I've been kicking the wheels on a number of road bikes for a few months - never finding anything that was really comfortable, but making progress in my "discovery" of compact geometry frames. As noted in another thread, these aid me by allowing me to ride a larger frame despite having short legs. I can ride a 54cm compact frame wherein I have a hard time using anything larger than a 48cm in a traditional horizontal top tube frame.

Compact frames with shorter top tubes, such as those used in the Trek Pilot series, have been the most comfortable. However I don't find drop bars comfortable ... if you get them high enough they are better but still not comfortable.

I also tried out a few bikes that had flat bars and didn't like those either.

Now the recent thread on alternate / comfortable handlebars has me thinking in a different direction. What attracts me to the road bikes is their wonderful lightness and responsiveness. I've been thinking, okay, what is the least offensive road bike that I might be able to tolerate on a ride. Well, perhaps the best compromise solution would be to pick up a bike that is light, with carbon fork & seatpost and lightweight frame, but then give up on the drop bars and go with something like a "Mary" or "North Road" handlebar.

This would be a significant change to a road bike that came with a drop bar, but a much easier adaptation to a flat bar road bike. Where the thumb shifters and brakes could likely just be moved onto the new handlebar. Mount the bar on a more upright stem. Most of these bikes have long cables that would probably have enough length to handle it.

Maybe a bike like a Specialized Sirrus Comp, which has the compact frame, carbon fork & seatpost, and even a 4-position stem. I rode one of these last fall and hated it, using the standard flat bar. But with the more comfortable bar, and a wider seat (hey, maybe even a Brooks), with the stem raised to its max position, it might make a big difference.

The result would not be a really sleek fast bike as I would be riding in a more upright position. But I suspect it would be a quicker ride than my 30+ pound hybrids.

I find it interesting to ponder these things. This forum provides a lot of food for thought. I put in an order for both a Mary and North Road handlebar - just to give me something to play with. With three DF bikes to experiment upon, I can get an idea of how comfy (or not) I find these bars.

Using a road bike with "non-road" handlebars is an untapped gold mine, IMO...

Here are some options...

https://www.rivbike.com/components/ou..._to_handlebars

I applaud anyone who comes up with a unique combination of parts that works for their tastes and needs. That is the spirit of BF...we don't have to tread lightly around sacred icons of the racing world as do many other cyclists. This surfaces in various ways around here...Viva la Brooks!, poke fun at OCP, celebrate Fredness, etc.

But on handlebars, I personally can't find anything to replace the conventional, Noodle style drop bar. I've ridden flat bars with bar-ends, moustache bars, and WTB bars, and even upright English 3 speed bars. I know people tour extensively on all kinds of bars, but I get restless after a few miles on any but the drop bars. I have aero bars on my all day bike for yet another riding position.

Tom, keep us posted on your research and what you finally come up with. I think it's good to remind people we can fit the bike to us, not ourselves to the bike.

A nimble bike is so much more fun than an iron rail......hopefully DG will discover so when he gets Diego out on the road.

I looked at all of those on the Rivendell site over the past couple of days. It isn't obvious to me that the Albatross bars would be comfortable, with that near 90 degree sweep for the primary hand positions. But never having used one, what do I know? The 60'ish degree sweep for the North Road bars feels like it would be a more natural hand position.

Rivendell sells a bar with a little less sweep, the Nitto Dove bar:
https://www.rivbike.com/images/catpics/16-123.jpg

Do a significant amount of research on the diameter of the replacement bars and how you mean to mount the controls. Road and mountain control clamps do not interchange well on differing bar diameters.
This is just one of the reasons that aside from the specialist flatbar control sets from Shimano and Campy, many hybreds have mtn control groups. This requires a good deal of research into derailleur and brake ratio's.
If you buy a straight up road bike, you may well have to replace much more than just the bar/stem combo to complete the job.
Other than that, I think that this is one area in which becoming more of a mechanic pays real dividends. You can analyse those parts of the bike that meet your own needs and adapt them to fit your own requirements better than any pure store bought bike will.

Im starting to like your helmet more and more, it sort of grows on you. Would it be possible to get sort of a hinge thingie so that the wings could fold back on downhills.

