chefisaac

Hoping to switch to Treking (butterfly bars) for my mtn bike for touring and commuting in hopes that it will offer more hand positions.

Was curious if there was any disadvantages to trekking bars that you might have experienced.

Thank you.

bud16415

I have put them on a few bikes, mountain and road. The conversion on a mountain bike is pretty easy as shifters and brakes will fit right on. Depending on how you place them cable lengths could be too short but most likely not. The ones I did were in converting a mountain bike to more of a road touring bike so I also changed the stems to get things a bit more upright and changed tires to a higher pressure road slick.

Only advice I would have is hold off on doing the bar wrap for a while as you will be tweaking the bar position getting to what feels best. I sometimes do a temp wrap with an old inner tube and ride a while. Not only hand positions but with a wrapped bar you can add padding where you like it under the wrap. Takes a bit till you figure out where you want that also.

sstorkel

Do you need more hand positions? I rode from San Francisco to Los Angeles using standard drop bars. There wasn't a single time during that 500-mile, 7-day trip that I thought a set of goofy-looking handlebars would make me more comfortable... If you do decide to make the swap, be sure that your preferred brake/shift levers are compatible with the trekking bars you plan to use.

fietsbob

This is the 3rd place you posted the same question, ...

chefisaac

fiet: Thanks for your reply. But if you see, there are more input in three different areas I posted. They concern, also, three different types of riding.... commuting, touring, and clydesdale. What I find funny is that people get upset if I post questions in different forums yet they do not realize that there ARE THREE DIFFERENT FORUMS. Different forums= different subjects, subject matter and riding style. Just my two cents.

Now you have options... you can reply to it or not. You can cross reference or not. I choose to do it my way. Why? Look above and it answers it. Not trying to be a dick but I understand the value of asking different people with different riding styles.

TrojanHorse

I don't care if you cross post, but it is funny that you misspelled the title each time.

And yes, people loiter in different forums. Fori? Forae? I wonder if the roadies know which is correct... back in a bit.

chefisaac

lol. Was late for a meeting and wanted to post before I went. Damn spelling!

ErickSaint

I did the conversion to trekking bars last year. It was a cheap deal, just needed the bars (about $16) and the bar wrap. All my mountain bike controls switched over just fine, but I really need to do a tune up and readjust of the cables. I like the positions offered. But I was hoping the different positions would help with some numbness issues. Unfortunately my hands still seem to have some issues after about 4 miles. There is another fit problem I need to look into.

On the topic of cross posting, glad you did. This is the only forum I even go to on this site. My bookmark goes right to C/A. Occasionally I may venture out to other forums/threads mainly the gadget or foo forums, or through a search.

Arvadaman

Chef,

I have been toying with the idea of trekking bars for a while. I got inspired by your first post and bought a pair of butterfly bars.

Here is my setup. I have only ridden it 12 miles so far.




I have been experimenting and here is what I have so far.

Pros: I am riding a frame on the large size of the range for me, a 21". The trekking bars bring the reach for the controls in closer to me and make for a pretty comfortable location for the brakes and shifters.

Less likely to hang up or "hook" on stuff than flat bar with bar ends.


Cons: I had to buy a longer stem with less angle to it. Because of the location of the open side, I needed less angle to get the bar at an angle that was more to my liking. The initial stem had a steeper angle and put the whole bar at too steep of an angle. I did not like the angle of the "side" hand position until I got the lower stem.

Also, the cabling was a bit of a trick due to the fact that it is right below the stem. There is not a lot of clearance between the two and I have a lot going on in that two square inches of space under the stem.

Undetermined: I am not sure if I have any more hand positions than a flat bar with bar ends. I am also not sure if offers more flexibility than the flat bar yet. The flat bar appears to be more adjustable. The economics of the change are about a wash so far.

I will leave them unwrapped as noted in an earlier post by Bud until I am farther into the experiment.

I will let you know if I stumble onto any gems of wisdom.

Mr. Beanz

So you are suggesting he install standard drop bars on his Mtn bike?

paisan

Beanz, I suggested the same thing which is what started this topic because Isaac doesn't use his MTB on trails, strictly for commuting. He's possibly interested in dong some touring but is not sure enough to want to drop 1k+ on a dedicated touring bike. Since his bike already has racks and panniers my suggestion was strictly to give him an option to:
1- try touring without the expense of buying a bike he may never use again for it's dedicated purpose.
2- help clear his main complaint of his commuter, which is that he's not as comfortable on it with the flat bars as he is on his road bike with drop bars. Yes there are probably some fit issues that need to be resolved but we could get his MTB/commuter pretty close to the fit of his road bike. Granted he would need different brake calipers and shifters but at around 400 dollars that's still cheaper than a new bike and if he decides he does like touring and wants a dedictaed tourer then at least the money was still well spent making his commuter more comfortable for him.

Since the original suggestion, someone pointed out that trekking bars would be a good first step to try since he could change to them without the need for new brake calipers or shifters. He'd be out around 20-30 bucks for bars and maybe some bar tape to see if that makes him more comfortable.

