I'm currently running flat bars with Ergon handgrips on my Alpine monitor pass; however, my hands my arms still get sore after the first 5 miles in the saddle and my subconscious keeps telling me that there has to be a better solution. I know one logical choice would be to convert it to road bars; however, I am convinced that road bars were designed for extremely skinny Europeans as every time I ride a bike with drops I wind up kneeing myself in the gut when I ride in the drops. No problems when I ride the top of the bars; however, due to my body type I feel that I would not get the full advantage of drops.

Here's a partial view of my current handlebar set up:





so I'm curious to see what other solutions are out there for hybridized mountain bikes.

I had almost the exact same setup on my Schwinn (those grips are Ergon GC2s):



Then I switched to trekking bars:



Total investment ~ $75 including bars, new stem, grips, and tape. Much cheaper than switching to drops and still gives me almost as many hand positions. Alternatively you could upgrade your Ergons to GC3s (https://www.ergon-bike.com/us/en/product/gc3). I just installed some on my new Norco and so far I am very pleased.

BTW I'm also a "fatty", but I prefer the term Clydesdale. That being said, there are many clydes who ride with drops, so it can be done.

Trekking bars... you probably would benefit from a higher hand position to reduce the weight on your hands and wrists and could still use those lovely Ergons.

This problem knows no bounds and affects everyone... having more hand positions is really beneficial when you are looking to add distance to your rides.

I don't like dropbars either, they won't necessarily help. And 5 miles isn't long enough to justify trekking bars either. There is something else going on if your hands hurt after 5 miles. Are you sure your weight distribution is proper? Maybe you're putting too much weight on your hands? Locking your elbows? I found the Ergon grips to be excellent.

Tell us what exactly hurts: palms, wrists, elbows, entire arms? Is the pain sharp or dull? How long does it last after a ride? What makes the pain go away? How long and how often do you ride? Perhaps you need to strengthen your hands and arms a little more? If you don't mind me asking, how heavy are you?

One thing I learned is that if the handlebar is too wide it's not comfortable for me: it forces my wrists to unnatural angle. I learned that that the handlebar should be just a little wider than you shoulders. I find it much more comfortable that way.

Adam

You might want to take a look at On-One Mary bars or the less expensive Origin 8 Space bar. I had the Origin 8 on my road bike and mtn bike for a while, and liked it. I switched to a mustache bar on my roadie, which I like even better.... here's a link to a review for the On-One :

https://www.bikeradar.com/gear/catego...duct/mary-9630

With the On-One or the Origin 8 you can use your mtn shifters and levers....

good luck!

I just installed Nashbar trekking bars on my Giant FCR3. The bars were plug-and-play. All I had to do was move the brakes and shifters and install bar tape. Total investment was about $30 including the bar tape. Only problem I have is figuring out how to install a mirror, but it looks like the OP does not use a mirror.

My first commute with them (20 miles RT) will be tomorrow.

A trekking bar would certainly give you a lot more hand positions. But:
1) Is it possible to raise the stem a little?
2) We are all assuming that the bike fits you and you are not stretched too far forward (a shorter/riser stem might help).
3) The bar ends look very short. If you had a longer bar end and the end was tilted somewhat upware rather than outward, would this help.

When I first got into bike, I had a hybrid with riser bars, but I still had wrist/arm problems. Your particular bars look very wide, so the twist will be even greater than mine. I changed the bars to Northroads bars (like the old-fashioned cruisers had...) and found the change very helpful.

Part of the problem is that the MTB bar like you forces you to somewhat twist your wrist just holding on to the bar. Bar ends are usually helpful with this, depending on how they are set up.

I like the Mary bar suggestion. I have Felt Albert bars on my Felt bike, which are similar to Marys, and they are very comfortable.

Adam makes a good point though. If you're having issues with that short of a ride, it seems as though something isn't right. And I doubt it's the grips, as I have those on my 7.3 FX, and they are awesome.

I've got WTB Mountain Drop bars on my commuter, and I like them a lot - they're flared drop bars, which (at least for me) creates lots of very comfortable hand positions. If you're dying to try drops, you might give them a look.

Converting to drops is expensive, though - new brake levers, new shifters (and it's extremely expensive if you want to go to integrated brake lever/shifters like Shimano STI). You'd probably be better served trying some of the other options suggested here before you take the plunge into drop bars.

Bull horns could also be a good choice for you, they mimic the feel of the hoods without the drop part, which you're not too keen on. Save some weight and probably some cash, plus all the cool kids use bullhorns on their fixies

I agree they look cool, but it's hard to fit flat bar controls on a bullhorn bar; they're the same diameter as drop bars. I should know... I tried. Cyclocross interrupter levers and barcons will work if you want to kludge them, but it never looks clean in my eyes. Jtek comes close with their AeroBrake but they warn that they are only meant for bleeding off speed.

Now if I were an engineer and had my own machine shop...

I am a recently returned commuter/cyclist, happily riding after years of automotive sloth. I'm still 25-35 lbs overweight, and over 190 lbs, for perspective.

My 'longer' ride is about 9 miles each way, my shorter ride is 1.3 out, and a 5 mile loop home. I too notice wrist stress with mountain style bars anytime I ride more than a few miles. I tried mountain style bar ends on my beater, but never found a position for them which really helped.

After getting my 'new' commuter, and noticing the same problem, despite the better fit and slightly different bar set up, I decided to try drop bar ends like these [My apologies: I guess I can't insert an in-line link w/ HTML -- so here's the link, long form: https://www.amazon.com/Origin-Bicycle...1977608&sr=1-5]. They are very shallow drops, so I don't find myself near the knee /chest conflict point, but I find my comfort very much enhanced, in that I can hold my wrists in the more neutral and natural (for me) position which is similar to how hands fall when walking (i.e. -- hands parallel to the direction of travel, and wrists and hands in line). I am able to ride with limited or no discomfort this way for much longer distances (I experienced my first wrist discomfort, very mild, near the end of my over 16 mile/1 hour Sunday ride this weekend, and it was easily alleviated by moving around on the bars, then returning to the drop position).

The drawback to these (as compared to real drops) is that you have no 'hood' position, as a) there are no brake levers/hoods to rest on, b) the curve is too shallow for a real hood position even with hoods installed (at least, that's my feeling -- I considered grabbing an old pair of brake levers and installing them as rests just to see...) and c) you are away from your brakes when using the drop position. I find this to be an issue only in 'panic stop' situations, so I often return my hands to the 'main' part of the bar, where my brakes levers (traditional mountain style) whenever I'm in a situation where I think I <i>might</i> need to slow. I have been surprised once or twice, but no worse, really, than being in the drops on a road bike except that I need to get my hands over the bar instead of just 'rolling my hands up' as I can on a road bike.

I should mention that I 'grew up' riding road bikes through college (when I stopped cycling mostly), so I find the road position most comfortable, and would be riding a cyclocross or other drop bar commuter bike if I had the budget. Another year or two of commuting by bike should do it ;-)

2009 Kona Dew Plus (daily commuter)
mid 1990s Schwinn High Plains 'hybridized' (beater)
late 80s/early 90s Tommasso road frame (ride-able, but really a project bike)

+1.

This sounds like a fit issue, and it's been addressed in a few recent threads with other members asking about adding aeros to alleviate hand/wrist issues on distances under 10 miles. Turning up the radio does not actually fix the squeaky fan belt. IOW - You need to get to the root cause of your hand pain before you start on equipment swap outs.

Something in the North Roads family. Albartross if you want multiple hand positions.

+2