Spreggy

Been a while, BF peeps!
I had surgery last year to rebuild the scafo-lunate ligament in my left wrist. The doctor said that the ligament popped most likely while riding many miles on a road bike with wrists in a less-than-neutral position. Years pass, the bones float away from each other, hurts lots, and then surgery.
I want to get back into riding but because of a now forever compromised wrist I don't think the roady position is going to work well. I see people riding the straight bar bikes and wonder if that's better. And are they slow as molasses?
Recommendations?

Iride01 

If you weren't riding your drop bar bike with your hands and wrists in a neutral position, then don't blame the drop bars. That's all on you!

If I wasn't on a drop bar which offers 4 different hand positions, then I'd be using a bar that looks like the old roadster style bikes of the 50's and early 60's. The ones that the bar ends point almost straight back. Otherwise mustache bars, trekking bars or anything that gives you multiple hand positions. Not a flat bar with one hand positon that will let your wrist sag and give you the very bent wrist/hand position I'm supposing you may have had in the drops.

Polaris OBark

I ride drop bars primarily to avoid the wrist pain inflicted by flat bars. So I am a bit curious about what position lead to your injury.

Milton Keynes

I ride flat bars, but always with bar ends which give me additional hand positions. I was getting pain in my hands and elbow from the drop bars on my 30 year old road bike, plus it wasn't really that comfortable because the hoods are not like modern hoods which give you plenty of room to rest your hands on. So I took the flat bars from my old bike and put them on this one, then added some new bar ends. It's a much more comfortable ride and I'm not slow as molasses. I know I am giving up some aero advantage but the tradeoff is worth it in my mind if I can ride further without so much discomfort.

ironwood

I ride bikes with drop bars, I like Nitto Noodles and I like randonneur bars. I also have taller stems. The drop bars allow for more hand positions, and the taller stems take more weight off my hands. I do not ride a narrow racing saddle..

Pratt

Not an expert, but, at a guess, a recumbent.

70sSanO

If I might ask, what is a neutral position?

John

Polaris OBark

180° wrist angle, as if you were shaking hands.

rydabent

Bents or trikes. No pressure at all.

easyupbug 

I have osteoarthritis in my wrists and as said many trikes like my Catrike Expedition have padded wrist rests so there is zero loading on the wrist. A trike will be slower overall.

freeranger

I have a metal plate with 8 screws in my wrist from a break 3 months ago. Riding on the hoods of my road bike is by far more comfortable and a more neutral position than my mtn. bike flat bar. Road bike gets my vote! Only short rides so far, but easy to tell the difference, all rides on pavement so far--doc says no trail riding for a while longer,

70sSanO

If your ortho says a flat type of handlebar, palms down, will be okay for your wrists, you might want to look into trekking bar options.

Since you are looking to get back on the road, at some acceptable speed, maybe a butterfly or reversed, or some derivative that allows arm rests and ride with your palms down while stretched out. You would still need a neutral position for tight turns/sketchy situations, but for wide open riding it might give you what you want.

John

Polaris OBark

Nobody has mentioned the most obvious answer:

JanMM

No pressure on my hands, wrists, forearms on the 'bents that I ride.

Ironfish653

Neutral position is wherever the normal, unforced alignment of your wrists when your arms are extended.


Everyone knows that this should align perfectly with a set of properly positioned Record brake levers, or the drops of a 40-42cm 3TTT Olympic.
​​​​​​
The only people who can possibly be comfortable on a straight handlebar, or another of those misshapen aberrations are somehow mobility challenged, genetic mutants, or those born after 1970, who have fallen from The One True Way.

Ironfish653

There's a lot of different "straight" bar shapes, and a lot of different bike layouts that they go on. Some of them, like the sit-up-and-beg 'comfort' bikes, are quite slow. Ease of use is their goal, not speed.

Do you still have the road bike? I've had good success with "Albatross" style swept bars on older road bikes to make a comfortable but still 'fast' ride in the Roadster/ Path-Racer style
They come in a wide range of widths and bends, so you may be able to find one to fit your particular needs.

70sSanO

Funny, my Ortho only recommends Cinelli 64-40.

John

MarcusT

City or dutch bike style.
https://www.rei.com/product/100808/electra-loft-7d-bike
or, get a hybrid/MTB and put sweep bars on it.
Example: the Surly Moloko

MarcusT

I blame the drop bars

rsbob 

The bars on the bike above should be ideal for your wrists. My wife has deteriorating wrist bones and can not ride a drop bar bike any longe. She has found that a bike with beach cruiser style bars is very forgiving. Best of luck

Spreggy

In reference to strain on that ligament, a straight wrist.

Spreggy

Damn, I hope your recovery goes well! Thanks for the great info.

tcs

63rickert

The suggested bars @ #16 above, or anything similar, will do the job.

On any handlebar, pull on the handlebar. Do not passively lean on the bar. Be active when you ride. No need to weight the bar more than you would riding a unicycle. In some control situations you might load the handlebar but that is always short term.

It is not what you ride. It is how you ride.

I have been recommending the above for decades and then had a wrist injury. Doctor knew I was a cyclist, told me no bikes for a year or a certainty of meeting the hand surgeon. Telling me not to ride is like telling me not to breathe. I rode daily, paying more attention than usual to pulling on the bar. Had the one year followup and doc told me OK to ride again. It is always OK to ride.

Iride01 

Having the wrong width bars for many different types might cause one to have very bent or otherwise incorrect hand/wrist position that is not a somewhat neutral position. The 42 cm wide bars on my new bike were making it difficult to keep my wrists straight with my hands and forearms, so I changed to 38 cm wide drops and haven't had an issue with that since.

In the days prior to STI's... which for me was 2016, I'd ride frequently with my hands on the horizontal part of the drop bar and frequently would find my hands rotated down with the wrists very bent and getting sore. That's perhaps why I see no benefit for a flat bar on a bike intended to be ridden for several hours at a time.