BlarneyHammer

I'm not much of a mountain biker, but I'm building out a bike for bikepacking. How would ordinary flat bars rank for handlebars?

I know for touring you want lots of hand positions, but it seems for off-road riding, you want wide flat bars as your primary hand position, for responsiveness and control.
I've seen a few alt mtb bars (like Jones loop bars), but it seems most all have too much sweep for good handling. On the other hand, the downside of flat bars is only one hand position. Maybe get those bar end horns? I suppose butterfly bars are an option, but I've never liked the look of those.

I suppose what I'm asking is: Would you do an off-road tour on flat bars?

manapua_man

I would, but it'd be more of a cost/convenience/couldn'tbebotheredtochangeem thing.

As a general rule, you're not racing, and with the bike loaded vs what you'd see on a normal racing bike I wouldn't get too hung up on handling. If anything wider bars might slow you down more over long distances due to wind resistance.

fietsbob

try it and you be the judge... why does popularity matter?

does your shifter require a 22.2 bar? IE grip /MTB type?

I have trekking bars
and straight bars with Ergon grips.. and those grips on my Brompton M bars.

I like my Separable Bike Friday Flat bars...I put GR3 Ergon Grips on them ... too ..


Rank? Able bodied seaman (engine-man) in the US Navy, in the 60's E-2. Submarines..


...

cyccommute 

3speed

BlarneyHammer

I definitely don't intend to ride drop bars. On the contrary, I want something like flat bars because I want the better control.

I'm only wondering if the one hand position flat bars offer is enough, or do you "need" alt mtb bars for more hand positions.

manapua_man

At the end of the day all this is a call only you can make. I'd just slap some bar ends on if the bike already has flat bars. The bike I usually fly with is a folding mtb with narrow-ish flat bars.

Happy Feet

I've done a lot of riding on flat bars with bar ends which gives two. You can also add aerobars for three if you want.
I would suspect there are far more people riding off road on flats with or without barends than jones bars, dirt drops or other "new" iterations.

seeker333

Bar ends make "flat bars" (most have 2-8 degree bend back towards bicyclist) tolerable for many tourists. I still use Cane Creek bar ends because they allow one to rotate hands/wrists/forearms to a more comfortable position than the standard flat bar grip, without requiring a more forward, further-reach posture of typical bar ends. Bar ends are a pretty easy/cheap alternative to a flat handlebar.

There are dozens of handlebars besides the usual flat, riser, drop or trekking (Nitto, Soma, VO). Evaluating an alternate bar is often a fraught, costly process one should try to avoid unless all else fails, as there are usually reach and bar height changes to consider/correct, and new brake levers, shifters, stem, cable+housing, etc may be required.

3speed

CreakingCrank

Whichever you decide, remember that swept back bars require longer cables and brake lines. If you decide to try flat bars first, cut the lines a bit long in case they don't work out for you.

Cyclist0108

The kind of drop bars used in this context differ from standard road bike drop bars. They tend to be much more flared out, and are typically set up higher, so that when your hands on the drops would be in a position similar in height to where they would rest on a flat bar.

Frames designed for mtn bike drop bars also are a bit shorter in the top tube, relative to standard flat-bar frames.



(one of my brake levers slipped, since corrected, but this is my only head-on view photo)

MarcusT

I found this video interesting. I ma not a big fan of these folks, but once in a while they put out something worth watching

fietsbob

Then there are figure 8 bend Trekking Bars .. That use all the flat bar brake & shift levers But not on GCN A vs B comparison..


Above is a round grip comparison.. (and they work to make drop bars look better, brcause they have an A priori conclusion to support..


.. I put Ergon grips on 2 flat bar bikes , and no longer a person who must go fast.. ..





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stardognine

I've been using a flat riser bar on the Silk Path, since I got it, and it's surprisingly neutral, even after several hundred miles. I thought it was pretty urgent, to grab some trekking bars, but it's really not "as" big a deal as we might think. 🤔

baldilocks

I love my Jones H loop bars. Would like to put them on my old bike as well.

J.Higgins 

+1 for the ubiquitous Jones Loops. I have the 710-wide flat version on my ECR, and the 660-wide 2.5 version on my Troll.

MarcusT

I was tempted by the H loop, but before I invested that kind of money, I bought a set of cheap sweep back bars to see if I would like the hand position. I did not.
Stayed with flat bars and put on 2 position bar ends. Added a longer stem and seems good for now.

avole

It's riding position that counts, and some of the vairiants in the pictures look like they will have an effect on that. I took the bar ends off my flat bars since they were never used. A longer stem is a good suggestion, and may improve your riding position.

Leebo

Flat bars are all I use with my bikepacking rigs. I like a bar with 15-20 or so degrees of sweep. Then I add bar ends for change of hand positions. Works great for me. Bonus? The bar ends are a great way to attach a handlebar bag.

djb

blarney, unfortunately you ultimately have toride diff bars with extended riding to really know the answer.

personally, drop bars with flare are pretty good on dirt roads, Im fine with them, but your mileage may vary and depends on setup factors also.

personally I have used straight bars, and my wrists dont like it. Added bar ends which helped, but then put on slight risers with a slight angled back hand position, and that was better. Still must have bar ends to change up hand position or else hands in same position is a bad recipe for wrists, plain and simple. This is why drop bars are great.

have a pair of jones bars but have only ridden a bit on them, so cant speak for my experience inday after day riding.

and to come back to this point, you have to try this stuff yourself, what works for one person wont for another.

straight or riser and slightly angles back mtb bars are cheap to buy and try out, even if you buysome cheapand heavy ones and ride a lot on them and see.

also, ergo grips and bar ends make a hell of a diff for hand comfort due to spreading weight distribution over your palm better. Snowshoe vs highheel analogy here.

raybo

This article on handlebars at sheldonbrown.com is a excellent discussion of different designs and things to be aware of when changing them.

Paul Barnard

I will start by saying I haven't yet done what most folks consider touring. I have done multi day supported trips and unloaded back to back day long rides in varied terrain. With that out of the way, I will start by saying that wide bars on mountain bikes are just not necessary for the way most of us ride. It seems like my bars back when I was racing were just over 600mm. I never hungered for greater control and never felt they were a hindrance to finesse. That's racing mountain bikes. I am assuming you have a more sedate pace in mind for your bikepacking. Given that, my belief is that you'll do fine with narrower flat bars. Back when I was racing, almost everyone had bar ends. That has obviously fallen out of favor, but that doesn't mean they don't work. They work very well. When I built my touring bike, I went with flats and bar ends. On longer rides they have proven very comfortable. I have an extra set of rims for this bike. They'll end up with tires more suitable for off roading.

BlarneyHammer

Paul, that looks like an awesome ride! If I were to start all over building out a road touring bike, I'd want something very similar.

For my road touring bike, I use wider-than-normal bullhorns (48 cm). It's basically like wide drop bars, but with flats and hoods only, no drops. Narrow flats + bar ends would accomplish almost the same thing.



I've done some bikepacking before, with flat bars that were (I think) 56 cm across. I found that too narrow for that purpose. Again, I'm not a good mountain biker, so I often felt like I needed better control. Also, I wished I could move my hands around a little more. Maybe simply using wider (~65 cm?) flat bars will make me feel better, both in terms of control and comfort. And with wider bars, you could potentially use longer grips and simply move your hands side-to-side a little bit.

I've also considered getting some bar ends and putting them inside the grips, comparable to the front extensions on the Velo Orange Crazy Bar.

Paul Barnard

You might find that the bar ends won't go around some of the bends in your bars. I have done exactly what you are talking about, but the bends in my bars were very subtle.