Lolly Pop

Hi there. First post, need some technical assistance. I use my bike for recreational touring -- day trips and such. 60 miles a day once a week sort of thing, with a view to some light touring next summer for a week or two.

The thing is, I have a great bike but I have short arms! I have fitted the shortest stem I could find, but still, the bars are too far away. Bike fits the rest of me quite well (I am about 5'8") so I have been in a conudrum about how to sort the bars. A bit of research has led me to consider butterfly bars. Because they extend toward me, rather than away from me, from the stem, I think they will work. This theory has led me to try something rather unusual. I turned the stem 180 degrees and then put my drop bars back in their regular place:
<https://tinypic.com/f093ix.jpg>
The experiment was a success. This has confirmed that the bars being closer suits me much better. No back pain, no hyperextending, very happy.

So. . . . in terms of converting to butterfly bars, I thought I'd run it past y'all to see if I have missed anything important. My research suggests I will need the following parts:

- butterfly bars (duh!)
- brake levers for flat handlebars
- handlebar grips, tape, etc.
- thumb shifter brackets to adapt my bar-end shifters to mid-bar location

Does that sound about right?

I have ordered a set of butterfly bars from Nashbar, along with some other bits and bobs. The price of the bars (US$14) couldn't be beaten here in the UK. The closest match was £30 -- around US$60!!

Brake levers are a no-brainer, as are handlebar grips. I will probably use additional padding throughout the bar to increase comfort. I heard about gel tape, and may give that a whirl.

This brings us to gear changing. The thumb shifter brackets (22.2mm) are £30 in the UK. The Paul thingie thumbies are US$55, so it's about even.

Are there any alternatives to these adaptors? Should I, for example, consider abandoning my bar-end shifters for standard shifters designed for a straight bar? (I have 7 gears on the back and a triple chainring.) I am also considering attaching some aero thingies on the aft section of the bar. Something to hang onto to stretch out a bit. I quite like to power down hills and get some speed. Will the flat bars impede that?

I am hoping the end result is both functional and elegant. I welcome your input.

Thanks!

roadfix

Make sure your flat bar levers are for traditional cantis and not for V-brakes, as most current Mtb levers are designed to pull V-brakes, although some will work with cantis. I assume you're keeping your cantis.
Butterfly bars are usually mounted with the bar ends towards the rider. Some catalogue photos show these bars inverted and may confuse some people. If they fit, have you considered simply installing your bar ends shifters into these bar ends, although they may be at awkward positions?....who knows?.... Otherwise, I think the thumbies are the way to go with your new setup.

Cyclist0094

most of the MTB shifters made for flat bars have proven to be pretty reliable, But personaly I do like the thumb shifters. I especially like being able to switch to friction mode when there is a problem with the indexing or being able to use a borrowed wheel that may have a different gear count,.if you go with newer MTB shifters may have a problem with some of the newer MTB shifter/brake combos not being able to get around the bend of the bars when you install them.
At 30 pds for the thumbie mounts you are doing good since the cheapest shimano mtb shifter set is more.

Lolly Pop

Excellent suggestion, and something I hadn't considered! Thank you. I will give that a whirl.

Thanks also for the suggestion about the brake levers.

Also, I was planning to switch to a front-loading stem to reduce fussing while I sort out the new bars. Does that sound prudent?

Lolly Pop

Thanks for pointing that out about getting around the bend. The bars I have selected are straight at the open end so do you think that will preclude the problem?

Here's a pic:

Nashbar Trekking/ATB Handlebar

roadfix

It sure makes bar install/removal/swapping a lot easier and hassle free. They do make open faced quill stems (Salsa, Profile, for example) but their quill lengths are generally on the short side, meaning you won't be able to pull your stem up to your desired height like you have with your current setup. There are other options which involve using a quill/threadless adapter and a threadless stem, most or all of which are open faced.
If I were you, I'd keep the current quill stem.

Wil Davis

Here are a couple of pics of a recent project - the original bars were straight, and I found that they were quite tiring on a long ride. You will note that the brakes/shifters are mounted on the inside ends of the bars - this avoids problems getting them around the curves of the bars (BTW the bars are the same ones as in your Nashbar pic).

A few points - (1) as you see them in the pictures, I found the bars to be somewhat low, and so I flipped them so that the ends are now slightly higher than the centre, also I've tilted them slightly so that the end pieces are easier to grip (i.e. my wrists aren't bent when I hold the ends of the bars). (2) I'd like to fit a longer stem as the bars could do with coming up even more, and it would also allow me to fit a stem with the removeable centre clamp which would allow bar changing without untaping half the bars. There is another consideration in that the existing stem has a cable-hanger for the front brake built-in, so any changes would involve getting a separate cable-hanger. That might be a project for later, I think…

Hope this helps -

- Wil

Cyclist0094

[QUOTE=Lolly Pop]Thanks for pointing that out about getting around the bend. The bars I have selected are straight at the open end so do you think that will preclude the problem?