Having become sort of a specialist in flat bar/drop bar conversions in both directions I have one more observation to add. For short legged and long trunked people the drop bar road bike with auxilary cyclocross brake levers is an excellent compromise.

Drop bar bike can be purchased in a slightly smaller size because the bars extend your reach more than on a flat bar bike.
The cyclocross levers give you a natural equivalent to the flat bar bike when riding on the top of the bar.
The STI shifters are no farther away than bar end shifters.
You still have the normal drops and hoods of a road bike for use in wind and other conditions. You have more time to become used to the Road bike control group without being uncomfortable during the process.

Having done many conversions, to me it boils down to this. Any bar must provide a position which allows the wrists to adopt a position without the tendons in the arms being twisted. By this I mean the hand should be holding the bar with the thumb facing upwards, which means the tendons are in a natural position. It is possible to do otherwise, but for any distance the blood flow will be curtailed by the twisting of the wrist and problems will arise.
What means you achieve this is up to the individual rider but I think the principle holds good.

Have you tried the Ritchey BioMax bars? The have a 6 degree "back sweep" on the tops and a 3 degree flare on the drops with a lesser or small amount of "drop". My (four) road bikes all came with 42cm width bars and in the process of changing to the needed (for me) 44cm, I tried the BioMax.....they (and the proper width) are GREAT in terms of hands/arms/shoulders comfort. I will convert the last/fourth pair on my Trek this week along with Brooks leather bar wrap. I also have a 120mm/40dgree rise stem on my road bikes. Options abound.......

Spot-on. Thumbs crossing somewhere at a point in front of you. Also, the advice on conversion snafu's is good. From clamp diameter to cable length to lever and shifter compatibility, take a good look.

If you are ordering from Wald, the clamp dia will be 1". Bar outside dia is 7/8ths (22.2mm). The inside dia at the end is 20mm. It will be the same for either the NR's or All-rounder/Mary type Wald model 815. Most MTB stuff will work.

The BioMax is a knockoff of the Noodle. Both, have similar characteristics except the Noodle bars aren't "anatomic." I've tried both Noodles and BioMax, and like both of them very much. The Noodle is a better quality bar -- by far -- and I like the Noodle's traditional shape both aethstetically and comfort-wise, so that's what I use now.


https://www.rivbike.com/webalog/handl...ape/16111.html

One of the best thing about bikes is the vast selection of
handlebars. What you choose depends on if you have
back problems or problems with your wrist,hands &
shoulders. Any/all of those problems will dictate a
more upright postion to resolve.


If you're young or very flexible then any bar you fancy
is OK.

Yes, this is one of the reasons why I started thinking that a conversion to a more swept back handlebar, and more upright stem, would be easier if one starts with a flat bar road bike than a drop bar bike. It was my understanding that the flat bars used mountain bike standards, as well as mountain bike shifters, brake levers, etc. I don't know if all of them are that way, but I know some are.

If one could migrate the original bar components to a more upright, swept-back bar, then you would be simplifying a lot of issues.

But I'm willing to admit there could be significant obstacles that I'm not aware of yet. And that those obstacles could vary from bike to bike. This looks like an interesting exercise to think about and bounce ideas around.

By jove, I think your right. The shimano site lists the flat bar road group shifter/brake lever as a band clamp of 22.2mm. This would appear to be the same as the mtn group. (this dia is the outboard dia, not the stem clamp diameter normally used to spec the bar. If you go this route then all you have to do is substitute a bar with 22.2 as the dimension where the shifters go. STI Levers are out at 23.8mm.

All other parts on the bike will still work.

I'm still going to do some pictures of the road warrior with the cyclocross levers for you to look at as you and I seem to have the same general fit problems.

Okay I surfed around a bit last night looking for a bike that might be a good candidate for this type of conversion. I found a few with one of the promising candidates being a Kona PHD.

https://www.konaworld.com/bikes/2k7/PHD/index.html

This bike uses a compact geometry, lightweight frame. It has a carbon fork, Mavic wheels w/700x23 tires, Shimano 105 group, Avid brakes, and FSA Gossamer triple crank.

It looks like it comes with a long, relatively flat stem. Maybe something around a 120mm with 10 degree rise. I know of a mtb stem that is 65mm with a 45 degree rise. This would bring the handlebars back toward the rider by more than 2" and raise them up too. I don't know if this would be the best stem, but it is one option among many. There are adjustable stem options too. And things like 80mm w/30 degree rise.

