Utility Cycling - Alternative Handlebars!

Trekking bars... love em.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/longbike09winter4.JPG

I have them on my mt. bike and love them.

i have tried the Marys and they are very comfortable and natural feeling, excellent all around. I had them on my SS mtn bike for a long time, then decided i couldn't climb well enough standing compared to straight bars+bar ends. I had them on my SS commuter also. excellent except for standing climb. if i had gears, i could sit & spin, and they are perfect for that. overall excellent.
also had some steel h-bars made up(Jones Ti H-bar is outa my price range) and love 'em for offroad and commuting.
now whenever i ride a friend's bike with straight or drop bars...it feels odd and awkward, unstable even.

Just noticed this on this post. These Trekking Bars are nice, now thinking of getting a set :thumb:

http://runjikol.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/butterfly_bars.jpg

Damn !!! Piggy banks empty :D

I have straight handlebars on my mountain bike. Now that the weather is improving I will be going on longer rides and I want to be able to move to a more upright position periodically. However, I didn't want to buy new handlebars right now so I repositioned the bar ends. It's working out well, I like them in the new position. I will be ordering some cork tape from Amazon to put on them.

141905

I love my trekking bars.

On another website, someone pointed out this site:
http://www.theliberator.be/militarybicycles.htm

And I asked "Where do you get handlebars like that" and the answer is: Here:
http://www.memorylane-classics.com/images/Bike%20Handlebars/Handlebar%20Olive%20Green%20WWII%20NOS.JPG
I actually did order a set of those handlebars, I haven't put them on a bike yet, and haven't tried to confirm measurements.

Any bar that can take bar end levers is a huge plus to me . Here's a Nitto Alabatross.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3321/3645057344_0eb8b27096.jpg

Nitto Albatross... I'm running inverse Tektro brake levers on my Peugeot constructeur. Great bar!

One thing to check for when choosing a bar is the type of stem you have. Some of the current bars require a open face stem as the bends in many modern bars are too sharp to allow installation in some old style quill stems w/o the removable faceplate. On older bikes this could require stem replacement to fit the new handlebar. Just something to keep in mind and check for.

I'd like a wider North Road bar, mostly because I am wider than most people, and it would be more comfortable. I've even thought about the Pyramid mustache bars, sold on Amazon, and mounted to rise, not drop. These come in steel and alloy, silver and black. I prefer black, because the fenders, bars, levers, racks on the bike are black. I suspect I'll settle for a Dimension Wide Cruiser bar.

I have the Midge on a Dean Cross bike that I commute on. I like it a lot. I did try using a short Titec 80mm and 50 degree ride stem at first, but ended up with a Salsa 90mm 30d degrre rise stem. I use the Cane Creek road brakes and find that the angled hoods are very comfortable to ride on and use the brakes from. Also have cross-top levers, and bar-con shifters. Comfy. This is not a lightweight set-up though.

I saw some similar bar by Salsa called the Woodchipper that is worthy of a look. Maybe the Salsa's are lighter and not as stiff? The Midge bar is very stout and if a good yanking is needed on the drops in a climb, they hold tight. The woodchipper has long looking grip area on the bottom, which could be very nice to have, as long as they don't hit you in the thigh. But they might be too long for bar-con shifters? The Midge is short on this grip area, which gives good thigh clearance, and the bar-cons add the bit of room that is needed.

Great thread, Thanks for resurrecting this gem.

I love nothing better than a bargain.

FWIW, I have the Wald Promenade type (steel) bars on my wife's old Schwinn ballooner. Nice bars, but not my cuppa, however she likes them.

Also just got the Pyramid (Sunlite) Alloy Northroads bar. I was shocked by the quality, and quite favorably. Very nice finish, for very little money. It's on a old Raleigh that's my wanna be Rivendell. Under $15 too. Plenty of room for grips, brakes, shifter, and a bell to boot.

My '06 Cannondale Road Warrior had a zero rise flat bar and Shimano rapid fire shifters. I added Ergon GP-1 grips and Cane Creek Ergo Control II bar ends to get more hand positions, but that still wasn't enough for me, I would still get some numbness in my hands on relatively longer rides (30-40 miles).

Ultimately, I switched over to Nitto Moustache bars and got several hand positions and a slightly more stretched out/areo (albeit comfortable) position. I did have to get new brake levers and bar end shifters, but I was planning on a drive train upgrade anyway so it was a win-win as far as I am concerned. It did take a while to get the brake lever position where I wanted it. Overall, I'm glad I made the bar swap.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v649/11/71/686679405/n686679405_917358_8349.jpg

Love looking at the pics!!

