Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Handlebar types... what are the pro's and con's

alright,

I ride a Fixed Gear Duracycle road bike. It's a small frame and I like it.

I have the stock Drop Bar setup and I am at a small crossroads.

At first I didn't like the drop setup (mainly because I have the cheesy foam around the bars that looks nasty, but now I know I can just upgrade that to Cork Tape)... but Now i'm starting to grow to appreciate it... I like the drop stance when i'm climbing a hill or I need to be ready to use my brake in traffic/congested areas.

The only thing I don't like (Besides the cheesy foam) is my upright position. I feel the the bars a bit too low causing my arms to get tired. Maybe it's my setup.. maybe its me.

Anyways.. I have a spare set of Drop Bars (bare) that i'm thinking of doing the ol "Chop and Flop" to. If i do the chop and flop, i won't have the drop stance anymore and i'm worried climbing/traffic areas might be weird.

Any advice here?

climbing on bullhorns is super easy, because you still generally have the same position as in drops, just higher up.
as for the brake - you just have to position your brakes in an easily reachable position on the bullhorns... maybe get a set of those bar-end brakes.

Flip and chops wont be any higher than your current brake hoods. If your hoods are too uncomfortable to ride on you might want to try tektro aero levers (pic); they're cheap as ****, they feel great and they're easy to brake with from the tops. The big draw of drops is multiple hand positions and cobnverting to flipnchops is basically just going to lose you that aero position while not gaining anything new.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/bianchi-sanjos8/images/san-jos8-3.jpg

Track drops:
Pros: sexy, if you sprint out of the saddle your forearm won't hit the upper part of the bar or curve
Cons: Only two riding positions, one of which is relatively uncomfortable for long rides and unsuitable for city riding, the other of which is a little too narrow for climbing leverage, and you lose control. People call it leverage, but that's a bit of a misuse of term. Oh, and mounting brakes can be a bother, most look terrible, except for cyclocross levers near the stem

Road drops: Same as track drops, except brake levers generally do better and thus afford more hand positions, but hoods make the bars bulkier, and they're often wide to begin with.. kinda lame on a fixed gear, as you've found.

Time Trial/Tri Bullhorns (as opposed to flip and chop jobs):
Pros: Many hand positions, if they're long enough, you can get into a nice aero position while still being sort-of high up. Internal cable routing on some models. Brake mounting is sexy and effective with "reverse" levers. Great for climbing, I've found.
Cons: Look a little funny if they're really long, and if they don't have a "drop" to the horn parts. And they often look out of place on old steel bikes, except for the nitto models.

Flip and Chops:
Pros: economical (usually), great upright hand positions for city riding, ample flats for comfortable positions, generally accepted for use on any road bike, you can cut 'em like you like.. also great for climbing
Cons: Not quite as many hand positions as other road-oriented bars, have to do your own handiwork, brake mouting can be dicey (again, cyclocross lever or reverse lever if you can get it to fit), no real aero position (really, most of these have a completely different feel than time trial bullhorns, because those have a drop and long horn section, and these usually are angled up and have a short horn section). Most older road bars are very narrow for bigger people, but some people (me included) like narrow bars.. give me 35 and I'd be happy.

Flat bars and risers:
Pros: really wide or really narrow if you want.. I guess you can do barspins, but no one cares.
Cons: everyone will hate you if you put these on a road bike, especially with those damn neon or oury grips (there is a reason you people find them so difficult to install). Few hand positions, none of which are very effective for city riding. Did I mention your whole bike will suddenly look like ****? Please don't put these on.. I'd give anything not to see another road bike with flats or risers. They scream "I like fast bikes, but I can't handle the resultant body position. And I may be brain-damaged".

EDIT: If I see anyone riding a bike like this, I will not speak to you. I'm serious, folks.
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/5125/img18311qo4.jpg
(sorry to the guy who posted this in the riser fan club thread)

hey hoss my polo bike has risers on it and my everyday bike as well sorry it makes you upset but my everday bike also gets bullhorns on occasion

you forgot a few

Mustache bars: basically a road drop with no drop a few hand positions great for climbing and really comfy
cons: often times too wide for tight maneuvering in traffic

cruiser/ arc/ northroad style bars: one position very upright very comfortable
cons: looks a little wonky at times but the comfort takes the cake

Right, on polo bikes or mountain bikes they're quite suitable.

