qandaappraisals

I'm riding a Fuji Touring with drops. I'm thinking about switching to trekking bars and wonder what kinds of setups people are using. I have bar-end shifters so I'm wondering if its best to keep them on the bar ends or are there options for relocating. Also, I've used flat pads on an old mountain bike and I've seen a photo of someone who used these on their trekking bars, close to the bar ends. My main concern is nerve pressure as I'm a heavy rider and this has always been an issue for me. I've got my drops in a position right now that has helped but anything over 40 miles, numbness becomes a real issue.

Thanks

Happy Feet

I also suffer from occasional hand numbness (though not recently) and on the bars I use a double layer of tape.
For twist shifters they looked like this:



And for basic mtb shifter brake combos they look like this:



I run aero bars for one more hand position which actually turns into two because I occasionally ride upright holding onto the elbow rests as well.

You can see that there would be enough room for bar end shifters as long as the brake levers did not interfere with their manipulation and lots of people use ergo grips for the flats position.

jefnvk

Aren't trekking bars MTB diameter, though? Would bar ends fit?

I like bar ends, and came up with the same setup, but in doing research I couldn't find anywhere that they were being used on trekking bars. If so, I'm also interested to hear.

fietsbob

' Thumbies ' use the lever part of the bar end shifter, in a compatible configuration,,

This is my setup (8 years ago) grip shifter..


[those bars may not be sold any more..] the type in 2nd response are easy to find.

bars fairly close, and higher than the saddle.. sides may be like reaching the hoods on drop bars..

I use 2 layers of foam tape ..



...

Snuts

I am really loving my Trekking bars.
As for bar end shifters, why wouldn't they work (?). Almost 7" between the open ends on mine. I am half tempted to try them. Possibly in 2018, I quite like my trigger shifters on Trekking bars.
Here is a bike I converted this past fall when a Brifter $hit the bed.

-Snuts-

fietsbob

G'gl' image search: https://www.google.com/search?q=trek...w=1352&bih=945


NB: the ends of the bar face towards the center-line so bar end shifter turned 90 degrees, from its usual orientation.
might not be as easy to use..

you may also find the Bar ID too small , although, Ive seen bar end mounts that go on the outside,
this done for users of carbon fiber aero bars for the Tri set.

Snuts

Got to try out my helmet camera, he-he.
This year I will be starting out with this set-up. I have traveled about 700 miles with these bars this fall. Now on my newest bike and more bar tape on the top position.
Of interest, my preferred hand position. Over the trigger shifters, use my ring finger to shift. Very open palm, low weight. I can ride all day this way.
Hope this helps.



-Snuts-

Happy Feet

Good question about the diameter of the bars. I assume one would check that first. I also thought about the cable routing / resistance but figure the loop through drops is roughly the same. My trekking bars have holes pre drilled for routing so someone must be doing something.

fietsbob

The center is 25.4/~1", the rest of the bar 22.2/~7/8", so the MTB controls fit perfectly..

the holes in the tube, may be for the Production Jig location pins, to get all the various bends Right, consistently.



'/,

Squeezebox

Do bar end shifters come in different diameters?

fietsbob

You got a Machine shop?

HTupolev

AFAIK all bar-end shifters have expander wedges designed for the 20mm inside diameter of road bars. Butterfly bars likely have an inside diameter of something like 17mm, too small. But, I doubt they'd make much ergonomic sense installed on the ends of a butterfly bar.

A more typical approach, if you want a lever shifter on a straight bar, is to use thumbies. Some thumb shifters come as a unit, but you can also get thumb shifter mounts that allow you to install the main piece of a bar-end or downtube shifter in the thumb-shift position.

fietsbob

Nitto Machined the ends of the aluminum Albatross and Mustache Bars to accept bar end shifters ,

the Chromoly Albatross bar used the higher strength steel in the usual way , used less of it.
the wall thickness of those bar's tubing is quite thin.

Dan Burkhart 

Here's my trekking bar set up on my commuter bike. I don't know if I'd want to tour with this setup, but it's OK for rides up to 30 or 40 km.
Alfine shifter.

jefnvk

Yeah, but those are setup to go on a "road" bike, not a MTB bike. They clamp to road stems, and take road levers and shifters.

fietsbob

Wrong oh over-generalizer, Nitto albatross is a 1" / 22,2 diameter bar. like the 'Northroads' on millions of bikes 3 speed , dutch, etc.

only the specialty Mustache bar is 15/16 tube, but still 1" center.. [my sample]





'/,