Obeast

What do you guys use or like best? What do you plan to get in the future? I am quite amazed at the amount of options available on the market right now and I believe new designs will enter the market in the future. Please attach pictures if possible cuz I ainīt familiar with all the names for the newfangled handlebar types.

gerryl

The best handle bars for touring are drop bars. There that's settled, any more questions?

skookum

I want to know what is the worst handlebar for touring?

My candidate would be a flat bar with no place to vary hand positions. There must be others just as bad. I had Thorn comfort bars on my Raven, they were horrible and I changed them out. I currently have crazy bars on the bike. They look goofy but I like them. Are they the best? No, because others will have their own opinion.

BigAura

How often, by way of percentage, do you ride in-the-drops?

I posit for most touring cyclists it's 1-2% OR mostly never.

The drops were designed for racers and a waste for touring --> IMO

mstateglfr 

You have been on this forum for 8 years and have posted 200 times. I think you have the skills to google a product name.

Whatever bar gives tour hand, arms, and body comfort aree the best bars.

rifraf

There is no right or wrong answer.

The best bar for touring is the bar that you like best.

I like my Jones H-Loop bar but equally understand that others will prefer drops or flat bars etc.

bikenh

It's not about the bars, it's about the bike fit. A good bike fit will make any bar comfortable, a bad bike fit...you're screwed no matter what bar type you are using.

alan s 

It depends.

79pmooney

Drop bars simply because long upwind days happen. I seek out long climbs and the brake hoods are perfect for that. And on the tops, I get to sit much more upright when I want to. So, for me, all my bikes have drop bars. (A future MTB might change that, but that may not be in this lifetime.)

Ben

antokelly

shallow drops are good FSA or Ritchie can't go wrong size wise 44 or 42. nice wrap of gel bar tape and your away in a hack.

Tourist in MSN

There is no best, it is all personal preference.

I prefer drop bars, I can crouch down lower in strong headwinds. Of the various types and shapes, I like one with a short reach.

A friend of mine uses bullhorn bars with bar end shifters. It looks to me that he is riding with the same hand positions that most people use when riding on the hoods on drop bars. But when he used drop bars, he never used the drops so that is why he switched.

I have several friends that use drop bars, but only because they came with the bike, they do not use the drops.

In continental Europe, flat bars are more common.

Frames with longer top tubes are better with flat bars, shorter top tubes favor drop bars and bullhorn bars. In other words, pick your bar type before you shop for the frame.

cyccommute 

I use Salsa Bell Laps for all of my road bikes (3). Salsa no longer makes them but they do make the Cowbell which is similar. My touring bike came with Ritchey Biomax (I think) which were too square and very uncomfortable. The Bell Lap and Cowbell has a slight flare to the drops but, more importantly, the brake lever clamping area is has a nice angle to it that feels more comfortable when you are riding on the hoods. My hands don't like to be constrained into a straight up and down position and the angle on the Bell Lap just "feels" more natural.

Jseis 

I started out with stock flats on my Minn 3.0 fat. Switched to Salsa Woodchippers for several years and rode trails, beach (beach headwinds!), STP, etc. Recently I lashed up Jones H-Bar in anticipation of a long tour ride in a few years. A couple of observations: One-handed riding a piece of cake (soft sand!), as many hand positions as the drop bars, loop makes front gear mounting way easier (roll, lights, etc). I’ve also a Ritchey adjustable stem that adds more adjustment. For fat tires, the H-Bar helps steering stability, particularly on rough, soft, difficult surfaces.

fietsbob

Why? You going to buy one or just found a new amusement posting topics?


insert opinion of best here .. >[___]< to each their own preferences...


Various drop bars, Straight bars with Ergon's excellent grip/bar end combinations Trekking bars all have their supporters

as Previously discussed and those threads saved, in archive..







....

gerryl

Let's see...During a 3 month tour of Italy last year, all types of terrain, I would say I was in-the-drops for maybe a grand total of 90 seconds. I just can't stand flat bars.

fietsbob

Trekking figure 8 bend bars were invented in Europe. offer an easy swap onto a flat bar bike, so many favor there..

BobG

Its not the drops that make a drop the best bar (for me). It is the drop bar brake hood position that places wrists and palms in a relaxed position parallel to the bike, untwisted and at shoulder width. Agreed, drops are rarely used except for the occasional fast downhill.

No matter how you modify a flat bar with accessory ends, butterfly shapes, bull horns or Jones bar variations your palms are still resting on a tubular bar. Brake hoods are designed with an ergonomic shape to minimize pressure on the nerves. Some of the weight is supported by the crotch of thumb and index finger removing it from the palms. The drop portion is usually just along for the ride but the hooks provide the sweet spot to position the hoods.

I use the Salsa Cowbells as recommended by Cyccommute. I experimented with One One Midge dirt drops but found the canted brake hoods to be too squirmy.

djb

I used to do a lot of darkroom work for other photographers, and one guy would regularly ask me, "what is the best film and developer"--well, light, shoot and expose properly, and then worry about your b+w film and developer, just like you asked me last time.

I am partial to drops though, in the same camp as mr pycho, even down to the model (moo ding a ling one)

Obeast

did you buy the Salsa Cowbells in the same length as a normal drop bar? I see a lot of people using this on their gravel bike and have always wanted to try one. What are the pros and cons compared to regular drop bars? Do you think these benefit short distance commuters more than long distance touring cyclists?

mstateglfr 

On my touring bike, i am in the drops 7-10% of the time.
Drop bars arent only for the drops position though.

Hoods, flats, ramps- all are excellent spots to hold onto while rotating thru to keep your hand comfortable.

Trekking bars offer a similarly varying hand setup, but STIs dont work on trekking bars and many cyclists use STIs.

JaccoW

You do realize that's like saying you can't use folding bike tires on a car right?

Flat bars offer much more versatility when it comes to grips and shifters than drop bars do. Mixing and matchingis easier. Don't like the shape of your STI shifter and you won't easily be able to change it out if you are invested in a groupset.

To each their own of course.

BobG

@Obeast

The Cowbell is a fairly conventional drop bar with only a very slight cant/splay to the drop section. That looks like the Woodchipper in your photo, similar to the Midge bar that I replaced.

Lots of folks like a dirt drop bar like the Woodchipper for its wider width in the drop section for added control in rough terrain. The wrist angle is also comfortable in the drops. Maybe slightly easier to reach brake levers for small hands. Often that style of bar is positioned higher than normal making the drop section the primary position.

The brake hoods are my primary position and I found the slightly more comfortable splay of the Midge (Cowchipper shape) drops came at the expense of a compromised level of comfort on the hoods. The canted (out of plumb) brake levers felt okay at first but I soon got squirmy on them.

I like having the drops for security on fast screaming descents but I can't ride on them for any long period of time as that position interferes with my breathing and tires my neck to look up to the road. Braking is also a stretch for my small hands. I use interrupter levers for more powerful braking at the tops.

1- Woodchipper
2- Cowchipper
3- Cowbell
4- Cowbell with brake levers...

Obeast

Thanks for sharing your experience. Some people are against interruptor brake levers but if I find cheap deals I will install them on all my bikes. I like the idea of having options.

Abu Mahendra

...what would be good examples of really shallow and flared drop-bar?

BobG

The On One Midge bars that I removed have only 112mm of drop. A Moustache bar could be really shallow with zero drop.