1989Pre 

Take sjanzeir's advice and buy yourself a proper hybrid. There are bikes with wider, flat or "riser" bars that are usually set the same height or even higher than the saddle. Get yourself a good Gel saddle. I recommend Serfas. They sell direct at their website and I use the Reactive Gel, but the RX is a classic. Jamis makes (or made) some nice steel hybrids.
Save the road bike for when you gain in fitness. It'll give you something to aim for.

Bonts

From the initial reading I've done, it seems that there's no quantitative advantages that one might expect from two riders on one bike. Over all speed/power is lower unless both riders are a very good match. There's a greater mental toll since there are two people pedaling/balancing/other bike stuff, which I guess is expected. But downhill, I read, is more efficient cause the human factor is eliminated and physics takes over.

This question was more along the lines of why road bikes feel so vastly different than flat bar. For example, I usually drive a big 1 ton truck, but can still have fun cramming myself in a Miata. I've ridden a Goldwing and a Honda Grom. I just find it very odd that a road bike has such an alien feel from straight bar. It feels like having to learn to ride all over again. I'm even more baffled by this not being a common phenomenon.

Lombard

The OP has a road bike, but road bars aren't working for him. I belive "wanting" to ride this bike doesn't go any further than not having to make any major modifications to flat bars or getting a different bike.

As I stated earlier, there are ways to get more upright on a road bike with the exisiting handlebars. Tilting bars up slightly and a more upright stem are the easiest ways of doing this.

rsbob 

Thanks for the explanation. As a racing/drop bar tandem owner for 25 years I can tell you there is.a decided difference in all aspects from a road bike. First they are faster on the flats by a long shot, unless the goal is to doodle about. They also take far more effort to climb hills. And you are correct about additional speed on descents. I have reached some insane speeds on the tandem I couldn’t approach on my road bike. Then you have turning radius, and stopping distance and coordination between the two riders which becomes automatic with experience. The biggest issue with tandem riding of any type is trust between the captain and the stoker. There has to be implicit trust by the stoker and the willingness to lean the bike with the captain when turning. I know people who tried tandeming and gave it up due to trust.

I also ride a straight bar bike (mountain bike) and the difference between the two in terms of position, turning is night and day. I would recommend sticking with the style of bike you are most familiar/comfortable with.

Iride01 

So did you also find out the answer at some auto forum as to why driving a big 1 ton truck is different than the tiny Miata?

Or have you been driving both so frequently that you don't notice anymore. If so, then just stop driving one for six months and report back then.

Bikes are different because they are different. Even some road bikes will feel different that other road bikes. Carbon forks are going to transmit the road surface differently than steel forks. Light weight steel forks will feel different than heavy steel forks. All sorts of differences will add up all over the bikes being compared.

Depending on whether you are on a race fit road bike or a relaxed fit road bike or your flat bar bike, you might have your head out front instead of more upright. And it takes some time to get use to the idea that you'll hit something else head first. <grin>

And not every style and fit of bike is for everyone. You have to figure out what type of riding you wish to do and what bike will do that best for you. Not what works best for others.

livedarklions

Not sure why you think it isn't common.
I think drop bars are the minority preference except among road racers and on internet bicycling forums. Lots of people don't feel comfortable or secure using them. No shame in that, you just have to figure out what you do like.

rsbob 

I have never read a more true statement in 68 years. Believe it would be called an epiphany!

livedarklions

Is it fair to say that since confidence, coordination and control are so important on a tandem, that any discomfort/nervousness you have with a particular style of handlebars is going to be especially bad as compared to riding a solo bike?

livedarklions

Absolutely, and also not what other people think SHOULD work for you.

Camilo

Then you've not done much riding or observing. I ride with and see very large "offensive tackle" types of people riding road bikes.