Moustache bars are damn comfortable, and look nice on certain bikes (usually ones with nice fenders and vintage goodies). I wouldn't really call them road drops with no drops.. they're completely different. Usually they swoop forward for a truncated form of a bullhorn, then sweep back for a wide and upright position. All of this is roughly in a plane parallel to the ground, although the outer parts may be dropped a little.

just take the handlebars off... be a real man.

look at a mustache bar and a road drop and you will se what I am saying trust me

http://bikecult.com/works/parts/nittoB602a.jpg

The next big thing in the fixed world; get on it now so you can hate when everyone else does.

Risers are nice because they change the handling of the bike a bit but I'm getting tired of them.

What I've found is my taste for bars changes depending on my gear ratio. Risers feel better with a lower, more spinny ratio to me, while drops feel best with a higher ratio (80").

I really need to get those Nitto Bullhorns though.

woah! thanx so much fellas!

okay, now to really push the envelope.. i know I can search google images or even these forums... but is it possible you could include pictures of each type of handle bars?

haha i know i'm asking alot. but thanx in advance if you can! :eek::):D

Flip and chops wont be any higher than your current brake hoods. If your hoods are too uncomfortable to ride on you might want to try tektro aero levers (pic); they're cheap as ****, they feel great and they're easy to brake with from the tops. The big draw of drops is multiple hand positions and cobnverting to flipnchops is basically just going to lose you that aero position while not gaining anything new.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/bianchi-sanjos8/images/san-jos8-3.jpg

The levers pictured are Cane Creek SCR-5. The Tektros are the same basic shape though, and a few bucks cheaper.

get these:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/middnight_son/misc/yhst-3773699254952_1941_1982197.jpg

^those are hot bars. I kinda want some for my BFSSFG IRO....

In days prior you'd point people to Sheldon Brown

Now its Bike Snob NYC http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2007/07/its-all-in-details-bar-scene.html

The levers pictured are Cane Creek SCR-5. The Tektros are the same basic shape though, and a few bucks cheaper.

yeah the scrs have those skinks on the hoods and not much (nothing?) else different. AFAIK they're the same thing.

I'm about to change my track bars out for road bars. The track bars look nice, but I'm not in the drops enough, I miss the position on the brake hoods, and the reach is just too long for me.

I would never go for a more upright handlebar for a road bike or track bike. If I want upright, I have a cruiser. I would never change the ride of my road bike.

I personally will be going with the Nashbar TT bars in 40cm width on my IRO group by frame. On my other two road bikes i spend nearly 95% of my time on the hoods or the top of the bar only using the drops to sprint or when descending. I figure i won't miss the drops too much since i won't be tackling any major hills with the fixie and i can get low and aero enough even with my hands on the brake lever hoods.

If you're an experienced cyclist, you gain absolutely nothing with flat bars on a road bike -- nothing! All you're doing is losing some usable hand positions, and sort of keeping the tops position.

How about the Midge Bars? I don't have them but I've seen them with levers. They appear to be comfortable more so than road or track drops.

I am going with the Moustache Bars and the Midge Bars for my two builds.

I like the look of some bullhorns but I'm not sure if I would use them as dedicated bars.

http://bikecult.com/works/parts/nittoB602a.jpg

The next big thing in the fixed world; get on it now so you can hate when everyone else does.
:lol: I was looking on the Ben's Cycle site today thinking 'damn...those would be fun to ride if you chopped them down a touch.' :lol:

those look so ridiculous and uncomfortable.

wrong. they rule.

wrong. they rule.

perhaps for a cruiser about a foot above the saddle.

How about the Midge Bars? I don't have them but I've seen them with levers. They appear to be comfortable more so than road or track drops.

Midge bars are nice, trick is to get them up high so you can truly employ all the positions

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/5125/img18311qo4.jpg
(sorry to the guy who posted this in the riser fan club thread)

LOL, of course out of all of the absurdity here you call out my ride.

While I like risers for in-city riding the track stem basically negated everything good about risers. The stem and bars are now sitting on my work bench and the bullhorns are back on.

Risers work well with a normal stem because they keep you head up in traffic. It's not about hand positions, it's about visibility for me.

To the OP, experiment with as many bars as you can. You will find something that YOU like and post it here for everyone to tell you how wrong you are.

To the OP, experiment with as many bars as you can. You will find something that YOU like and post it here for everyone to tell you how wrong you are.

