You're right... but it costs another $17.99 to ship them, all in US dollars, of course. I paid $20 CAD for mine.

My installation didn't require shims. That being said I couldn't tell you the diameter of my bars. It's probably stamped on them somewhere.

The LBS found them in their Norco catalog.

Yeah, my fork set-up seems a little archaic. Not only is it threaded, it's a 1 inch (25.4mm) fork.

The winter set-up includes Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires and platform pedals. The PB Cascadia fenders are the most important pieces of winter equipment next to the studs IMHO. Do you ride your Schwinn in the winter too, or does in even snow much in VA?

I've used them quite a bit.

They are wider than drops, which is a plus sometimes, but can get in the way at others. I never really use the farthest position, just isn't very comfy and i feel like it makes my core muscles less useful compared to being in the drops on drop bars. The sides/hoods on trekking bars are just a hair wider than ideal for me, but still very useful and comfy. Not as aero though.

The biggest drawback i have found is that i spend most of my time on the hoods/sides and on the trekking bars that means coming up and back to the shifters and brakes. On drop my brakes are on the hoods, where i spend more time. If I'm on the tops I find it easier to move forward to the brakes than the other way around on Trekking bars.

Really easy and chap way to convert a flat bar bike to have more postions though. They definitely have their place, but I wouldn't build a bike around them.

You can install road brake levers on the forward part of the bars, moustache-bar style (you'll likely need a shim for the clamp, though). This gives you braking from the forward corners, and an extra hand position (hands resting on brake lever bodies).

Currently I have mine set up with old non-aero levers working as interrupters on the forward portion and four-finger mountain bike levers on the rear. For shifters, I'm using thumb shifters mounted under the bar next to the forward brake levers, which gives me instant access from the forward corners (where I do most of my shifting), and isn't much of a reach from the other positions. I also tried mounting them vertically on the outsides of the bars, which I liked except for the fact that it inteferred with the hand position there. It all looks crazy, but works pretty well.

Trekking bars are great because of their versatility. It's a good solution for flat bar riders who envy drop bar rider's multiple hand positions, but don't want the expense and hassle of converting their current ride to drops. All told it cost me about 60 bucks for the bars, tape, grips, stem, and helmet mirror. I don't recall how long it took me to change it over because it was a labour of love and time stands still when wrenching my bike.

Day 4 since trekking bar conversion. Easily one of the best things I've done w/ my bike so far. I find I ride most of the time on the sides, when cruising along, but have stretched out to the top a couple times in the wind. Reaching back to switch gears seems no less inconvenient than bar end shifters on drop bars probably is. IOW, not a big deal.

I have decided that I will probably give up my handlebar mirror. I have not mounted it on the new bars yet, though I know I could and how I would, but I think it would be in the way of my favorite hand positions on the bar. I'll probably pick up a Take a Look mirror to stick on my glasses instead and see if I can't use the Mirrycle mirror I have on the bike project I'm working on for my wife.

As promised, I'm uploading some pictures of the rig and the new handlebar setup. I tossed my new Axiom Lasalle panniers on the back, too, though I got these more for touring than for commuting. My commuting setup is still usually my Topeak EXP rack trunk w/ fold down panniers.

These were hastily shot in the basement of my apartment building just now, so apologies for any quality issues.

Enjoy!

Snapped a few pictures of my setup while I had it out to shellac the new tape:

I'll throw a couple of my ride in there as well. I love Trecking Bars (Thanks 65er)

I do ride all through the winter. We normally don't have too much in the way of snow and ice here, especially by comparison to Ontario!Maybe a storm or two of note each year (i.e., more than a dusting of snow), give or take, and some winters pass w/o any snow or ice at all lately.

I haven't bought studded tires yet, though this past winter's blizzard extravaganza, which shut down bikeable routes for a couple weeks in February, has me thinking I may try to get a set for this winter. If nothing else it should ward off the winter weather (the same way that having an umbrella with you keeps it from raining).

I don't know where/how I tried setting them up on my trekking bars. It's been too long. I wasn't happy with the view I was getting. My wife tried it on her flattish/slight rise bars and complained that all she could see was her armpit. I tried them on my old-school swept back handlebars and on my trekking bars. The swept back bars worked best with them, but in all cases I found it a little awkward to use just because I had to keep my head and the mirror at the right angle to see behind me, and, of course, I had to be going straight. That's not the fault of this mirror, as it's probably a factor with any handlebar-mounted mirror, but at the time I was also experimenting with an helmet/eyeglass-mounted mirror, and I ended up deciding that I liked that a lot better.

I still like the idea of a handlebar-mounted mirror. The helmet mounted one goes against my general trend of trying to make the bike(s) as complete as possible and ready to ride with no extra gear/preparation on my part. A mirror not attached to the bike means that sometimes I hop on the bike and find I don't have a mirror, but that's rare because the mirror now lives almost permanently on my glasses, and it's just so much handier than other mirrors I've tried. So it really wasn't the mirror's fault, although I didn't think it was a great match with the trekking bars, it's just that I found a mirror solution that I liked better.

They really can be a problem solver when people find flat bars too limiting or pain inducing and when the lower position of drop bars isn't wanted or needed.

Will be installing trekking bars on my new tandem as the wide hand position makes things very stable and as I will have two little stokers this will be very nice and will be able to have a position that puts my hands where the hoods on my drop bars normally sit.