Can anyone tell me who makes these handlebars? Looks a lot like Nitto Promenade, but accepts bar end shifters which Promenade can't do. I plan to tweak my Cross Check and these bars might do nicely. I really want bar enders. I found this pic on a blog called Jewish City Chick.

Thanks.

148299

Looks to me like a Nitto Albatross bar or the related Nitto Promenade 603b.

Looks to me like a Nitto Albatross bar or the related Nitto Promenade 603b.

Norman F - You're right...does look like 603.b. But the 603.b supposedly does not accept bar end shifters and that picture shows them. Anyone else have an idea on what these are?

The Nitto Albatross will accept inverse brake levers so it should accept bar end shifters.

Norman F - You're right...does look like 603.b. But the 603.b supposedly does not accept bar end shifters and that picture shows them. Anyone else have an idea on what these are?

Looks more like a wald 867 to me, but it is hard to tell. And yes, they do accept both bar end shifters and mountain-bike levers.

Another thing to note is that most aluminum bars that do no accept bar end shifters can be modified to do so by drilling out some aluminum near the end of the bar for the bar-end shifter to fit in.

The Dimension bars are the widest Aluminum bars I have seen, and I DO like wide bars. Amazon sells them as well as the source mentioned above (by itsmoot).

Question for users of alternative style handlebars. (donnamb has heard my question in Women's forum.) Are any of them narrow enough for a woman's shoulder width (16-17") and compatible with a Giant Suede, with SRAM MRX 7-speed twist shifters? Right now it looks like my grips, grip shifter and brake levers take up about 7" of space on the right side. Thanks.

My 72 Raleigh has steel Northroad bars that are considerably narrower than my Torker Cargo-T, they are not a 'universal' size. Sunlite/Pyramid seems to make them in both Alloy and steel, but I don't know how wide they are. Velo Orange seems to a good selection of narrow bars, including some narrow Japanese bars.

Thanks to this thread I finally figured out what bars are on my girlfriends Mixte. I knew they didn't look like the Sparrows. They are the Soma 3 speeds.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/Trey_1/DSCF0495.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/Trey_1/DSCF0487.jpg

I want to convince her to put this on her bike, but she doesn't want a front basket... Then again she didn't want different bars either and now she's in love with them...

http://www.amazon.com/Wald-139-Bicycle-Basket-Silver/dp/B000C1YRTM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1272673913&sr=8-2

lovin' the sparrows!!!!!!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4585969858_ffb6da2bd0_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4585343755_935c179377_b.jpg

I finally found these after trying several differ mustache bars and old cruiser bars. I hate mustcahe bars, they bend where I want to hold and the wide position is too far out. On the sparrows, i just "slide" right into the cockpit. I an just as comfortable in the bends as I am on the ends. Great bar! Great "cafe racer" look/feel. I use them for commuting.

....wonder if they can be used offroad?

I just got myself a VO Porteur bar, very narrow but I find it quite comfortable and versatile. I got my other half the Nitto Dove Bar from Rivendell and love that too! Want to try out the albatross and moustache next =)

The Nitto Albatross will accept inverse brake levers so it should accept bar end shifters.

The Albatross will accept bar-end whatever-you-like, but the bars in question to not appear to be Albatross bars. I have a set of Albatross bars and love them, but they do not come all the way parallel to the top tube, the way the pictured bars seem to. They also have much less rise, and they bend slightly forward of the clamp before swooping back. I don't know what the bars pictured are, but I'm fairly certain they're not Albatross bars.

Maxwell posted this in another thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=6711118&postcount=8). Something to add to, perhaps?

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e97/maxtheheathen/H_bars.jpg

these handlebar works well with Campagnolo Flatbar Ergopower?
Thanks

Are there any other black northroads bars besides the Soma Sparrow? I would like a bit more length for the shifters/brakes/grips than the soma provides. Must be black.
The Torker Cargo T comes with Black "north road" style bars on it, and they are measurably wider than my old Raleigh. I noticed on Amazon that there are Torker "north road" style bars that sound to me to be same thing. You might go look at the specs, but as I recall, they do not have a photo. Oh and the Dimension (Wide) cruiser style north road bars also come in black. Make sure the bars you order are aluminum, if you order the Dimension bars, I put a set in my wish list a couple weeks ago, and last week, they had been converted to say nothing about the material, and the price dropped to $10. There are steel one with the same bend.