Greatest Forum advice EVAARRR! :D:D:D

Personally I like your bike alot! flat bars are cool. I dunno how i would feel riding it, but i'm down to try a bunch. esp cuz i work at a Co-Op now and I can get stuff cheap as BALLS :eek:

Co-ops are the best place to find cheap bars. I'm part of the administration of our local co-op.

trick is to get them up high so you can truly employ all the positions

You could say the same thing about girls.

The only thing I don't like (Besides the cheesy foam) is my upright position. I feel the the bars a bit too low causing my arms to get tired. Maybe it's my setup.. maybe its me.

I assume you have tried raising your stem?

This seems like a fit issue.

ive got chopped and flipped bars on my bike, and honestly, it's the most comfortable setup i can imagine. ive ridden drop bars before, and after a while, my back gets tired and they can suck for city visibility IMO. flatbars are plain silly -- not only do they look rediculous on a track bike, but they make the bike ride like a waaaay oversized BMX without a seat drop.

sure people will argue that im wrong and that flatbars are so cool, but this is just my $.02

I personally think Porteur and Randonneur style bars are really comfortable, depending on the geometry. Mustache bars are just too weird looking, so I have never tried them.

http://bikecult.com/works/parts/nittoB602a.jpg

The next big thing in the fixed world; get on it now so you can hate when everyone else does.

I just put those on my (stock) flatbar road bike. I like them. It's got those thumb shifters so I moved those to the stem and the brake levers on the straights near the ends of the bar. I think I installed it upside down to give me more drop (I didn't know it till i saw your pic, I thought I put them right side up). The bike shop guy found them in back so neither of us had seen anything like it(I got them reasonably cheap). The most difficult thing was taping in sections and having it look like one piece. I recommend these.

perhaps for a cruiser about a foot above the saddle.

look at them upside down

Some really fine points were completely missed here!

Flat bars or risers actually pick a rider's head up to see in traffic without craning the neck. They also fit better in traffic once chopped to shoulder length.

Cyclocross bars are excellent bars, not too road-y drop, wide enough for control, flared sides (like the midge) for more leverage up hills, usually more ergonomic. Salsa Bell-laps are great.

I actually have three set-ups for whatever I feel like riding that day. I run Nitto B115s for longer rides, Nitto B123s for the velodrome, and MTB risers cut down a bit for prarie paths and kicking around town. None are perfect but none are inherently flawed either.

look at them upside down

Then you'd have to put then stem even higher. I could care less how they look. Unless the bike is way to big for you they won't work all that well.

The "handshake" (thumb up, pinky down) position represents the strongest and most stress-free orientation of the hands on the handlebars.
This corresponds to the hoods of drop bars or the horns of bullhorns.

Sit in a hard chair with your feet aligned as if on pedals and about as far apart as on pedals.
Hold a pencil in each hand.
Lean forward and imagine holding your handlebars about as far from your hips as suits you; and begin to stand up.
Just as your bottom begins to break with the chair, look at the pencils in your hands.
The angle of the pencils indicates the angle of the hoods or horns, and the angle of your torso (as determined by the height of the bars and the length of the stem), best suited to YOUR body.

Some really fine points were completely missed here!

Flat bars or risers actually pick a rider's head up to see in traffic without craning the neck. They also fit better in traffic once chopped to shoulder length.


If you think about it, riding on the horizontal section of bullhorns, road drops, or even track drops gives you the same exact position as flats, although often narrower. Risers do have a rise, but that's the kind of adjustment you should be making at your stem.

If you think about it, riding on the horizontal section of bullhorns, road drops, or even track drops gives you the same exact position as flats, although often narrower. Risers do have a rise, but that's the kind of adjustment you should be making at your stem.

Flat bars of the same length allow for a lot more leverage than drops or bullhorns.

Also, you can't get much sweepback in drops.

Sit in a hard chair with your feet aligned as if on pedals and about as far apart as on pedals.
Hold a pencil in each hand.
Lean forward and imagine holding your handlebars about as far from your hips as suits you; and begin to stand up.
Just as your bottom begins to break with the chair, look at the pencils in your hands.
The angle of the pencils indicates the angle of the hoods or horns, and the angle of your torso (as determined by the height of the bars and the length of the stem), best suited to YOUR body.

No it represents the angle your torso needs to be balanced over your feet when getting out of a chair of a given height. If you saddle has the same height and depth of the chair that may be good but it(like most of the "tricks" you post) is a pretty ****ty rule in general.

