Originally Posted by
Salamandrine
Dumb Americans.
I'm American and have only started to see this fairly recently.
Don't assume too much thought has gone into it. They are trying to get the bars as high as possible for 'comfort', even though the bars were designed to be used at a lower angle. So it's all wrong. It's a setup most useful for riding a bike down a sidewalk to the corner liquor store to buy a 40.
Yeah, it's all the rage in the beach towns here in California (as I'm sure you've noticed down south). I used to ride a lowrider bicycle with ape hangers before I found the light, and I have to admit it was incredibly comfortable, even for cruising around hours at a time. But such things are pretty pointless for serious riding.