Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Combination of drops and bullhorns?

I used to ride bullhorn, and never messed with drops, but now after riding the stock set from my kilo, I rather enjoy them. But, climbing is not very enjoyable, and I bike in rather hilly areas.

Are there any bars out there that extend forward parallel to the ground or even rise at the start for climbing, then proceed to turn into drops? I was looking at moustache, but I don't think they give the amount of drop I truly am looking for.

I'm trying to find something that will allow me to climb hills, ride upright, but also be able to drop low for straight sections. I keep searching the internet, but you can only see so much from pictures, so I was wondering if anyone had any experience with something like this.

Thanks. (And sorry if I'm just being oblivious)

randeunner bars

but there's not much lift/reach added before they drop. just get some brake hoods, gut the levers out if you don't like them, and ride hoods.

it's also possible your stem is too short, bike fit is tricky but if you feel like bullhorns are better for climbing than drops are, you may have bad fit. nothing's better for climbing than drops on a bike that fits properly, for most people.

drops with brake hoods.

If you have brakes and set the bar up so that the part of the bars that reach forward are nearly level, then the brake levers work more or less like bullhorns and give you something to grab onto when you climb. They also give you another place to put your hands. On my fixie I have only one brake, but two brake levers, for those reasons (but on a moustache bar).

Alright, I'll mess around with adjusting them some. If I can't get comfortable with that, I'll look into gutting some drops. I can only find one set of faux drops that are just for the hold, and that I wouldn't have to deal with the other complications, but they're like $40. So screw that.

dia compe fake leavers are like 10..ill find a link when I get home.

dia compe fake leavers are like 10..ill find a link when I get home.
If you can find some, that'd be great.
The only ones I could find were these: http://www.chariandconyc.com/diacompe-handrestknob.aspx

chari and co: where the unimaginative pay top dollar for bottom design

why not just add some triathlon aeros to your drops?
like these.
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1087295_-1_1545502_1545500_400213

why not just add some triathlon aeros to your drops?
like these.
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1087295_-1_1545502_1545500_400213

He wants the bullhorn position not the aero position.

chari and co: where the unimaginative pay top dollar for bottom design
Haha, never said I was buying from there, just what google gave me.

But I guess aero drops would work, if you can use them for climbing as well as aero type riding.
But I feel like putting a set of aeros on my otherwise stock kilo would make me look like a tool. I'm not that hardcore of a rider.

drops with brake hoods.

+1

What about attaching bar ends to a set of drop bars? It would be odd but it might make for a bullhorn-drop hybrid type situation. It's pretty much the same concept as using dummy hoods.

Here's a set for $10. http://www.nashbar.com/bikes//Product_10053_10052_175261_-1___

For some reason I never thought of that concept. It seems genius, like it would be the perfect solution.
Anyone have any ideas whether there would be flaws with the use of bar ends?

Many bar ends have a smaller diameter than a normal road bars.

Vixtor is definitely right about that. The only problem I can foresee is the clamp diameter.

Getting the bar ends around the bends of the drop bar could be tricky but seems feasible. This would work as long as you can find bar ends with a large enough clamp size.

I was coming to this thread to post the bar end solution.
Get the "Strongholds" from Nashbar, they're pretty terrific.


Vixtor: That may be true about the clamp diameter, but they're also $10. So probably worth it to just try and see.

Well, the ones you listed have a 22mm diameter. I have no idea the diam of the stock kilo bars. What seems about average for drops?

there's no standard so an average is meaningless.

seriously, even if they fit i wouldn't do that. i'd get some used brake levers that have comfortable hoods and i'd take out all their guts.

I guess I'll just check everything out and see. I mean, you can get stubby profile-esque bar ends that wouldn't be so intense looking. It's mostly just for the occasional times that I miss having that extra hand postion. Other than that I'm pretty happy with the drops.

there's no standard so an average is meaningless.

seriously, even if they fit i wouldn't do that. i'd get some used brake levers that have comfortable hoods and i'd take out all their guts.
+1

Used road shifters are the best, check your local bike co-ops if you know a couple.

I think it would be pretty cool to have bar ends on the drops - wrapped nicely with some cushy tape. You'd really have something to grab and climb with.

Using gutted hoods is the surest option though. It's tried and true.

That's exactly what I'm thinking. I mean, hoods will obviously work, but I feel like really trying to give this a shot.
If not, it just proves that I should take the advice of the guys with 3000+ posts. But trial and error am I right?

randeunner bars
it's also possible your stem is too short, bike fit is tricky but if you feel like bullhorns are better for climbing than drops are, you may have bad fit. nothing's better for climbing than drops on a bike that fits properly, for most people.

