jkimballcook

So I picked up a beat up old 70s Fuji S-10 for 10 bucks and I'm looking to convert it into a city bike for use around town, towing kids on the canal path, bad weather commuter, etc. (My nice weather commuter is a super fun dave scott ironman centurion that I've powedercoated and updated to a modern 2 x 10 drivetrain. That bike is awesome.)

Since this is going to be a city bike, I want to use a flat-bar type bar for a more upright posture, but since I do intend to commute with it and use it around town, I want a fairly narrow bar that I can get through traffic on, not a wide, flat, MTB-type bar. I was thinking I was sold on the condorina bar, which I intended to trim down by a centimeter or two on each side to make it more traffic-friendly, but I don't think I would be able to fit those sharp bends through a quill stem. (I have an old Technomic laying around that I can use to get the bars up nice and high). Maybe the postino from VO, but with the more gradual curve as opposed to the condorina's sharp joint, I'm afraid that I couldn't trim very much off without leaving enough to still have a decent grip.

I've also considered using VO's porteur or belleville bars, but since this frame does not have an overly long top tube, I'm not sure that the swept back grips would be a good choice. There's always the north road bars, or just a regular old MTB flat bar or riser bar, but that seems a bit boring, like it's just another hybrid as opposed to something unique.

Are there any good options that I'm missing? Something similar to the condorina, but that I could use with a quill stem, or similar to the postino, but a bit narrower? Or could I trim down the postino after all?

mparker326

I tried real hard to like the belleville bars but they were just too narrow for my liking. The no rise on them meant more stem showing as well.

I like the VO Tourist bars.

rhm

What shifters, what brake levers?

Most "upright" bars measure 7/8" or 22.2 mm. Upright style brake levers, thumb shifters, etc fit this size bar.

Most "road" bars measure 15/16" or 23.8 mm. Drop bar brake levers, Campy Ergo shifters, Shimano STI's, bar end shifters, etc. fit this size bar.

Mustache bars are a good compromise; they are usually 15/16" and take road style components.

Soma also makes a 7/8" bar they call the 'Lauterwasser' bar which is a shape inspired by the Lauterwasser handlebars of the 30's.

squirtdad

Ahearn or VO postino

here is my torpado with the postino and tektro city levers (both from VO via my LBS but they are in on the online catalog)

I don't have any problem with the width....but depending on the lever you couln't take too much off and still have decent grip length.

SteakKnifeSally

Handlebars are fun.

I like the Northroads if you flip them for a shallow drop. If you get the reach right they are very comfy, get you out of the wind a little, and look very old school cool.

On a budget, I would go chop and flop with old ten speed bars. It gives you 3 out of 4 drop bar positions, weighs less and costs nothing. Better still if you have some bar end brakes in your parts drawer, as they are almost always lighter than standard road brake levers. Basically the equivalent of a mountain bike flat bar with bar ends.

As part of the fixies banned in China thread I took a look at those old scorcher bikes from 1895- 1905. There was a brief revival of the style a few years ago that used flipped cruiser bars. This is the only style of these three that I have not used, but I'm sure they would give you good leverage for starting from a stop with a trailer, and they look cool.

Finally, I wouldn't sweat the width of the bar for traffic that much. If two inches of bar width is the difference between hitting a car and not, then someone is riding or driving too close.

jkimballcook

I was thinking probably the tektro city levers or the vo cheapies (which come in both diameters), or, if I really fall in love with a 23.8mm bar, inverse levers. As for shifters, I'm going to probably lose the fd and go single chainring and put a new 13-34 six speed freewheel on the back with an old set of 80's wheels I have lying around, so I'd only need one shifter. And for that I'm thinking either keep the original stem shifter (probably not), find a bolt-on downtube shifter (maybe) or get a thumbie for the front and use it with the front shifter from and old set of 105 downtube shifters I have laying around (most likely).

rhm

Then I would consider the Lauterwasser bar. You can even chose between aluminum or chrome-moly.

https://www.somafab.com/archives/prod...rmo-handlebar#

noglider 

I like squirtdad's bars, and I even like the bars that have even less sweep. They used to be called all-rounders. I like those on commuter bikes.

And North Roads are always nice. I rode them flipped a couple of times and found they didn't suit me. Maybe it's because of my physique. I have a long torso and short limbs. I guess that means that if I'm leaning down, I want my arms to be in front of me, not near my hips. I'm not sure, though.

