Homebrew01

I ride my mtn bike on the road sometimes, and put the handlebars in my vice and bent them inwards a bit, for better wrist angle.

DBrown9383

I never saw butterfly bars before reading this thread. They look like they offer the best of everything but also look a little weird. Too bad you can't really demo different handlebar setups w/o having to buy.

chaadster

Those are kinda sweet, but for Pete's sake, please put some end plugs in yours if you get 'em, just looking at those pics of the tubular extensions had me feeling like Saul Jimenz Fortes.

FRANK CANNON

Yup, and these Trek FXs sell for good money in my neck of the woods.

Throw it on CL for sale or trade and see what you get.

bgraham111

I'm not 100% sure what it weights, but fully loaded, with food, tent, etc... I think it comes in at 80-85 lbs. That's what it was when I rode the GAP and C&O. I think I could cut some of the weight if I needed to. And, if I ever get the chance to do some road touring (I'd love to do a Coast to Coast) I'd probably look for a different bike. No need to have suspension for road touring. But I like it for doing tow paths, rails to trails.... next trip on my list is the Katy trail.

Cougrrcj

I ran into this 'grip angle' issue some 30 years ago - not on a bicycle, but on a motorcycle. The factory handlebars on my brand-new '82 Yamaha 550 Seca made my wrists hurt. I ended up getting another set of bars with a different grip angle. Nowadays, most motorcycles don't even have a one-piece handlebar - they use adjustable 'grip-ons' that can be varied to fit the individual user.

intransit1217

Cyclists' Palsy

Mark Stone

I remove the cushy handle bar grips, use decent gloves, have my extra large bullhorns pointed out (more hand positions), and - change hand positions frequently. There's no reason that flat bars cannot be as comfortable as drops.

GovernorSilver

Good point. Velo-Orange also sells plugs so I figured I'd ask them which ones to get. Their alloy plugs look kinda neat.

I'd also want bar tape because riding with the bar bare doesn't sound like fun. This looks cool, and comes with plugs:
Cadence Motion Bar Tape ? Cadence Collection

I also like the looks of some of the tapes sold by Cinelli:
COMPONENTS, Bar Tape*| Cinelli-USA

Oh, and I disagree with selling the flat-bar bike to get a road bike. This is a cycling forum, no? We have something called an "N+1" rule here. I do want to get a road bike myself, but have no intention of selling my current bike to get it.

devianb

On the bike I ride long distances I have a riser bar, clip on aero bars, and short bar ends. It does look kind of stupid, but it works well for me. Gives me all the hand positions I need for long straights, going off the pavement, and climbing hills. I thought about drop bars, but I hardly ever use the drops and it would have required me to change shifters and brakes. If you don't mind the look and width I'd say Trekking bars are the way to go.

one4smoke

Hey guy, which gloves did you decide to go with?

BobbyG

This is what I did also, except my bar "ends" are inboard. I can also use the aero bar arm rests as hand grips for very upright riding.

avidone1

I ordered these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o00_s00
I'll let y'all know how they work out for me

one4smoke

Yeah, those are the ones I recommended. I have the black ones.

avidone1

I know. Your other suggestions worked out well for me, so naturally I took a close look at those golves. The reviews were outstanding, so I ordered them. My current pearl Izumi gel vent gloves are good, but these look equally well made with a little more padding.

GovernorSilver

I went ahead and set up an appointment with the LBS to replace my stock handlebar with a trekking bar, along with the pedals. As much as I liked the craziness of the Crazy Bar, the trekking bar looked like a more practical solution. I'm sure the LBS will work with me to ensure the new trekking bar will be set up for an appropriate fit, as well as proper transfer of the shifter, brake levers, and associated cables - and do a competent job of wrapping the bar too (I'm terrible at any kind of wrapping job).

If this works out, I won't have to wait until I have a road bike to do century rides or the like.

GovernorSilver

I picked up my bike from the shop, with its new pedals and trekking bar installed. There was some confusion among the shop guys about which way to put the bar (ie. which side is "right side up" and "upside down"), but it ended up in a position similar to this photo, with the near-side grips lower than the far side, and the side grips sloping up upwards:



BTW, the bike in this pic isn't mine - I "borrowed" the pic from a 2007 post in these forums.

I took a bike on a quick test ride to see how I liked the bar, before the bar wrap gets put on. I found that I felt just as upright as I did with the stock bar, when gripping the near position. So I decided to leave the bar in this orientation. I felt that if the bar was flipped upside down, the near side grips would be higher than what I'm used to, and the side grips would slope downward instead of up, which seems less comfortable. I did request the brake levers to be moved to the ends of near-side grips, and move the twist shifter along with the brake levers. As a result, I actually have more hand clearance than I did on my stock grips. The levers are a bit harder to reach now from the sides but I didn't mind giving up that reach for the more comfortable hand clearance.

I'm quite pleased with these upgrades to my bike. The trekking bar seems a bit twitchier than the stock swept-style flat bar but the other side of the coin is steering is slightly more responsive. I might actually be able to climb up that damned switchback with its sharp turns and handrails that I pass through on my evening commute rides! I tried the far-side grip going on a gentle downhill - it was also immediately comfortable. I wasn't leaning as far forward as I would grasping the hoods or lower on a road bike drop bar, but it still beats being too upright when encountering headwind. The Lizard Skins bar tape is also a welcome upgrade over the stock grips - very pleasant feel, with the promise of better grip in the rain. The shop didn't have any tape, in stock, in a color that matched anything on the bike. I didn't want to delay getting the bike back by ordering bar tape - with the Papal Visit happening next week. I figured if I'm going with mismatched color, go loud and bold. I like the hot pink in combo with the black trekking bar.

The one bummer is that the stock bar plugs that came with the tape were too wide for the trekking bar. The shop guy tried to hammer them in but they busted. So I have generic black bar plugs instead.

mutteriwiritys

How about not grabbing the bar at all, but instead just laying your palms on the grips? That's what I've been doing without even noticing it for a long time and I think it's a lot more natural way to drive.

GovernorSilver

Yes, I did that and it works fine.

rex615

Will you need two different size plugs for those Crazy Bars? They are 23.8mm on the extensions and 22.2mm on the rest of the bar.

GovernorSilver

I don't know because I went with the trekking bar instead (see previous posts).

I kind of with I went with a Crazy Bar after my first commute ride with the trekking bar. Gripping the sides and the far side (increasing degrees of forward lean) is nice on the trekking bar. Both positions make it easier to ride with a headwind.

The near side gripping area is the problem for me. That's where had the brake levers and shifter installed. Most of my riding has been with the swept handlebar, so my wrists are used to the angle of the grips on that bar. The straighter position of the near grips is uncomfortable for my wrists after several minutes. The Crazy Bar has grips that are closer to the swept style.

Having just spent money on nice bar tape as well as the bar itself, I'll live with the trekking bar for a while and see if I can improve the situation by maybe tucking in my elbow more or something.