Touring - Love my Nashbar trekking bars!

Nashbar finally stocked their brand of trekking bars so I ordered one. I put it on and tried it out with excellent results. I mounted them so I can drop and fight the wind and angled them so my wrist is straight when holding the ends. These handlebars are a worthwhile investment. I used Cat eye cloth handlebar tape along with grips. I did a 60 mile test ride the next day and never experienced numb hands for the run. I used Cat eye cloth handlebar tape along with Schwinn grips.
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=92&subcategory=1049&brand=&sku=9756&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20ATB%20Handlebars

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/Hpim0257.jpg

yeah, but there sooo ugly!!!
(/jk)

PS: love the light and front rack.

yeah, but there sooo ugly!!!
(/jk)

PS: love the light and front rack.

Oh come on...only credit card tourers care about looking good.
:)

Not that there's anything wrong with touring like that...

But you see, I'm so ugly, my bike needs to make up for that! :D

Appreciate it, I've heard much. Good to see a picture of them actually ON a bike. They look kinda cool,a bit like the Scotts did years ago, rememember,the drops with the inward extension ? A different angle than I'd imagined, the mounting and end result both. I'll strongly consider them. I like mustaches on one bike that I've re-done-over. I have no regrets though I'm not growing any fonder of them as time passes nor do I pretend that they're a "real" touring bar. They lack certain critical possitions you see, I begin to feel it after an hour or so. I really feel they lack what it takes for hills, which are rare where I live now.

I am curious how you like the big drop on the rear and how confortable that hand position was. Mine have some drop but not as much as yours do. Is it successful in dropping your upper body enough to help fight a headwind?

What is that mounted sidways on your stem?

I thought the treking handlebars were supposed to flat? The bike by REI has them laying flat.

I would set them up more flat so that I could hold the front part and rest my forearms on the grips. This forward position would be the more aerodynamic position and holding the grips would allow a more upright posture. The part between would be almost flat and used like the bar ends on a mountain bike. Food for thought, but if you prefer the way you have them, that's cool.

That's a bell on the stem.

I tried the "rest my forearms on the grip" position but I could not get it to work for me. The distance between the front and rear grips are too close together and the angles are all wrong to make it confortable. I think a set of TT bars might do the trick if someone wanted to do that bad enough.

I thought the treking handlebars were supposed to flat? The bike by REI has them laying flat.

When they're flat, the wrist angles are all wrong; having them tilted makes it easier to use the ends. I tried all sorts of changes and various tilts, including different length stems, until I eventually found something which was comfortable (see threads passim for pictures).

- Wil

I am curious how you like the big drop on the rear and how confortable that hand position was. Mine have some drop but not as much as yours do. Is it successful in dropping your upper body enough to help fight a headwind?
I love the big drop, especially when heading into a strong wind. I've just got back from a third 60+ mile ride and have noted a 2 MPH increase in my average speed over straight bars that were removed from this bike. I actually feel more comfortable with this bar. I have several road bikes so I am used to riding on drops. It does take some time to get your body conditioned when riding in a dropped posture.


What is that mounted sidways on your stem?
That’s a large and loud "Ding Dong" two-tone bell. I ride an MUP and a bell is a must have item for warning Ped's and other cyclists. Here is a better picture of it and the old handlebar setup I replaced with the Trekking bar.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/swingpipe.jpg

I would set them up more flat so that I could hold the front part and rest my forearms on the grips. This forward position would be the more aerodynamic position and holding the grips would allow a more upright posture. The part between would be almost flat and used like the bar ends on a mountain bike. Food for thought, but if you prefer the way you have them, that's cool.

That's a bell on the stem.
I tried that but all the angles were wrong for my wrists. I have arthritis and for me it's critical I maintain a straight wrist through all the different hand positions. After putting the trekking bar on several times in different ways I finally determined that mounting them this way was good for me. That’s the beauty of these trekking bars. Your free to mount them anyway you prefer and even the dual NashBar emblems allow mounting the bar any which way you want and still have one of them displayed correctly.

man, thats alot of stuff on your bars. Where did you get the holder for the maglight?

man, thats alot of stuff on your bars. Where did you get the holder for the maglight?

Does it remind you of anyone?
http://minadream.com/timburton/images/PeeWee/pic1.jpg

man, thats alot of stuff on your bars. Where did you get the holder for the maglight?
I made the Mag-Lite flashlight clamp myself. It's easy to make your own. I used a 1/2" EMT conduit hanger with small squares of inner tube rubber glued to the inside surfaces to prevent scratching the flashlight and provide a nice firm grip and an old blinkie clamp to attach the conduit hanger to the handlebar. I also replaced the original screw provided with the hanger with a thumbscrew so no tools are required to loosen the clamp so the flashlight may be easily removed and installed. That Mag-Lite is the 3-watt 2AA LED. It's very bright and the beam can be focused providing a wide pattern when navigating around obstacles and you can make the beam very narrow for road use. As this flashlight is not made specifically for use with bicycles on roads I added an amber blinkie so traffic can easily see me after dark. I just have 3 items on the bar, a flashlight, amber blinkie, and cycle computer.

What is EMT comduit hanger? Where do I buy it?

Okay its not so much extra on the handlebar. But it could be. Let Paul Reubens be your example..errr..with bikes that is.

What is EMT comduit hanger? Where do I buy it?

Okay its not so much extra on the handlebar. But it could be. Let Paul Reubens be your example..errr..with bikes that is.
EMT conduit is metal or plastic pipe used for electrical wiring. You can find it and hardware such as conduit hangers in the electrical supply area of any hardware or building supply store. A conduit hanger is a simple clamp allowing easy and fast instillation of conduit pipe to support surfaces. You simply attach the conduit hanger with a screw, clip the pipe in it, and run the supplied screw through and tighten around the pipe. In my case the screw hole has a 1/4" screw and nut to attach the hanger to the plastic handlebar clamp and the hanger holds the flashlight instead of pipe. I did drill out the plastic clamp so I could use a 1/4' screw and nut. EMT conduit hangers come in sizes to allow clamping to pipe up to 2" in diameter so you can use them to hold larger flashlights. I've also used them to attach pumps, bottle cages, racks, and various other items to bicycle frames. I've also seen them used to mount cameras to handlebars! Just put a short 1/4-20 screw and nut through the hanger and cut some mouse pad and glue to the inside clamp surfaces of the hanger to provide vibration dampening.

thanks n4zou

I looked in home depot and some of the other big hardware stores for conduit hangers and couldn't find any.
I will have to think of something else

thanks n4zou

I looked in home depot and some of the other big hardware stores for conduit hangers and couldn't find any.
I will have to think of something else
Home Depot has them! They may have them packaged in 10 count bags and so would be hard to see while looking at the shelves of hardware. Most stores will sell you one and not require you to purchase 10 at a time but you may need to ask a salesman to sell you any amount less than 10. There so cheap most stores want to sell you at least 10 at a time. You may even need to ask for them.