Originally Posted by
cudak888
I'm delighted to see I'm not the only one who finds the US flat bar hybrids (the leisure hybrids, not other interpretations) uncomfortable, squirrely-handling bastardizations.
I still maintain that they would not exist if it wasn't for bicycle companies trying to play to the dummies following the MTB trend for the "cool" factor - only to discover that looking cool meant being hunched forward, which Mr. and Ms. Cool didn't consider as part of the prize package.
As such, after giving the middle finger to producing North Road-equipped 3-speeds, one bike company (not sure who started this) got the idea in the late '90s to jack up the headtube and stem of an MTB and called it good - to which everyone followed. It took them years to figure out that they hadn't worked in fender eyelets onto those (generally) unnecessary suspension forks either, for fenders got the boot in the process as well.
Leisure/comfort hybrids are completely unnecessary, bloated, inferior interpretations of a so-called "comfort bike" that continue to convince newcomers that bicycle riding for utility or commuting cannot be an effortless activity. Their effective top tube length is also quite short and front trail often ill-suited to converting to North Roads, so many of them don't retrofit well either.
Thankfully, traditional North Road IGH bikes have begun to crop up again from some companies and the online contract job retailers, but they're often overpriced in comparison to their hybrid cousins.
-Kurt
My conversion to north road handlebars over kinda straight MTB bars began when I got involved with providing transportation bicycles to Ukrainian pastors. We started this project over 20 years ago and found some almost suitable bicycles made by the XB3 company in Kharkov, Ukraine. I personally brought Shimano Europe directly to them but eventually it wasn't enough to save them from extinction since they were now completing with quality bikes coming in from Asia. Since part of our mission was to spend as much money as we raised as possible in Ukraine (because most people are poor), the decision was made to make the bicycles there (including the frames). I had to figure out what kind of bicycles to make. I was heavily influenced by the Dutch that actually use their bicycles for getting around purposes. They have internally geared hubs (7 or 8 instead of 3 gears) and of course north road handlebars + other sensible accessories. When I tried out both kinds of handlebars, I clearly liked north road handlebars better than MTB bars. It wasn't close and I had no opinion before I started because all of my many adult years had been spent riding a road bicycle.
However the problem with using swept back bars is that they work best with specific geometry. Because the hands are coming back from the stem instead of going forward, that requires a longer top tube. The more upright position also requires a shallower seat angle.. And there is no advantage to having a higher bottom bracket to ovoid obstacles or leaning hard while pedaling fast through corners. That is why converting a road frame to north road handlebars won't always go well.