Likewise how you hold your hands with no load doesn't set a hard and fast rule for how you can best hold bars and apply force in all the directions needed when riding a bike.


Flat bars of the same length allow for a lot more leverage than drops or bullhorns.

You have that backwards. hold your hand like you were holding flat bars of a given length. Now pretend you are holding the hoods or horns of the same length. You will see that as you rotate your hand your forearm moves out about 2-3cms on each side. So flat bars of a given width provide the leverage of horns or drops about 4-6cms narrower.

You have that backwards. hold your hand like you were holding flat bars of a given length. Now pretend you are holding the hoods or horns of the same length. You will see that as you rotate your hand your forearm moves out about 2-3cms on each side. So flat bars of a given width provide the leverage of horns or drops about 4-6cms narrower.

I meant on the flat part of the bar only, which is what he was talking about (since we were discussing visibility and getting your head up without craining).

I meant on the flat part of the bar only, which is what he was talking about (since we were discussing visibility and getting your head up without craining).

Yeah since you can't fit your hands all the way out to the end.

But since you generally use a shorter stem with drops or bullhorns than flats the difference between hoods and flat bars shouldn't be that great.

perhaps for a cruiser about a foot above the saddle.

Perhaps you're just referencing how they're typically situated in the bicycle world, but that seems like it would be ridiculously uncomfortable if they were a foot above your pelvis. Your wrists would be angled almost to the extreme.

My girlfriend has a Schwinn World Tourist with those types of Porteur bars, or whatever it is that they're called, and they are level with the saddle. Meaning when I ride the bike, I'm slightly leaned forward with my hands placed out in front of me with my wrists hardly angled at all. With the right saddle for that kind of riding position, I actually think it's incredibly comfortable. Especially on a bicycle that I won't be riding more than 5-10 miles a day. I'm actually seriously considering putting some porteur bars with no rise on my new IRO build for that reason.

Perhaps you're just referencing how they're typically situated in the bicycle world, but that seems like it would be ridiculously uncomfortable if they were a foot above your pelvis. Your wrists would be angled almost to the extreme.

My girlfriend has a Schwinn World Tourist with those types of Porteur bars, or whatever it is that they're called, and they are level with the saddle. Meaning when I ride the bike, I'm slightly leaned forward with my hands placed out in front of me with my wrists hardly angled at all. With the right saddle for that kind of riding position, I actually think it's incredibly comfortable. Especially on a bicycle that I won't be riding more than 5-10 miles a day. I'm actually seriously considering putting some porteur bars with no rise on my new IRO build for that reason.

No I'm referencing how they would get in the way if you put them on a correctly fitting road or track bike.

Flip and chops wont be any higher than your current brake hoods. If your hoods are too uncomfortable to ride on you might want to try tektro aero levers (pic); they're cheap as ****, they feel great and they're easy to brake with from the tops. The big draw of drops is multiple hand positions and cobnverting to flipnchops is basically just going to lose you that aero position while not gaining anything new.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/bianchi-sanjos8/images/san-jos8-3.jpgniice

i especially liked this gem from the bike snob site:


"Risers with Quill Stems

Using risers on a street bike is better than drop bars with grips on the tops. At least the rider has come to terms with the fact that he or she will be staying in the upright position. And sure, sometimes you need a little more bar height than your steer tube would otherwise allow. But very often I see bikes with quill stems and riser bars with the stem lowered to its minimum height. Why not just use regular bars and raise the stem? There's a reason you didn't see risers much until the threadless thing took over. And yes, I realize it works just fine, but it's making five lefts to go right--like using air conditioning and the heat at the same time--and consequently inelegant."

SO TRUE.

i especially liked this gem from the bike snob site:

blah blah blah

SO TRUE.

why use flat bars and raise the stem? how is that any better than risers with the stem down?

I like my road drops with a billion hand positions. The good thing about bars is they aren't that hard to change out depending on your stem. Ride a bunch of them and you may find you like some for a while and then want to change em' out. I change bars every few months between drops, flat/riser, and horns, depending on my mood.

I think all of you are elitist pricks. Let people ride whatever the **** they want. I've ridden drops, bullhorns, and now risers. **** the haters.

I think all of you are elitist pricks. Let people ride whatever the **** they want. I've ridden drops, bullhorns, and now risers. **** the haters.
word.