Above my pay grade as well.
I learned by making expensive to correct mistakes.
Now I let the lads at the bike factory design the bikes, while I just try to navigate the puzzle pieces, and find a way to keep going.
My 135 titanium stem is collecting dust for a few years now, 90mm stem and drop bars are back on the bike, as designed.
Balance, by switching bar types, do we also throw off the balance of the bike?
Little things go unnoticed, until we go out on tour and try to ride 10 or 15 hours a day. At which point, proper fit and good balance effect or knees and neck and comfort and safety.
Originally Posted by
gauvins
yeah... My first intent is/was to be able to completely remove handlebars for transport, and that was it. Swapping handlebars was some kind of half-baked (actually, not baked at all) idea.
What you write about geometry is interesting, and probably above my pay grade. I've built my bike on an LHT frame. Fitted it with butterfly bars for no good reason other than the fact that they seemed to offer better alternative hand positions. Now, the LHT comes stock with drop-downs. I assume that the geometry is "optimized" for them. I've installed the longest stem I could find on the LHT (135 mm vs 95 nominal if I am not mistaken) and feel OK with the setup.
I've read
here and there about bars. Have no strong opinion. And frankly no idea on how to select a "better" layout. Looks fairly obvious why road racers use drop downs whereas mountain bikers use flat bars, and bike shares (or Dutch commuters) sport raised bars. But not clear to me what a tourer/randonneur might be looking for. Not sure at all that the "many positions" is a good argument, compared to "one really comfy position that you can stick to all day".
My experience with drops is that I was riding them on the top or hoods 90% of the time (maybe 30-60, and 10% on the drops). My experience with butterfly is that I ride them 90% of the time at the inner-end (if this makes sense) which are fitted with Ergon grips (10% equally on the sides or front). I am tempted by Velo Orange crazy bars. But to honest, the amount of time and effort (and money) involved in trying out a new handlebar seems quite large given the fact that I can't anticipate the benefit. Maybe something to do when I retire
I noticed that with bar ends and the sides of butterfly bars, I use them more if the tape is wrapped considerably thicker.