I feel that narrow bars are actually a good thing in the city. Sometimes there's a line of cars waiting for a light, and I want to squeeze through them. The wider the bars, the more slowly I have to go. I just put riser bars on my Raleigh Twenty, and they seem too wide. As luck has it, there is a portion I could chop off on each grip portion.

acoffin 

Have you considered a VO Milano? It has more grip area to trim off than the Postino. Also, I have one I could ship to you for a bargain price (pm me if interested). It's slight sweep back is not really the style for me. I'm a big fan of the Nitto Moustache, and I find the width no hindrance in traffic.

SteakKnifeSally

I have a similar build (6'2" with a 34" inseam). I found the key was using a longer stem to get the bars in front of me. Not only was the position better, but it seems to slow the steering response when installed on a bike with the head angle of a lightweight, (rather than the long snoot of a Raleigh Sports)

I think most old bars chopped and flopped meet the narrow bar criteria.

I realize most of my bar choices give a less upright seating position, and that is my personal preference. Riding just seems easier to me when I hit a certain angle and the glutes kick in.

cobrabyte

I wholeheartedly recommend the M.A.P. / Aherne handlebars. They fit MTB brake levers and shifters. I've been using them on my Lotus MTB that I converted to a city / commuter bike. I love them. Enough room for grips, shifters and brake levers, even a bell if you want one on there...and the bend is just right. Not too narrow and not too wide.

squirtdad

I use a thumbie with a 1x8 setup on one of my other bikes...it is great and if the new freewheel is sorta of modern with ramps etc the shifting is super smooth and easy.

davehbuffalo

Albatross should be in the mix. I haven't tried any of the others mentioned, but they certainly don't look as comfortable as my Albas.

https://www.rivbike.com/product-p/hb2.htm

Shp4man

These are old aluminum touring bars turned upsidedown. I like them a lot.

jkimballcook

I had initially excluded the lauterwasser because I wanted something that was not quite so swept back, and also because I didn't want drops, but on a second look, those drops are pretty shallow, so maybe I'll consider it after all.

jkimballcook

That is exactly the reason for my preference for a narrow bar.

jkimballcook

I had initially excluded the milano because I wanted something with no rise, but the rise is pretty small on that, so maybe I'll think twice about the milano. I just don't really like the look of it--looks too much like another boring MTB rise bar that you see on every hybrid. How do you think the milano would look flipped? I think that might be kind of cool. Like a slightly more upright version of a flipped north road. I'll have to think about that.

Velognome 

For a City Bike, I'd think you'd want to sit up a bit to see traffic and to be seen, I'm thinking that is why the English tend to use Northroad bars on their Sports and other "city" type bikes, I'd be inclined to do the same. Have a friend with a 70's era Fuji who used Wald's version of the Northroad bar and some inexpensive brake levers. Wonderful and lively conversion, she used it on a 50 mile charity ride the other year and finished looking rather refreshed.Click the image, you can see it between the rides and photographer.

cooperryder 

Just spotted this thread today.

Interesting that I just ordered a set of the VO Porteur's for a vintage Trek 610 build I am working on & have temporarily set up
as a 1 x 7..

I ordered the 23.8 as I wanted to be able to use bar ends.


Glad to see all the pics of what some of you have done. It gives me some ideas.

I am going from this black cockpit set up to silver but pic shows how it is currently as I finished it last week with parts in the stash.

rccardr 

If width is really an issue, check out the Origin8 Urban Ride bars. They sell for around $20, use a 25.4 clamp and accept city brake levers. Very moderate rise and pullback and you can often clip an inch or so off of each side and still fit everything on there. Come in colors (my wife loves her blue ones on her blue Trek 400 series mixte) but the silver looks good on anything.

While we're at it, I recently looked into city brake levers for a customer build. Found a pair of Cannondale branded V-brake levers on eBay for under $20 shipped that have a nice finish and two brake pull axis leverage points, so they can easily be used for calipers too. And there's a small bell pre-installed on the left one!

orangeology 

VO Milan bar did it well to me. cheap and nice. not too wide, not too narrow + relaxed angle + VO quality/reliability.

*i have a cut-short urban riser bar — bought from another CV member and decided not to go with — in 40mm width. PM me if you're interested in to know. FS listed in SS/FG sales forum.