Please help me find a better commuting handlebar.
 

My current bar is a Nitto Dove Bar, which is comfortable, but has too much back sweep for me (angle is fine, but the bars come back too far). I'm looking for a not too wide, angled bar without a lot of back sweep. I've thought about Mary bars, but they'd be too wide. Right now I'm looking at the Bontrager Satellite Trekking bar. It's wider than I want, but looks as though I could cut it down.

Here's my current bar:
http://www.rivbike.com/images/produc...2/16-123-4.jpg

Here's what I want to try, something like the Satellite Trekking:
http://media.bontrager.com/images/pr...06bo264328.jpg

What other options might I have? What do you use and how do you like it?

The Milan bar that Velo-Orange sells is similar to the Mary bars, but a bit narrower. I had one on one of my bikes for awhile but ended up replacing it with a Mary knock-off (the Origin8 Space bar) because I wanted something wider.

On another bike, I use a Soma Noah's Arc. Aesthetically, I don't like it as much as sharper-angled bars like the Milan or the Marys, but it's extremely comfortable.

what about chopping them down to a better length?

Mary (or Space Bar) cut down? The Mary bars are very comfortable, but I needed more than 1 hand position.

What about a real trekking bar? Sure they are ugly, but hard to beat for comfort.

I've thought about this, but with the brake levers I'm using (Shimano Alivo) I don't have much room. Even with the lever as close to the bend as I can get them I could only take about a half inch off each side before the lever blades extend past the bar.

Soma Sparrow?

I have the Satellite Trekking and love it.
Good luck trying to get just a bar right now, all of my local Trek dealers have it on back order.

You may wish to try a moustache bar, as they sweep farther forward before coming back to about the same final angle as your Dove. So you would have a similar final angle, just placed farther forward.

A longer stem?

This is the easiest solution and certainly one I thought of, but here's where I get soft. The current stem is 30-35 years old and was my dad's. It sat unused for at least 25 years in his parts bin before I found a use for it. It's my favorite part on the bike and I'm really hoping to keep it. I'd have to go pretty long to get the hand position I'm looking for... at least to a 130-140mm.

What about a flat bar with bar ends? Same angle, but in front of the bar rather than behind, and another hand position.

+1 for this option. I put the SOMA 3-speed moustache bars on and I'm completely happy with them.

you could go with a Nashbar Trekking Bar, though you might need a different stem, and it is pretty wide.

Offers similar hand position that sweeps back much less, in addition to a few more hand positions. I have them on both my road hybrid and MTB. Love em, and wouldn't trade them for anything else.

Here are some threads displaying how people set them up. Mine's set up similar to this one, but with ergon grips on the "flat-bar" part.

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1140458442

A Mustache is essentially a long-reach version of your dove.

These have all been great suggestions. Thanks for the help!

So far I really like the Sparrow and the Milan Bar. I think I'll look into those, but I'm still open to more suggestions. Keep them coming!

I got a straight Mtn bike bar with a slight rise to it and chopped two inches off the ends. works great for me.

Those bars look interesting. I would definitely be interested in seeing how different people mount stuff on those bars. Thanks for sharing.

h-bar
 

I've seen a lot of people have no end of trouble setting up their H-bars. Shifter position is usually the stickler. It seems to come down to a choice between bar end shifters, or Paul Thumbies (Which i guess are also bar ends) But once they have it down, people do seem to like them.

I have a Titec H-Bar I decided not to use, and haven't gotten around to putting it on eBay. If you're interested, drop me a PM.

I've been using my touring bike with On One Midge bars as a commuter lately. I was a little uncertain about this bar until I bought a tall stem. It's just about perfect now. I'm surprised at how good it feels. The midge has a very short reach and shallow drop, and should be setup level or above saddle height. You can search the touring forum for pix.

I run Moustache bars on my commuter. While they have a lot of backsweep that end up even more angled than the bars you're currently using, like others have said, they sweep forward first, so it might be ideal for your situation. With your hands up front, on the outside of the bend, you can get whatever angle you prefer.

I would definitely second the Soma Sparrow bars. I have these on another bike and they are fantastic. Only thing is, wherever you put your hands, you are basically leaning or putting pressure on the same areas. So even though you can widen or tighten your grip on them, they don't provide as much variety of hand placement to deal with sore spots as moustache or drop bars.

Then there's these: http://www.jitensha.com/eng/flatbar05.html
I haven't tried them but they seem to be exactly what you're looking for.

Another route would be to check out some of the more severely angled mtn bike bars--there are flat bars and risers out there with at least a 15 deg angle, if not more. Not a flat bar, but nowhere near even Mary bar angles. The Soma Arc bar would fit this description as well.