I feel like all the conventional wisdom I've seen has suggested that the hoods are where most people prefer to be riding for a serious incline.

Find a set of old chrome road drops, they most likely have an outside diameter of 22.2mm, which is the same as common bar ends.

I've had a set of steel road drops before, they were heeeeeavy but extremely stiff. Again, bike co-op usually have old steel road drops and they usually have a box of bar ends for 5 bones a side or so.

What's the point in having drops with hoods if you're going to gut the hoods, as some of you suggest? You would think it is best to have your brakes accessible from various hand positions rather than from just the tops

i was under the impression he was riding brakeless.

i was also under the impression that during a climb, if you are at max exertion, you want the most leverage from the drops.

i guess this is under the assumption that your bike and cockpit are fit properly you won't have any reduction in breathing capacity in the drops. if you're hunched over too much in the drops and your diaphram is constricted, you probably should change up your fit if not stem and bars.

I do run a brake, but it's mounted on the top as opposed to where hoods would be placed, and I only use it when I'm sitting upright and not in the drops anyway, not because I can't reach it from the drops, but because that's simply how I prefer.

And, you may be right with the whole breathing and cockpit fit and all of that, but I simply prefer to reach out for leverage as opposed to down into drops.

i was under the impression he was riding brakeless.

i was also under the impression that during a climb, if you are at max exertion, you want the most leverage from the drops.

i guess this is under the assumption that your bike and cockpit are fit properly you won't have any reduction in breathing capacity in the drops. if you're hunched over too much in the drops and your diaphram is constricted, you probably should change up your fit if not stem and bars.

I mean I'm sure its mostly preference. Just most I've talked to/read about suggested that the brake hoods where for climbing/comfortable cruising, and the drops were for getting aero on level ground and descents.

I ride through downtown Minneapolis to work everyday and its flat and a lot of stop and go, and I ride in the drops because its comfy, so to each their own.

You can either get these: http://www.canecreek.com/component-other?product=ergo-stoker or get used to drop levers and use them with your brake. How much time do you spend on the tops anyway?

You can spend $40 and get exactly what you are looking for, you can spend $25 and get some Tektro ergo levers, or you can waste $10 doing something utterly ridiculous - putting MTB bar-ends on your drops.

http://i52.tinypic.com/hvunev.jpg

there ya go

ive never heard of it.

http://velospace.org/files/traveler3.jpg

Both the right hood lever and the cross lever activate that font brake, giving you the option of braking from multiple positions. Plus you use the hoods for general riding or climbing.

The people on this forum were much more supportive of invention back in '06: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?216245-quot-antler-bars-quot&highlight=antler+bars

Just something I found in the course of my usual forum lurking, further inspiring me to not give up hope for my idea before I succumb to my eventual fate of hoods.

It's not whether it's a good idea, or better than hoods, it's the challenge of can it be done, be comfortable, and look nice enough to gain ssfg's approval?
Weekend challenge accepted.

3ttt makes a bar specifically for this problem in mass start track events. The UCI regulates that in mass start events every rider must ride drop bars. For long distance races(points race) having another hand position, and the ability to ride in a more aero position is quite helpful so they created a bar to solve the problem. It looks pretty much like if you would add drops to your old style pursuit horns then flattened out the non-useful parts.

174481
3ttt sphinx

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k283/poeticdude29/Handelbarunwrapped.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k283/poeticdude29/IMG_2241.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k283/poeticdude29/IMG_2242.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k283/poeticdude29/IMG_2244.jpg

It's not really both at the same time, it's more in the middle of them.
The original idea was to try and make both at once. I bent those bar ends (taken off a trashed mb) open wider so I could grind up the drops, but I stopped halfway for some reason.
I rode around for a while with the drop still there, but eventually I realized I didn't use the drop anymore, and I just cut it off.
Then after a while longer I cut off like an inch of the bar ends to make em a bit more compact.

I've been riding on these bars for close to 2 years now. They are a bit heavy with those cheapo steal bar ends, and eventually when I have some spare cash i'll get a local machine shop to roll/bend me some bars out of aluminum.

Those sphinx bars look crazyyy. Cost more than my bike though.

Stryper: was it hard to find bar ends that fit your drops? I'm thinking I'll have the bar ends more forward and upwards than inward and forward such as yours. Do you have any pictures from before you cut the drops off with the bar ends mounted?

