BobbyG

Following the small adjustment I made to my Franken-Bars (read it here),and considering some of your suggestions I took the time and effort to point the inboard bar-ends inward. My main concern was blocking my fore-arms from the aero bar.

I had to push the hand grips outward a quarter inch (now they're about 1/8-inch past the bars...BUT IT WORKED!

Maybe I shouldn't have used all-caps, but it seems to work. On the lower portion of the bar ends my hand position is the same, but on the uppers, I can grip it more naturally. I loose all the funky positions where I let the bar rest between various fingers, but the new upper bar position initially feels better. Time will tell, and time had not been kind to my hands, which is why I have this Franken-Bar. As I mentioned in the previous post, my other two bikes have conventional drop bars and work well for me, but this is my snow commuter, and the wide straight bar works better for that.

Here are the pics:

hankaye

BobbyG, Howdy;

Good to see you found a solution that works for you.

hank

BobbyG

Another update!

I went back to the outward splayed "paralell" configuration but with different bars. The "pointed in" config in the above photos was initially comfortable, but put pressure on the same part of my hands the the straight bar grips do, although without the wrist discomfort.

I went to an LBS that carries used parts and found a shorter pair of bar ends that actually had a longer straight section, and just a short inward cant at the top. They also had a narrower section to grip the main bar. All in all this is a better configuration, but doesn't look much different than what I had before. I also extended a flap of padded pipe insulation over the straight bar at the bottom. I rode the equivalent of my 9 mile commute to work and was very, very comfortable.

I think this is the extent of the bar mods for a while.

DanBraden

My last mod I'd recommend to you is bar tape. At first I would have done ANYTHING to avoid it, and I did and $$paid$$ for it.

HOWEVER, after having done it only a couple of times, I really think it's great!

SO, What I'm saying is, yank off that insulation and wrap those suckers! Because...

"You're gonna like the way you look..."

Milton Keynes

Are you kidding? This is Bike Forums. Someone needs to show up to this thread soon and tell him that he can't do that for whatever reason.

BobbyG

doubravsky 

Sadness on my end.... ordered those aero bars and they don't fit my handlebars-- too wide. Can't seem to find a replacement bracket anywhere to make it work. I'll keep looking, as I really like the placement of the elbow pads.

BobbyG

Darn!