Then if you replaced the flat bar with something like a Wald 815 or On One Mary bar
https://www.pricepoint.com/detail/145...-Hanldebar.htm

This might require replacing the shifter and brake cables with longer ones, but I think everything else would be reusable.

From there one could look at sliding a stubby bar end further down on the Mary bar, inside of the grips or installing aero bars to give alternate hand and riding positions.

With the more upright riding position, you'd need to swap out the narrow road seat for something more comfortable, for the purpose of this exercise, let's say we put a Brooks on it.

So there's where I went with this with about an hour's thought.

Nice bike. Note that the stem and bar are spec'd as OS. This is the keyword for the new style oversized bar clamping area of 31.8mm. If you replace the stem then it must be replaced with an OS stem. But the stem can be OS road or OS mtn.

Another contender might be a Specialized Sirrus Pro
https://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkM...keTab=techspec

It uses several of the same components: Shimano 105 group, Avid brakes, FSA Gossamer triple crank, a carbon fork, etc. A bit wider tires at 700x28 and comes with a 4-position stem.

Either the Kona or the Specialized would make for one mean, fast "casual rider" that might blow some minds with its upright riding position, wide seat, and swept back handlebars.

As promised, pictures of the Road Warrior for Tom and all others interested in custom fit problems.

This is my answer to the Flat bar/Drop bar question. Ausilary cyclocross levers on a Biomax (short drop, short reach) bar. 17deg stem turned upsidedown to raise the bar. Stem is much shorter then when the bike was built as a flat bar touring bike. I still have 0 standover clearance but the bike fits my trunk and works pretty well for a short legged rider.

I promise to ride this more this year. In the past it has only come out for vacations where road riding was the prefered style. You can do this TOM

That would not be the answer to my issues with drop bars, but I can see how it could be a good alternative for others. I do like how the stem is up higher than on a typical road bike. This would still be way too much forward lean for me. I'm thinking about a way to have the typical hand position to be probably around 3"-4" closer to the seat and 2" or so higher than on your bike.

My Frankenbike would have a higher riding position than a Trek FX fitness hybrid, which are routinely criticized by road cyclists as being too upright. In fact if I used something like a Trek 7.5 FX as the basis for a bike, I would be making modifications to raise the handlebars and move the hand position back toward my body. For when I test rode (twice) the FX, I found the riding position to be too forward leaning.

As far as drop bars go, I read all the time about the multiple hand positions. Well, I don't like any of the hand positions on a drop bar. Not on the drops, not on the hoods, or on the flat inner portion of the bar.

Now if you want to talk comfy hand position, then I'll talk about my recumbent. Aaahh!

Now here are two funky stems I've come across. These are mountain bike stems.

The first one has a 0 degree offset, it places the handlebar directly over the steer tube. Would have to have some interesting effect on steering as it would eliminate the steering arc, where the center of the handlebar "circles" the steering tube.

The second looks the same, but it moves the bar to 20mm in front of the steer tube.

I'd never seen anything like them. And probably for good reason!

Well, shortening the stem too far will result in extreme stearing sensitivity aka twitchey so probably for you the alternative style of bar is the only answer. Take a look at Pricepoint.com and check out the On One Mungo bar. Search also for some of the moustache style bars.

That Mungo bar is another interesting beast. If I flipped it, then it would do some of the things that I like. But I'm still concerned about the 90 degree sweep position, a la the Albatross bar. When I hold my hands like that, it sure doesn't feel like a natural riding position. The Mary bar looks better to me.

On One is doing some fun things with their handlebars. I'll have to check out their entire product line.

Good, now send me a PM with mailing address so your contest winnings can be mailed!!!

Here is the conversion kit I'd like to use - maybe on a mixte or ridgid mtb.

Here's another handlebar that piques my interest - the Syntace Vector 7075 Riser Bar - 1.5" rise verson. It has a 12 degree sweep.

Robtown has gotten the spirit of things!!!

Yeee Haaaaaaaaawwwwww! I could go flying down the road on a $1200 road bike modded with his conversion kit!

I guess I'd have to wear the winged helmet too.