Thanks mconlonx for your quick reply. Will be seeing my LBS soon to see what they can order.

Love the looks of all the bikes pictured.

I'd look at Velo Orange, they seem to have a lot of narrow bars, that are French style and even some for the Japanese local market, designed for Japanese women to ride on narrow streets and sidewalks.

Has anyone here used Titec's J-bar or H-bar? Any comments? How do they work with Ortlieb-style handlebar bags (if at all)?

For like three years, I have been working on an Oma-style city bike for my wife, building it up in pieces. If I had known what I was going to go through to get the details I wanted, I would have just spent the $1,000 up front to buy a new Batavus or whatever. But now, sunk cost mentality has taken over, and I've got to finish it, even if I have to re-mortgage the house. :twitchy:

Read this thread with interest, because I could never find what I was looking for: a bar with LOTS of rise, LOTS of reach, and parallel-ish grips (i.e., could have done apehanders for the bolt-upright riding position, but it's not the aesthetic I was looking for.

Tried North Roads (not NEARLY enough reach), then a bar from memory lane classics that looked promising, but turned out to be identical to a Wald bar I already had in the bar bin (good overall shape, but not enough reach):

http://www.memorylane-classics.com/images/Bike%20Handlebars/Handlebar%20Scout%2021in.JPG

Why can't you just buy the standard Dutch Oma/Opa handelbars anywhere in this country?!

Well, I think I finally found what I was looking for, the Workcycles handlebar, now available from the Dutch Bike Company ( http://www.dutchbikeseattle.com/_product_81259/Workcycles_Handlebar ):

http://www.dutchbikeseattle.com/images/accessories/workcycles_hbar.jpg

Expensive, but exactly right. I hope. :p

Stainless!? Not sure I understand why they didn't make it out of aluminum, or carbon steel. But I understand why its expensive, now.

Waiting for my new bars to arrive, Dimension cruiser, in Aluminum alloy (they do make them in Steel). These are the widest bars I could find, and they have bit more rise, and a lot more reach than the Torker North Road bars that came on the bike. I'm hoping these are the silver bullet.

i like the albatross with bar ends for around town type stuff....but for longer rides, i love my titec h-bar with jagwire bar end adapters....

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OaBJvrKi-70/SfOXjXnaWDI/AAAAAAAACk0/swP3tGVzsKU/s800/P1000706.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OaBJvrKi-70/SfOXjPnLFCI/AAAAAAAACks/IEzX3Lf-nTg/s800/P1000705.JPG

I just got some Velo Orange Porteur Bars, and am happy with them so far.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y86/ZiP0082/kogs01.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y86/ZiP0082/kogs02.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4699899452_906f5d5dcf_b.jpg

Found these no name steel bars at a LBS...not sure what bike they'll go on...yet.

Great thread - I have an injury right now and need to get my weight off my hands, so I was toying with the idea of getting a swept back steel bar (like the Wald 867, $15 on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00131YQO6/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000AO7DLK&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0JZB6WRN0HHVXWA8V9PM)) and replacing the typical straight/flat mtb handlebars on my commuter (a '93 Marin Pine Mountain).

Sorry for any redundancy, but:

1. that bar's clamp area of 1" should work fine with a standard old school (1 1/8" quill for threaded headset) mtb stem?

2. How crazy would it be to mount an old Shimano brake lever/rapidfire pod on there? Maybe on the outer edge areas, right in front of the grips? Would there be enough room for grips and brake lever/shifters?

3. Would the bar diameter work with the shifter/brake clamp?

4. I gather I would need to run new (longer) cables to account for the wider higher position of the lever/shifters?

I just got some Velo Orange Porteur Bars, and am happy with them so far.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y86/ZiP0082/kogs01.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y86/ZiP0082/kogs02.jpg

That is one tasty bike! I love the VO stuff.

I'm planning on putting some mustache bars on my commuter and was wanting feedback from the group on the brake levers I want to use. I'm having trouble figuring out if the levers will follow the bend of the bars. Here's the levers...and thanks.


http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-84224226242177_2112_5540630

inverted On One Mary bar

inverted On One Mary bar

Wow small world! I was doing searches on Youtube for Big Dummies and found one someone posted. Then I checked out some of his other vids and watched his whole series of his Continental Divide ride. I saw the top tube on the bike and thought, "What kind of bike is that?". And not 3 hours later your posting on here. LOL!