If I spend too much time in a really low drop position it aggravates my back but being able to stretch out a little further and move forward and back instead of up and down is a good thing and you can get just as aero on trekking bars as you can when you ride with your hands on the hoods.

The stoker bars will probably be trekking bars too due to their versatility in positioning and excellent vibration damping qualities.

I couldn't help but notice that both EKW in DC and IanHelgesen's set-ups are upside-down (in relation to mine). I tried to mount mine in this configuration, but found it was like riding in the drops 100% of the time. Mine are set up more like Timber_8's (minus the TT bars) in the "riser" position. I do like the looks of the "drop" position, however; it looks kinda speedy.

The dropped orientation also give a more natural wrist angle when riding on the forward part of the bar. I spend most of my time with my hands either on the forward corners or on the front brake levers, which would not be as comfortable with the bars in a riser position. My bars are fairly high, so riding on the brake levers isn't much different from riding the hoods on my drop bars (it's more upright, if anything).

I like the looks and the feel of the "drop" position, as irclean describes it. I thought about mounting them the same as irclean has them, but I wanted a lower, slightly more aggressive riding position. I feel more stretched out and more horizontal (i.e., less upright) on the "upside down" trekking bars.

I don't have extensive experience riding on drop bars, but I agree with IanHelgesen. From my drop bar experience (which is even more limited than my one week of riding in trekking bars), I'd also say that when I have my hands on the sides or the top (front) corners, I feel like I would if I were on the hoods of drop bars. It's a very comfortable riding position, and I've noticed this week it seems to help a bit of when dealing with a headwind, which is to be expected, I suppose.

Glad you like them. I wasn't as impressed.

Just took the Nashbar trekking bars off my xtracycle yesterday. Really needed a different stem to make them work. Went to a riser bar with bar-end grips, which puts my hands/controls right where I want them. Not to close, not to far, or to close to the stem, which was the case with the trekking bar. I'll find something else to put them on.

I'm interested in trying them myself. If you've still got them available, could I throw you some dinero to cover shipping and defray some of your costs in buying them? Toss me a PM if you're interested, thanks.

Edit: I noticed later in the thread that Nashbar has new ones, so I just bought those. No worries! Give them to some other worthy person.

I went to Urbane Cyclist today and picked one up for $20. Thanks for the tip!

Organic chem is brutal. This is coming from an analytical chem PhD student. Have fun pushing those arrows!

I just got a set of trekking bars from Toddorado who didn't like them. Just mounted them and took them out for a spin on a hybrid I have and I found them to be great. Especially when compared to the straight bars that were on the bike. I was considering putting drop bars on this particular hybrid but wanted to give trekking bars a try since I have never ridden a bike with them before. I am glad I did and believe I will be keeping them on the bike now rather than going to drops. I am also thinking about mounting some interceptor brakes backwards on the front part of the handlebars in order to have brakes up there since my bike has Shimano Deore XT shifter/brake combination that is best put at the bar ends nearest to me.

You're welcome! I'm glad it worked out. I'd like to visit that shop someday.

it looks great! interesting to see the rapid fires in this way!

hows your drivetrain holding up?

I considered mounting my controls the way that Timber_8 did (I followed his thread closely when he installed his bars) but I figured that I would spend the least amount of time with my hands in that position. While not ideal (I have to reach back to shift or brake from the side position of the bars, which is where I spend most of my time) the set-up still works and it took little time to become intuitive.

If you're asking how my drivetrain held up after a winter's worth of riding the answer is not too bad; I cleaned the chain on a regular basis and tried to keep everything well lubed. That being said I think both my chain and all of my cables need to be replaced before the next winter. I hope to eventually convert this bike to an IGH (or single-speed) and make it a dedicated foul-weather commuter.

I asked cuz we have the same bike. last summer I had to replace the BB; freewheel and chain. I have some new (premature) chain hop so I bought another chain, a really good one. I'm hoping the freewheel doesn't need replacing too.

What BB is in there BTW? I'm getting a little intermittent clicking and clunking from the BB area, and I'm not sure if it just needs adjusted or replaced. Either way, curious what BB came stock since the manual is s&*t and the BB is not the most visible part on the bike.

don't know what ws in there and don't know what I got now. it was getting noisy and even a little loose so one shop last summer tightened it. well on my next ride it was still noisy and by the end of the ride it sounded like a dishwasher. I brought it another shop that after replacing it showed me it had self destructed. if yours is noisy I suspect the inards have broken even though you may still be able t ride it. it's been problem free about a year later even riding it through the winter. I just replaced the chain again, ugh and still have some chain hop so I'm bringing it in cuz I probably need another freewheel. guess it was a rough winter on the drivetrain.

so ir clean and ekw in dc and I all 3 have the same bike I think. I'm still using drop bars with those rapid fires ... you guys still using the stock kickstand?

I believe that both EKW in DC and I are using the Greenfield Stabilizer. It's a great product and I highly recommend it.



I had BB problems, too. I took the bike back to where I bought it and they replaced it. I assumed they used the same brand of BB for replacement, but no problems so far after a few thousand kilometers (knock on wood!) No idea what brand/model it is, but if it goes again I'm gonna replace it with a quality piece.