headasunder

I'm in the process of having a touring gravel tandem built and for componentry reasons are going with flatbars preferably carbon the added issue is that we usually run barends front and rear I tend to climb exclusively on the barends in a roady position. There are a myriad of widths available and with the added issue of barends crushing the end of the bars with out expansion bungs of some sort I'm just looking for advice on what width , style and the drawbacks of those properties and any other thoughts users have.

Leisesturm

Please, don't take this the wrong way but ... what exactly do you want us to tell you? You are having a tandem built ... I don't know ... if it were me I'd want the builder to have as much input on such things as components, as possible. True, carbon bars don't like crush forces. I've heard that too. If expansion bungs will help, why not? It sounds like there is a reluctance to use them? FWIW I just don't like flatbars. What they call 'riser bars' look much nicer IMO. But bar ends on riser bars, not so much. I can't see how that has helped but that's my $0.02. You asked. Again, please don't take this the wrong way but if you are ready for a custom or semi-custom build you should either be experienced enough to know what you want or trust the builder enough to give them complete control in spec'cing the project. Best.

dphilips

Our all-road tandem (tires are 26x2.3 Rat Trap Pass) has Jones loop bars. They give multiple hand positions without bar-ends; can go from upright with wide stance to forward/aero and narrower stance. They are available in carbon.

headasunder

I have a lot of experience on drop bars, all my tandem riding has been flatbars by which i mean mtb style risers and flat I dont have any experience riding modern mtb singles and am amazed at the handlebar widths available and wondered if tandem riders with flat as opposed to drop bars run super wide bars or not, there is not a good resource for tandem riding here in the "shaky isles"

Leisesturm

Our first nice tandem was a 700C flatbar roadbike. The stock bars were 65cm wide and I had the shop cut 20mm off each end before I even took it for a test ride (I had already paid for it). It now has 44cm dropbars. 42cm is my usual dropbar roadbike size. I don't know how you cut carbon bars but I believe that they can be cut. Some bars I've seen have the cut lines scribed right on them to make it easy. I just got a bike with the Jones bars another poster mentioned. They are 70cm and MUCH too wide for me. I would give them to you but they aren't carbon. They might not even be aluminum! Just for grins I measured the bars on the Stoker compartment of our present flatbar tandem. 62cm end to end. That is a reasonable width for someone who would use a 42cm roadbike dropbar or 44cm on a dropbar tandem. I used to have those bars up front but now I steer it with an FSA Metropolis riser bar.

dphilips

Good points on handlebar widths. The Jones bars have guide marks to be cut down to 660mm (carbon bars can be safely cut down), which is the width I use on my mixed surface bikes. For reference, I like 44cm hood widths on my road bike and 46cm on my gravel bike bars (which flare out wider in the drops).

As you have a bike that has the Jones bars, you've probably seen that with the 45deg sweep as you move your hands forward from the most rearward position the effective width narrows quickly. I frequently cruise with my hands near the intersection of the angled grips and the crossbar (it's kind of the hoods position on the Jones bar), where the width is around 44-46cm.

unikid

Modern MTB bars have gotten much wider in proportion to the stems getting much shorter. Old MTB bars used to be very narrow with very long stems.

On those bikes the bar ends made sense for climbing. On modern MTB's with wider bars the traditional bar ends feel awkward and are more likely to catch on things.


On my modern MTB I have installed short bar ends inboard of the hand grips. With this setup I have the wide bars for the rough stuff but the rest of the time I rest my hands on the bar ends.

On milder climbs I use the bar ends like "Togs thumbgrips" to get a more secure grip. On steep / loose climbs I grab the entire bar ends and pull back - I can clean almost anything without the rear wheel spinning out.


With the bar ends I can also get into a more aero position on the long flat sections and still have good control of the bike over bumps, etc.

IPassGas

Our captain's handlebars are in the picture, width 720 mm. Our bikes (touring, commuting, mtb) have a mix of drop and flat bars. Our 25 yr old tandem has drops, on which we did many seasons of long distance touring, mainly on road and rail-trail. When we purchased a new tandem, we chose the bars shown. We find flat bars to be more comfortable on tour. I rarely used the drops on our old tandem and I find that I can get fairly low with hands at top of ends if needed on windy days. The Ergon grips provide a much wider surface which is better for palms, and I can stretch my whole hand out onto the bar ends. With drop bars, my hands were mainly on the brake hoods and I find the bar end positions to be similar to the brake hoods. The bars are wide, but I have wide shoulder. The extra width is appreciated in better control of bike with front panniers. Flat bars also allow mtb type brake handles which provide better braking control. The stoker's bars are similar but with smaller bar ends lacking the top part and not as wide. The stoker finds the bar ends to be very helpful when standing during pedaling.

CargoDane

Titanium, not CF, though.

No, I don't ride a tandem.