Wow small world! I was doing searches on Youtube for Big Dummies and found one someone posted. Then I checked out some of his other vids and watched his whole series of his Continental Divide ride. I saw the top tube on the bike and thought, "What kind of bike is that?". And not 3 hours later your posting on here. LOL!

funny
you can dig around thru my website: http://www.AsanaCycles.com

the bike is a custom Hunter 29er

as to bars:
in the last 3 years what I've discovered, is that you don't necessarily need to have you wrists at an angle such as bar ends or road bike brake hoods.

the angle that is offered by H-Bars and the likes of a Mary Bar is quite workable

the inverted Mary Bar provides a couple of hand positions
that are not offered when mounted in the intended orientation that On One had designed for

there was a time when the Mary Bar was not receiving much attention
I told On One that they were onto something with that bar, it was just that they marketed it upside down

take for instance FSA's new Metropolis groupo
http://www.bikerumor.com/2010/04/26/fsa-unveils-metropolis-patterson-drive-internal-geared-crankset-for-commuters/
I was working Sea Otter, and spent a fair amount of time with the FSA crew pouring over the nuances of their new groupo

In particular what I like about the Metropolis handlebar is that it has flat sections: http://www.bikerumor.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/fsa-metropolis-patterson-transmission-crankset01.jpg
ergo if you will
and I like that!

compared to the Mary Bar that I have, the Metropolis is a little heavier, but I know its just a matter of time before I will need to replace the Mary that I'm using.
and/or its a matter of time before that design comes out in carbon!

Stock bars and not really a utility bike, but the bar ends generated some interest in the hybrid forum, so I thought I'd show and tell here too. Cannondale XYZ bar ends from around 1992~1993. Is anyone making anything like these? They were mountain bike components though not much advantage off-road vs. normal sized units. I think now that many people are riding flat bars on the roads, these would sell better than they did back then when flat bars were mostly only used on MTBs.

http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr147/Rod_Smith/bike/DSC03676.jpg

http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr147/Rod_Smith/bike/DSC03693.jpg

don't forget Scott At-4's, etc..

Add Trekking bars to the mix , a couple examples : http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Modolo-Modolo-Yuma-Traveller-Multi-Position-Hybrid-Bars--Silver-15572.htm

http://www.wallbike.com/oddsnends/synergic.html but I think these are discontinued .

these are available and pretty low cost http://www.wallbike.com/components/handlebars.html

heres a setup like a Mustache bar, brake levers on the front. http://sheldonbrown.com/deakins/handlebars.html

Add Trekking bars to the mix , a couple examples : http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Modolo-Modolo-Yuma-Traveller-Multi-Position-Hybrid-Bars--Silver-15572.htm

http://www.wallbike.com/oddsnends/synergic.html but I think these are discontinued .

these are available and pretty low cost http://www.wallbike.com/components/handlebars.html

heres a setup like a Mustache bar, brake levers on the front. http://sheldonbrown.com/deakins/handlebars.html

Trekking/Butterfly bars have already been added/listed on page 2 & 3 of this thread.

Regards
Tom

another great handlebar thread

Just doing a little bit of cross-pollinating....

This is an excellent thread; thanks OP and others....

Just doing my bit by posting the link to another great handlebar thread: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/584089-Which-handlebars-should-I-get?highlight=northroad+handlebars

Heres what I'm currently riding on my winter/utility bike. (I was hoping for some snow and ice this year but no luck here in Cape Ann MA! Soon to be converted to fattie slicks.) The bars were in my rust pile- a pile of bits that I keep adding to until it gets large enough to warrant an acid bath. I believe they were from a Schwinn 3 speed - a Breeze or Racer. Heavy, big, and quite rusty. Just like the bike it was intended for! After removing the rust and throwing on a rattle can color (which I know will flake off soon enough) I am happy with how they fit.

I added an old set of bar-ends to achieve the full-on antler bar setup which I saw either here or on the commuting forum. They're great!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7180/6892368699_043cc41a5b_b_d.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7206/6892370351_fb1cb6859c_b_d.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7194/6892371661_a4b1af1df6_b_d.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7043/6892373303_577a25e7bc_b_d.jpg

Is it possible to put bar-end shifters on the ends of extensions like that? -or is the wrong diameter?

I umm...I dont know! Sorry! I would imagine it may depend on the actual bar-end extender. I will try and measure the inner dia of ones I have and get back to you.