Handlebar style
You’re sensitive to handlebars because you’re in constant contact with them, with a sensitive part of your body (that would be your hands). Here are some super-blatant opinions:

Drop bars are the most versatile, but not always the best choice. They offer more hand positions and accommodate more variance in body angles than any other bar shape, so for rides longer than an hour over varied terrain and at generally high efforts, they’re the best. As the ride shortens, the terrain stabilizes, and the effort declines, the benefits of a drop bar become less important.

Moustache Handlebars (sold mainly by us, so keep that in mind when you read this praise) offer lots of different hand positions, and a more upright position than do drops. They’re ideal for commuting, off-road, and longer rides. They offer an easier and more upright access to powerful braking than do drops—good for commuting and trail rides, and not a drawback ever. What they don’t offer is a hand position next to the stem, which some riders can’t or won’t give up. But Moustache H’bar fans are quick to point out that the outer grip position accommodates the same upright body position as the next-to-stem grip on a drop bar, and offers better bike control. It is more important on Moustache Handlebars to get the bars level or slightly higher than the saddle. Sometimes that means using an up-stem. Also, go shorter on the extension.

Upright-Curved bars, such as the Dove or Albatross, are fantastic bars for comfortable upright riding, and for shorter commutes and all-around fun riding, can’t be beat. The curves give you a natural grip area, and in the case of the Albatross bar, the curve is long enough so that if you use a bar-end shifter or otherwise free up the bar in front of the brake lever, you get an additional grip, good for climbing. Some guys think these bars look like Old Lady bars, but they’re nuts. This is a fantastic design, and everybody reading this now has at least one bike that would benefit tremendously (and be a lot more fun to ride) if it had a curved upright bar on it. Bars of this type are almost always skinnier than drops or Moustache h’bars, and so require mountain bike brake levers and grips. That’s not a drawback, just a fact.

Straight (“flat”) mountain bike style handlebars are best for steep off-road downhills. You can get by with them on just about any ride, but their un-ergonomic grip and lack of hand positions makes them the last choice for general riding—which is why we don’t sell them.