I currently have a Trek 520 touring for my commuter (and main ride usually). It came with drop handlebars and bar end shifters.

I really don't like the bar end shifters and want to switch it to trekking bars. I'll probably just get some simple trekking bars like these:


The bike has a 9-sprocket cassette in back and 3 in front.

What kind of shifters would you suggest for the new handlebars?

I had some thumb trigger shifters from my mountain bike that worked fine. Something like this.

Are those the kind they call "rapid fire"?

I was thinking that style or plain 'ol grip shifters.

KT,
I tried trekking bars for a while, I used a grip shifter with my setup, but I also have internal hubs, so grip shifters are the norm. I ended up not liking the bar, my brother however thought it was a great present and has used it for the last two years. He has thumb shifters, and they work fine with it.

They are commonly used amongst the touring group, check in there and see how they have theirs set up.

I have the trekking bars with regular old thumb shifters on it.

These plain ol' friction shifters. Shifters worked great, but I didn't like the bar.

I just thought of something....if I switch to the trekking bars, the bar end shifters I have now might not be so bothersome. What I hate now is reaching down so far to shift...kind of a pain when riding fast (to me at least).

When mounted, the opening will be centered on your stem, so I doubt the bar-end shifters would work well. I have a grip shift/internal hub on mine, and don't like having to shift on the closer grip. You should be able to wiggle a pair of "rapid-fire" shifters to the tops, which would be more comfortable on a touring bike IMO, using the closer set for climbing. I actually like the sides best, so it would be interesting to see if a shifters and brake levers could be set up there.

These might work for you. You can use your exisiting shifters and put them where you feel most comfortable.

https://www.rivbike.com/webalog/shift...urs/17128.html

I hate my trekking bars. (I bought the cheapo Nashbar ones, so that may have something to do with it.) They feel flimsy and they look dorky.
Can I ask how long you've had your Trek?

I've had it about 1 1/2 years.

I pretty much never use the drops....when somebody posted these lately, they looked "PERFECT" to me.

A year and a half; I guess that's plenty of time to get used to the bar-ends or not.
Some people do like the trekking bars; I don't know if they'd work with a road size stem. You might look into moustache bars. Which for some unaccountable reason, I don't find dorky. Plus they work with bar-ends and road stems.

That was actually what I was first considering until I saw the pic of trekking bars.

Won't work with road stem? Maybe I need to research a bit to make sure I don't get in middle of job and not have parts to finish.

Moustache bars need a road stem 25.4mm or 26mm depending on the bar. The length is generally 2cm-3cm shorter for your stem length vs. what you use for drops. I have used those exact bars with suntour barcons for 1 1/2 years and they work great for me. I have found, per the Rivendell site, that they work best level with the saddle height or a bit higher so you generally need a longer stem than you are currently using.

My Trek 710 w/ said bars & shifters:

[IMG][/IMG]

I have the Nashbar trekking bars and I love them. I use plain old grip shifters with them.

Yeah, "rapid fire" is what they call them. They work great on these bars.

The Novara Safari I had came with the treking bars and it used grip shifters. Only time I had them, it seemed to work pretty good.

I don't think bar end shifters will fit in the end of the treking bar (bar too small). However, I use bar end shifter with Paul Thumbies on my treking bars and I like the combo.

KT,
I just though of something and did not re-read the whole thread to see if someone else mentioned it, your break levers may not work on the trekking bar, which would be a good reason to look at the moustache bars.

Why wouldn't they? I had extra straight brake levers added to bike when I bought it....they should work on it just fine.

The hoods might get in the way. You might have to do a work-around with grip tape, or cutting the hoods.

No...I'm saying I had regular brake levers installed (in addition to hoods already there).

Get the trekking bars. I got mine over a year ago and would not go back to a flatbar (for this bike anyway).

If I want more aerodynamics I can put my hands in the forward position which stretched me out and flattens me out. I can use the sides for a middle of the road position between stretched and cruising. Then there's cruising mode (used most often) where my hands are closest to the body and I'm most upright. Then there's all the positions in between.....

You won't lose much to try this great invention - the bars won't be more than $20 and the tape no more than $10. You already have the brake levers... the shifters may be a problem. I would recommend some of the rapid fire ones... So another - wow they are expensive - https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...u=21194&brand=

Didn't realize this. But it's much cheaper to go with the bar mounted friction shifters (which you're already kind of used to)

(must have skipped over these https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...%2D%20Mountain )

I have a dumb question, where do you put the tape? is it necessary?

I've only ever owned flat bars, and they've never had tape (only grips on the end). Do you just wrap the whole trekking bar with tape (except where it attaches to stem)? Since the point of trekking bars is to have lots of hand positions, I'd imagine it would be most useful to just put tape everywhere your hands might go (ie. pretty much the whole bar).

If you added levers, they're likely the inline interrupt levers. If the levers don't pull the barrel end of the cable (which should be in your drop levers), they won't work alone. They should expand the housing on either side of the lever, but still require the end of the cable to be connected to something, like a brake lever.

As AllenG mentioned, the trekking bar will be a different diameter than the drop bars you currently have, so your existing brake levers (inlines and drops) and stem most likely won't fit and you'd need something sized for "mountain bike" bars.

Personally, I'd prefer the moustache bars, but can't fit the obligatory grip shifter for my internal hub.