Mr. Beanz

Ah, yes! Less expensive. I put something similar on Gina's hybrid. Not quite trekking but she loves them. Plus I covered them with the foam grip rather than bar tape.

sstorkel

Not necessarily. Just suggesting that there are options other than those ridiculous-looking trekking bars: bar-ends of various shapes and styes, dirt drop bars, H-bars, etc. On a road bike, I can ride forever with drop bars. On the mountain bike, I'm good for 40-50 miles with a swept-back (9-15 degree) flat bar (ex: On-One's Fleegle, Misfit Psycles' FUbar and NUbar, Bontrager's Race Lite "Big Sweep").

tony_merlino

The main reason I did the conversion on what was the only bike I was riding at the time was that I needed a really upright riding position to accommodate my belly and general lack of flexibility. So I put the trekking bars, along with a quill extension (to make the stem higher) on the bike at the same time. I DID need to put new cables when I did that, but I don't think I would have needed to do that if the only thing I'd done was to put on the trekking bars.

That bike has evolved into my errand bike, with heavy folding baskets, fenders, etc. I'm now considering swapping the trekking bars off that bike again, and moving them to my new-to-me early-'90s Bianchi Advantage, which promises to be a pretty good touring bike. I don't think I'll have to touch the stem or do anything with the cables to make that conversion.

Pros: Lots of hand positions. With the right stem, depending on the use of the bike, can allow you to get more upright in traffic, for better visibility, while still having decent options for getting fairly "aero". I think you can set them up to be pretty close to optimal for just about anything except getting "really" aero, as you would on a road bike. If you're converting a mountain bike or hybrid, you can reuse your levers and shifters - even your grips if you want, so the conversion is potentially pretty cheap to do.

Cons: They look REALLY dorky. I call the bike I have them on "The Dorkcycle". I'm 59 years old, so I'm at the age where I can embrace my inner dork, and it doesn't bother me. YMMV.

dexter9326

I have a couple of bikes with trekking bars - a 1994 Schwinn Crosscut and a 1994 Schwinn Crosstrail. When I'm riding - I definitely have the need for multiple hand positions. With my physique, I found drop handle bars very uncomfortable. The trekking bars serve the purpose well - and offer me a somewhat more aerodynamic position when I need it - as well as a more upright position.

I just read tony merlino's post and could pretty much have put "ditto". Except for the dorky part. I prefer to say they have a rather unique appearance

tony_merlino

Are those bar ends, covered with foam? I like this! I may do something like that on my hybrid. I was going to move the trekking bars off the errand bike, but I used it to go to the store today, and I have to say, there's absolutely nothing that needs to change about that bike for what I use it for.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" And I have bar ends that would work pretty well on the hybrid...

Mr. Beanz

Not bar ends, they are actual handle bars.

We bought them way back in mid 90's, I believe they are made by Scott (famous for Scott bars wa back when)

The shifters etc slip right over the end then slide into place. Then I use foam (beach cruisers) pads instead of tape. No need for gloves.


hb's by mrbeanz1, on Flickr

tony_merlino

Ah, now I see them better. They're almost trekking bars.

I think I still might try the notion of using the hybrid bars with longish, curved bar ends (I have some), and then using the cruiser foam the way you did.

Mr. Beanz

I've seen other riders saw off drop bars into bull horn types (fixie like). I wouldn't do it myself but wonder if you cut some trekking bars, maybe you could get them close to these.

tony_merlino

I may do the sawed-off drop bars thing on an old Raleigh Record I'm hacking on. It will either get a straight bar with bar ends, or I'll saw off the drops and make ersatz bullhorns.

I don't think I'd saw off trekking bars. I actually really LIKE trekking bars. I'm just trying to find a way to make do with stuff I already have. Actually, the trekking bars aren't expensive - I may just buy another set and put them on the hybrid. But I'm going to try this scheme first, to see if it does the job.

Neil_B

Is "Clydesdale" really a "style" of riding? Isn't that like saying there's a "woman's" style of riding? Or an Asian style of riding? Or a Greek style of riding?

Personally if I can be said to have a riding style, its "tourist." I'd never think of being a Clydesdale as a "style."

chefisaac

There are things that are unique with clydesdale riding that may or may not happen in other types of riding. It is just the way I see it.

Neil_B

Hmm. Smacks too much of a cycling version of identity politics for me - like how we are told a hypothetical woman is "supposed" to think or vote. It's outside the topic of the thread and doesn't relate to your search for a "trekking Bart" but I disagree strongly with the idea there is a Clydesdale "style" of riding. I wonder if you'd say I rode in a "disabled style" before surgery and will now ride in a "non-disabled" style afterward.

BTW, here is a trekking Bart:

sstorkel

I've suggested, in one of the other forums he spams, that chefisaac could get the results he wants by picking a "main" forum for a given topic then posting a brief notice ("Hey, I just started a thread about XXX in the YYY forum. Please come join the discussion") in other relevant forums. He seems resistant to this suggestion, though I can't understand why; the same strategy seems to work well enough for everyone else on BF...

paisan

I may be putting words in Isaac's mouth but I believe the point he is trying to make albeit weakly is not that there is a clydesdale "style" of riding but that there are issues unique to clydesdales in cycling. For example.. where to find extra large sized clothes, Wheel recommendations for people who weigh above most manufacturer limits, frame recommendations, etc...