The bar ends didn't fit my drops. not the same size diameter. I literally took them off a pos mountain bike that we had in a pile in the back yard for scrap and parts bikes. I just took a monkey wrench and bent the opening of the bar ends, scratched them up the drops with a lot of twisting and turning, and when I got them where they are now, I bent the clasps on the bar ends closed as much as i could, had to buy 2 new bolts form the hardware store for like 50¢ that were a bit longer, and grade 8 with a zinc coating so it wouldn't rust or break while I was climbing with my weight forward like that.

I don't have any pics of them on before I cut the drops. it looked pretty goofy to be honest. The bar ends were sorta long like you can see in the first pic, and with their angle coming off the drops like that, I didn't exactly get compliments :p

As posted in the link above, this guy managed to pull it off pretty well
http://fixedgeargallery.com/2006/aug/FrancoisPrevost-4.jpg

Be creative with it. if you can afford to mess around a bit, do it. Cut a few inches of drop off some other drop bars so there is just enough of a slight curve, miter them best you can with a hack saw, and try using carbon fiber tow I think it's called (the loose strands of it, like yarn) and of course epoxy to wrap the bars together. Or you could use hemp fiber like they do on bamboo bikes. either way. Or you could always have a local welder attach the pieces for like $10. Creative is always more fun, and most the time more fulfilling in the end cause you did something unique and custom

Haha you've well inspired me. I can probably get my hands on some welding supplies and it'd be way nicer than shoving bar ends up the drops. I'd just have to find out how to get some nice wood pieces to epoxy over them when I'm done.

I'll resurrect this thread when I've tried my hand at it and post some pics.

Anyone have any ideas whether there would be flaws with the use of bar ends?


Curved bar with clamp made for straight bar. Will exert extra pressure on/cause fatigue the metal and possibly lead to failure (at the worst possible moment).

Curved bar with clamp made for straight bar. Will exert extra pressure on/cause fatigue the metal and possibly lead to failure (at the worst possible moment).

Bar and bar ends are going to be designed to take extremely large amounts of pressure without breaking. They can probably withstand the force of a 300lb man with low coordination set up on a straight bar, I bet they can withstand the force of 200lb man with some cycling ability set up on a curved bar just fine.

Bar and bar ends are going to be designed to take extremely large amounts of pressure without breaking. They can probably withstand the force of a 300lb man with low coordination set up on a straight bar, I bet they can withstand the force of 200lb man with some cycling ability set up on a curved bar just fine.

Good thing I'm only 120.

Bar and bar ends are going to be designed to take extremely large amounts of pressure without breaking. They can probably withstand the force of a 300lb man with low coordination set up on a straight bar, I bet they can withstand the force of 200lb man with some cycling ability set up on a curved bar just fine.


http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/1507/barkb.jpg


Alu bars are know to fail when scratched, I wouldn't trust my life to this ghetto setup.

Also, my buddy had a road drop fail and was laid up in bed with a busted hip at the age of like 23 for a long arse time... After seeing that, I'm extra cautious.

I wish I had seen physics lessons 1-127, but you bring up a good point.

I'm not really planning on using bar ends anymore. I'm probably going to weld something to the existing drops as opposed to attempt to clamp it on. Plus, it would be just an additional hand position, I really wouldn't be putting all my weight on it. Thanks for the concern though, you have a very logical approach to this.

I wish I had seen physics lessons 1-127, but you bring up a good point.

I'm not really planning on using bar ends anymore. I'm probably going to weld something to the existing drops as opposed to attempt to clamp it on. Plus, it would be just an additional hand position, I really wouldn't be putting all my weight on it. Thanks for the concern though, you have a very logical approach to this.

I take it you have a tig welder handy and several years training and first hand experience working with alloys? Assuming your handlebars are alu...

My neighbor actually is employed as a welder and has helped me out before.
When I said I would weld it, it was meant as: " I'll have someone else weld it for me". Just as when someone pays to get their car fixed, they say "I fixed my air conditioning" as opposed to "I paid someone X amount of dollars to fix my air conditioning".
Apologies for the confusion.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k283/poeticdude29/IMG_2241.jpg


The original idea was to try and make both at once. I bent those bar ends (taken off a trashed mb) open wider so I could grind up the drops, but I stopped halfway for some reason.
I rode around for a while with the drop still there, but eventually I realized I didn't use the drop anymore, and I just cut it off.
Then after a while longer I cut off like an inch of the bar ends to make em a bit more compact.


i laugh.

So...what's wrong with hoods?

So...what's wrong with hoods?

reinventing the wheel is too much fun