jdeane4

Hey guys, I got my Ibex Corrida flatbar bike and I am thinking of putting on bullhorn bars for my everyday commute. Does anyone have pics of the conversion to these? And will I have to redo my brake levers and such. What is your overall opinion to using bullhorns?

Thanks guys,
JD

jyossarian

Well, if you insist...



The bullhorns I have were bigger than the mtb brake levers I was using so I had to use a cross lever made for bigger diameter bars. That's the only difference. If the levers you're using fit standard diameter roadie bars, you'll be set.

noisebeam

jyos-whats the wrap? shellac'd cloth/cork?
Al

jyossarian

noisebeam: Yup, shellacked cork. It's Soma Thick & Zesty bar tape. Closest color that matched my Brooks. Then I used amber shellac to darken it up to a closer match. I may put some hemp twine on it to cover up the electrical tape to give it a cleaner look.

noisebeam

Thats why I asked! I may just get natural cork (Easton) and let it age, skip the shellac, will be a few shades lighter than aged honey saddle, but enough wheel flips, chain grease, sweat will darken.

To keep the thread on topic: Yes. I like bullhorns for commuting (and they work fine for me for fast club riding too). They are like riding on the hoods, but mine are set up lower than hoods on my other bike.

Al

jyossarian

I didn't like the way the tape and saddle mismatched and letting sweat and dirt darken it naturally would take a while and be uneven so I shellacked it. Was considering Brooks leather tape, but the cushion the cork provided is pretty comfy.

For commuting or any kind of riding, bullhorns are nice. Extra hand positions and provide leverage for climbing and sprinting. You can also stretch out to get a little lower in headwinds.

same time

What kind of shifters and brakes do you have?

If you have V-brakes or disc brakes, you might have trouble finding a brake lever that will fit the bullhorn bars. Same with the shifters.

I have bullhorn bars on my fixed gear, and a time-trial style brake lever for a front brake. I don't think bullhorn bars are a standard diameter except at the stem clamp area, so you'll probably have to do trial-and-error to see if the brake levers and shifters you want to use will work.

Also, it can be impossible to slide some shifters past the bend in the handlebar.

You could trim a flat bar and add bar-ends to mimic a bullhorn shape.

Good luck!

cerewa

Another option is chopped off drop bars. There's one type of brake lever that fits drop bars (or chop-n-flipped drop bars) and has the same brake pull as V brakes and the disc brakes that go with V-brake levers.

GeoKrpan

Your brake levers and shifters won't fit on bullhorns.
You could get around that by using cyclocross brake levers but they are not compatible with v-brakes so you'd have to change to cantilever brakes. But what would you do about shifters?
Check out Delta Ergobars. https://www.deltacycle.com/product.php?g=7
Bar ends would be the easiest solution.

pinkrobe

Even better - Scott AT2 bars! If you can find them, they are the bees knees. Stupid light, nice bend, and they will take pretty much any brake lever or shifter. The downside is that they are very rare...

Brian Ratliff

My "urban commuter" fixed gear has bullhorns, which are great for that bike since hills require so much leverage on the handlebars since I don't have shifting. Parden the expression, but they suck in the wind. My long distance commuter has drop bars.

To get the brake levers onto a bullhorn, use cyclocross bar top brake levers. You can install them on the flat part of the bar near the stem (as jyossarian has shown in his picture), or you can route the cable backwards through them and install them on the ends of the bar.

SpecialKev

Ditto on these bullhorn bars. I recently found on on Ebay. Brand new for .99 plus $10 for shipping. I love them and they will accept v-brake levers.