Medic Zero

My girlfriend is looking for new handlebars for her commuter, she's having some hand and elbow pain and has been eye-ing the XLC handlebars on my commuter that I picked up off ebay that appear to be a copy of either Marys, Sparrows, or Clarences.

Is there a name for this style of handlebar to aid us in our quest?

I'd be curious to hear from others as other options out there of similar style*. Without knowing what this style is called it is difficult to search for this.

* Her '11 Novarra Safari came with trekking/butterfly bars that she hated. She was used to mountain biking and so I switched these out with a MTB flat bar with a slight sweep, which made a world of difference for her, but she is experiencing ergo issues with doing a 15 mile round trip in hilly Seattle.

Thanks for any assistance y'all can provide!

AdamDZ

Soma Sparrow Bar?

amdoo

I know you're asking about bars but the comfort issue might be resolved by using some Ergon grips. They really do wonders for wrist and elbow problems.

AdamDZ

True. I won't touch anything but Ergon grips.

no1mad 

Depending on how much sweep she has on her current bars, maybe try the Cane Creek bar ends. I've got Ergon GP-1s myself, and keep wondering if the Cane Creeks and the Ergons would play nice together...

Medic Zero

I know. And I've suggested as much to her. But she's observed that she is turning her hands in such a way that they'd naturally rest on a bar with a sweep like the ones I mentioned. She's willing to try the grips after changing a bar because she sees the angle as the issue. She has nice PDW cork grips on there already that are nice and cushy. It's her elbow that is really bothering her and she attributes that to the sweep, or rather lack thereof.

wmt3rd

I love my Soma Clarence Bar. https://www.somafab.com/archives/product/clarence-bar

Andy_K 

I've got Soma Sparrow bars. It's kind of tricky to get the fit right putting them on a bike that fit with flat bars. They're much closer and either higher or lower than typical flat bars. I wanted to use them flipped down, but I couldn't find a stem length that didn't leave me falling forward. I flipped them up, and now they're very high and very comfortable for short rides, but after about 5 miles or so I find myself wishing I had one of my drop bar bikes. That's probably still a bike setup issue.

modernjess

My vote is for the Nitto Albatross They are beautiful and very very comfortable. I really love mine.

I think the folks at Rivendel helped designed them with Nitto, but you can get them from more than a few places now
https://www.rivbike.com/product-p/hb2.htm
https://store.biketouringnews.com/nit...r-b352ex-crmo/

Chesha Neko

Another vote for Albatross. Probably my next handlebar. That or the Nitto North Road.

MichaelW

I think the generic name for this style of bar is North Road but they usually have more sweep-back than Marys.
The sweep-back solves a different issue to Ergons, it controls the torsion in your arms which affects shoulder and elbow strain by putting the hands into a neutral rotation.
I switched from MTB flats to Mary's and it worked really well. The flats had Ergons, they solve pain in the palm of the hand but not the elbows.

fietsbob

Ought to be plenty of bars on the wall at the Seattle area bike shops..

She can Go forth and hold them in her hands and feel.

Soma is retail web-sales for Merry Sales, SF based wholesaler to Shops.

JiveTurkey

Since she's not sure which bars will be best for her, maybe swap your bars for a week and see how she likes it.

lucienrau

Other ones to try are the v/o tourist bars. My wife loves em, I had them for a while but like albatross bars better. Just note the albatross bars are very wide. Try a few bike shops to get your hands on a few different bars. Small differences in reach or sweep can make a big difference in comfort.

Basically from least sweep to most it goes mtb- Mary/open bar/ soma Clarence - velo orange tourist / soma sparrow - dove/ albatross/ nitto north road. A new handlebar may need a new stem too to get the reach right.

PHT

Try the Avenier Circa? I find them very comfortable and at $9.99 on amazon it's hard to go wrong....

Medic Zero

Perfect! That's just the info I was looking for!

BTW this is for 25.4mm diameter, and preferably in a silver or gold color. From what I've seen of the proper North Road bars I think that is too extreme of a bend.

Anyone happen to know where the Fu-bars, Noah's Arc, Groovy Luv Handles, Ragley Carnegies, Civia Colfax, VO Milano, and Dimension Arc bars fit on that spectrum? Found all those since my initial post, still searching... Later I'll try and compile a full list, with degrees of sweep and post it, here's a start:

Mary
Open bar
Soma Clarence
Velo Orange Tourist
Soma Sparrow
Dove
Nitto Albatross
Nitto north road

Groovy Luv Handles = 21.5
Civia Colfax = 25 degrees
Dimension Arc = 27 degrees
Soma Clarence = 40 degrees