Flat Bars - Sore Hands?
02-05-08 | 12:21 PM
#26
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 486
Likes: 0
From: Wichita KS USA
Bikes: Surly Crosscheck w Nexus 8 drivetrain set up as a commuter/tourer. Old and quick '89 Trek 1200. 08 Fisher Cobia 29er
take an alan wrench on your next ride
adjust the bars til they feel better
I hate the bars on my new MTB compared to my road bars. I twisted the bars a bit and it helped quite a bit. The way the mechanic at the bike shop set them up, swept a bit up and back, all of the pressure on my hands went to the outside of my hand rather than the entire hand. I found it more comfortable to have the bars swept a bit down and back.
Fitting your bars has a lot to do with your torso height, shoulder width, riding style, etc, etc. It takes a while to dial it in perfectly, and you know best what to do if you pay attention
Keep tinkering adn you will find a lot of improvement.
adjust the bars til they feel better
I hate the bars on my new MTB compared to my road bars. I twisted the bars a bit and it helped quite a bit. The way the mechanic at the bike shop set them up, swept a bit up and back, all of the pressure on my hands went to the outside of my hand rather than the entire hand. I found it more comfortable to have the bars swept a bit down and back.
Fitting your bars has a lot to do with your torso height, shoulder width, riding style, etc, etc. It takes a while to dial it in perfectly, and you know best what to do if you pay attention
Keep tinkering adn you will find a lot of improvement.
02-05-08 | 03:25 PM
#27
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 418
Likes: 1
From: Ontario, Canada
Bikes: Devinci Taos, Mielle Alpha
I'm of the belief that weight should be distributed somewhat evenly over seat, pedals and bars. Too much weight on seat means sore bum and need for gel seat. Also unweights front wheel where most of your stopping ability and all your steering capability is too. Too much weight on hands results in sore hands and neck. A more forward position is more aerodynamic and bring glutes more into action when riding.
It's a crap shoot. What works for one does not work for another. Weight, age, previous injuries, backpack or panniers, gel seat, Brooks leather or Italian leather titanium railed racing saddle. We all need to have a bike shop gives us a stand back objective view.
It's a crap shoot. What works for one does not work for another. Weight, age, previous injuries, backpack or panniers, gel seat, Brooks leather or Italian leather titanium railed racing saddle. We all need to have a bike shop gives us a stand back objective view.
02-05-08 | 03:43 PM
#28
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5,550
Likes: 1,812
From: Southwestern Ontario
Badger1
With respect, I must offer a slightly different view about those Euro tourists on bikes. There seems to be a cultural aspect to the way they do it over there, which helps explain why they use the flat bars so much. When I go over there, the predominant theme among the natives is that they are hopping from gasthof, to village, to inn, to who knows whatever small interesting point along the way. In other words, they stop alot - as in frequently.
Americans, Canadians, and in my experience Aussies, tend to go long and aim for a nightly destination. Sad, but true. It may be that we have to use the time more efficiently due to our shorter vacation times or something, but Americans go for broke, taking lots of sanpshots along the way. It's the same thing here in the US and Canada - we put on much more distance in a year and tend to ride much faster than our Euro cousins. Thus, my comments about the explosion of drop designs.
With respect, I must offer a slightly different view about those Euro tourists on bikes. There seems to be a cultural aspect to the way they do it over there, which helps explain why they use the flat bars so much. When I go over there, the predominant theme among the natives is that they are hopping from gasthof, to village, to inn, to who knows whatever small interesting point along the way. In other words, they stop alot - as in frequently.
Americans, Canadians, and in my experience Aussies, tend to go long and aim for a nightly destination. Sad, but true. It may be that we have to use the time more efficiently due to our shorter vacation times or something, but Americans go for broke, taking lots of sanpshots along the way. It's the same thing here in the US and Canada - we put on much more distance in a year and tend to ride much faster than our Euro cousins. Thus, my comments about the explosion of drop designs.
I should think there's much in what you say -- might even say something about my riding habits on occasion
, though I mostly go h_ll-bent-for-leather when on commute! Still, I do think bar style/set-up is very much a matter of personal preference, and that flats can be set up to work very well for fast, distance riding as well as for trekking, etc.
02-05-08 | 09:20 PM
#29
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 13,863
Likes: 6
From: Washington, DC
Bikes: Some bikes. Hell, they're all the same, ain't they?
Now, they make it more difficult to tuck out of the wind, and they feel weird when pulling the front wheel over a curb. But, I think they're one of only a couple really good options for riding in an upright position.
+1 on the Ergon grips, too. Even if you have some other kind of "ergonomic" grip, you can maximize its potential by orienting it the same way as Ergon recommends for theirs. It took me a while to really be sure about the angle on my pair of Ergons, but after a couple months of setting them not-quite-sung-enough, which allowed me to tweak them without tools, I got them at an angle where they feel really good.