You may also find the levers are more comfortable in the / \ area of the bar past the first bend. especially if you are used to road bars.

BTW the barends will not fit inside the handlebars, I have these bars and have tried to do that

Lolly Pop

Hi there and thanks for the tip. I picked this up earlier on ebay, and think it may suit -- for £3 I don't mind if it doesn't fit! Am I on the right track?

120mm max height (measured vertically from the max height line on stem insert to the centre of the handlebar clamp)
100mm forward extension
To suit bar clamp size 25.4mm
Inc plastic top plug
Weighs 385g
ONLY fits 1” (22.2mm) quill type threaded headsets, NOT for modern Ahead type.

Stem

Lolly Pop

Apologies for the broken link.

Here is a pic of what I got today:


Photo of new front-loading stem

Lolly Pop

Wow, Wil! Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words! Thank you very much for posting the photos and also your review of the set-up. It is very helpful.

Must dash. Will review and respond soon!

Lolly Pop

Thanks for that. I am looking forward to experimenting with the placement of the brake levers. It will be interesting to see which position feels most "natural".

Wil Davis

Well, this thread got me going, and I did another couple of mods to my bars - I used a threadless stem adapter plus a threadless stem. I tried to get them in black to match the rest of the stuff, but the LBS only had silver - ah well, I suppose I could keep looking around for black, although the silver is growing on me…

- Wil

Here are some more pics:

531phile 

Nice choice of brake levers: Dia Compe SS7.

Rogerinchrist

Smaller front tire too I see.

Wil Davis

Well spotted - I put the slickies on to make it quiet on the trainer - only need it on the rear, but the bike looked weird with a slickie on the back and a semi-slick on the front - also I can take it out on the road without having to change the tyre.

- Wil

Lolly Pop

Wil, it is looking very well. What do you find is the biggest difference for you from the straight bars? Did you ever use drop bars?

Wil Davis

I've never tried fitting drops on the Nishiki as it is mountain bike - I think it would look even stranger than it does with the butterfly bars. It came with straights and I've ridden many miles with those bars and have noticed that, especially on long rides, my arms and back would get tired. This rarely happens with my road-bikes as drops provide a greater variety of riding positions. I fitted bar-ends to the straight bars on the Nishiki thinking that might improve things, but it still felt uncomfortable, as the bars now seemed to be hugely wide - it felt like I was greeting everyone with open arms (weird!). I'm hoping that the trekker (butterfly) bars will do the trick - I've ridden some short rides with them mounted to the old stem and with the outer parts of the bars lower than the centre (see original pics) and found that the problem had changed slightly - the bars were now too low. This latest round of tweaks (flipping the bars and raising the stem) seems to have fixed the problem, although I must admit I've only used the bike on the trainer so far, but the riding position is noticably more comfortable. I'll wait for some better weather to take it for a real ride. I'll keep you posted (perhaps you'll learn something from my experiments…)

- Wil

Lolly Pop

thanks Wil, I appreciate it.

buttbybrooks

I've got the Trekking bar and have the same problem as Velonomad. My bar end shifter will not fit in the handlebar because it's diameter is 3-4 mm to big. I am trying to find out if anyone has tried flaring or enlarging the end of th bar so they will fit. I have seen this done with copper/aluminum conduit type work.

AJRoberts

A set of Paul's thumbies might work for you. Sure, they won't be mounted in the bar ends, but they look like they could solve that particular problem.

Lolly Pop

If you are in the UK St John Street Cycle has these:

SJSC special thumb shifter brackets 22.2mm per (left and right), black
Price: £29.99

CNC alloy brackets to convert 7/8 or 9 speed Shimano Ultegra bar end levers into old fashioned thumbies, also needs the Shimano adjusters from the down tube stops. Complete with screws and washers

Photo of SJSC thumb shifters

They are what I am getting to convert my bar-end shifters for my new handlebars.

Update on my conversion: Last week I ordered the butterfly bars from Nashbar, along with a few other things, and waited to hear about the delivery costs for this international order. What was the Nashbar delivery fee to the UK? $100. lol. that's 120 % of the cost of my order. After a bit of a nosy, I found a pair on wiggle.co.uk that will be fine, and they were £15.

I was given a pair of Dia-compe 7 EXA brake levers. (Will those work with cantilever brakes?)

Am thinking I'd like to get some padding under the bar tape. Any thoughts re the gel pads versus foam padding?

gregw

Here is some other options, just to add to the confusion.

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/journ..._id=17715&v=9s
Greg

Lolly Pop

Thanks for that! I was admiring your handlebar conversion earlier!

Lolly Pop

Update: the new butterfly bars arrived yesterday and the bike is in the shop for the conversion. I printed off some of the photos supplied by people here (on this thread and others) to provide some visual aids for my mechanic. Thanks everyone for the tips. I am so psyched! Just hope the thumb shifters arrive tomorrow as planned so it can be ready for Sunday.

Will post a photo of the 'after'! Won't bother with the 'before' because it's a bog-standard drop bar with bar-end shifters.