your hand
at all times, you can string several interruptor /cross bar top levers
on the same cable ..

VT_Speed_TR

I'm still not sure what you have in mind with the trekking bars. They are mounted basically on a flat, to a slightly sloping horizontal plane. Your descriptions implies that you are mounting them straight up and down?

Here is my setup-

ikeonabike

I'm terrible at describing these things, but I found a pic that shows what I've got in mind:

https://www.commonwheel.org.uk/mtb-touring-bike

Looks straight forward enough.

positron

just get drop bars.

(hes talking about mounting levers parallel to the direction of the top tube of the frame. Not too hard to imagine, though i dont think id like riding them like that.)

blamp28

If you want drops, why not use these and a flat bar? https://www.amazon.com/Origin-Bicycle.../dp/B0013G6PB8

VT_Speed_TR

Go for it, no reason not to try it. Its easy enough to change the location of the brake levers and shifters. Why don't you mount them up that way for a week, then mount them up in the more traditional way the following week. The only thing that I see that way cause some discomfort is that in the location you want to mount them, the bars are curving, while the brake levers will be straight. This will cause the levers to stick out some and perhaps not be an easy reach from that part of the bar. Of course it could just as likely be fine and you'll find them comfortable. The upside to that location is, at least for myself, when I'm rolling downhill at speed that is the location where I place my hands. That widest area of the bar I find I have better leverage on the bars for stability, but with my setup I don't have the brakes readily available, your location would solve that.

freebooter

This page has a similar setup to what you want to do.

https://www.woollypigs.com/2009/11/lh...y-handle-bars/

I was going to do this to a touring bike I have that currently has drops. I bought most of the components I would need and then found that the levers didn't fit on the side sections as I wanted. There were two issues, firstly the Shimano V brake levers I had wouldn't fit around the corners of the trekking bar. Secondly the side section only had a very short straight section and hence it would be difficult to get the levers far enough forward without the clamp being on the forward curve section resulting in the levers angling out.

I think it is very dependent on the model of levers and bars you get. Also trekking bars are wide so it depends on whether you want your hands that wide. Another similar setup could be bullhorn bars.