Fifty Plus (50+) - Handlebars?

I will be converting a a small Cannondale mt bike into a comfort bike and need some advice on the bars. Have 3 choices cruiser,touring or 11inch or so ape hangers.I get a lot of wrist pain with a mt bike so need a really relaxed fit. Any ideas? Jack

Soi what bars are fitted now-a pic would help but we all know what bars are like. 6 years ago I went from straight bars to risers- Not a great deal of rise or sweep but they did help me on bike control and comfort.

I'm using $15 3" riser bars on my Trek hybrid to great success. Sweep of about 9-10 degrees.

Also switched to thick, soft gel grips.

These were to address thumb pain. They took weight/pressure off of my thumb and gave it a softer area of contact. Wrist problems might need a different approach - depending upon the nature of the wrist problem.

It depends on how your bike fits now and how you want it to fit. Find a bar and stem combination that puts your hands where you want them to be.

How high are your bars relative to your saddle now? Do they have any rise at all or are they flat? A picture would help.

Sorry, I don't know exactly what you mean by the types of bars you mentioned, but I'll tell you what worked for me. I was having terrible wrist pain on my old hybrid commuting bike that had normal riser bars, so when I got my new commuting bike I had albatross bars (http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/handlebars_stems_and_tape#product=16-127) put on it. The bars, combined with bar end shifters did the trick--no more pain! (Twist grips were really hurting my wrist, and the thumb shifters on my mtb weren't much better.)

I use drop bars on my road bikes and straight bars with climbing extensions on my mountain bike. What I hate about most other types of bars is the lack of variety in hand positions. In particular, I want one or more positions with the forearm in a neutral "handshake" axial rotation, as I obtain on the extensions on the mountain bars and on the drops and brake hoods of my road bikes. Being stuck in one position gives me tingles and fatigue.

Thanks for the replies. Its a bare frame right now with a Cannondale headshock and a 11/2 in stem. I cant ride a std mt bike without wrist pain but can ride my Cruzbike Silvio for 50 miles and no pain. I set up one bike with 4in riser bar and a 4in stem extender worked ok but still had some wrist pain. Think I will go with something like the albatross bars.

Well, nothing is going to relieve the stress on your hands and wrists like a recumbent. Something that you've already found out with your Cruzbike.

Albatross bars may work for you, but I've read reports that they caused wrist pain in others. Too much sweep for some. Others love them.

I would like to try them out for a while. I rode a bike with them for about 5 minutes once, not enough time to adapt to them.

Or you could just mount Tom B's head on the front of your bike. Those horns would have plenty of possible hand positions.

Now that you mention it, those horns look a bit too much like drop bars.

Novara Safari

Probably not the answer you're looking for, but have you considered aero-bars? I put some Syntace C-2's on my single speed and my upper body weight is supported by my lower arms (just below the elbow, resting on large pads) and my wrists carry no weight at all.

With a multi-speed bike, you could easily mount bar-end shifters on the ends of the aero-bars (you know, like the Tri-Athletes and Time-Trialists do). Of course, in a "comfort bike" environment, the aero-bars would be mounted much higher than in a competition environment. You may not even be any more "aero" but your wrists will sure be happier!

Rick / OCRR

Personally, I'd go with the touring bars, keeping in mind that stem height in relationship to seat height will have a big impact. I've always found touring bars to be the most versatile and comfort dependent on how high the stem allowed the bars to be.

Trekking bars