You need someone with some expertise, face-to-face to work with you on the new bike before you make any pronouncements about it. Internet advice will be close to worthless, imho.

dmwill

Bonts, my wife and I ride a Burley Samba that came to us with drop bars and we converted to a Jones H-bar loop (flat bar with a lot of sweep). Previous comments match with our experience - it was several hundred dollars to get the conversion done, which involved the bar, stem, really tall steerer, new shifters and brakes, and fresh cables. It's generally not prudent to spend so much refitting an old bike, but in our case we lucked out and found it totally worth it; it's our favorite bike in the stable. We did go through a lot of saddles and seatposts and pedals to get things where we like them; it helps to have a box of spare parts to swap around.
If you are anywhere near Sarasota I'd be glad to meet up and you can take a ride to at least gather another data point. [Edit: bar name]

Burley Samba Mixte with H-Bar for pilot and Origin 8 Citi Classic bar for stoker.

Polaris OBark

Jones Bar.

Johnson bar is something different.

dmwill

Argh, dangit, thank you. Fixed that.

smd4

I’ve used a Johnson bar more times than I can count. They work smoother if they’re lubed properly.

Road Fan

No, there is no "girth limit." Some road bikes are quite specialized and due to what we now see as poor design cannot conveniently be re-fit to other riders. Road bikes also come in different frame sizes. There is a range of sizes which can fit each rider with suitable adjustment, usually called fitting. Having a fitting one can be free if you learn some basic principles yourself and have modest near-term goals, or can cost $hundreds if your intent is to go train for the Tour de France or RAAM.

Some simple "guidelines" (in general there are no rules):

1. Your leg should be nearly straight when you sit on the saddle, put the pedal as low as possible, and move the saddle back so th knee is close to above th pedal when the foot is forward.
2. Your saddle top should be about 4 to 6" above the top of a level top tube
3. Your drop handlebar top should be not more than 1" below the top of the saddle, for a beginner. Some of us do not ever go below this height.
4. The distance you have to reach to your handlebar should not be greater than to allow you to lean not deeper than 45 degrees while pedaling. Many of us do not even reach this far, and to reach farther takes lots of practice and even training.
5. You should adjust that reach by making changes to the location of your handlebar, not by sliding the saddle forward. For example, you can get handlebar stems which have short forward extensions by working with your local bike shop. You may need them to install it and set up the controls to suit the new positioning.

These goals will get you into a position much closer to what you will see people enjoying on the roads and bike paths. A of fine-tuning is done beyond this point, but what you are saying in your first post sounds like you have a bike which is a bad transition from MTB to Road, in very general terms.

A professional fitter or an experienced shop will have adjustments to make for girth, but at the same time a lot of bigger guys and women have decent or even excellent flexibility, strength and endurance. But for example, just to go to a tractor saddle is not one of the best ways to address possible problems. Unless you don't want a bike with gears and more speed capability. Then there are a lot of very decent upright bikes designed for comfort and endurance, and simpler geartrains, even single speeds.

lorr1e1

I have an aluminium hybrid bike with riser bars on with a stem that adjust up and Dow if I want to ride racing style or upright! I have it set In between as I don't like drops handlebar or riding like that I like to be able to see what's going on around me.

I use selle royal moderate lookin it's a gel saddle it's good for shorter rides I've done 20 miles on it. Not sure what it would be like on longer rides.

I have never ridden on a road bike I'd probably stick with a hybrid and look for something i can get more speed out of as I don't ride much on the roads.

Bonts

I just spent a half hour alone on the bike and it is now easy to ride. My guess is that the main issue I was having is how far forward the handlebars are of the pivot point. It feels as if steering is much more akin to the counter-steering of a motorcycle than a bicycle that I'm used to. The very narrow tires may affect that as well. The seat definitely has to be changed. It's the type with a hole in the middle and just isn't working for me. I think I do like the drop bars though... but they could be brought up and closer.

It has a 20" seat tube, but to follow the above mentioned 4-6" saddle height rule I'd need a 30"+ frame. For a $200 bike to get me to the park, I think it's probably fine to have the seat adjusted way up.

I'd post a pic, but I'm not allowed to yet.

big john

There is no rule except that you should feel comfortable. When I was 35 I ran the bar top 4 inches below the saddle. Now I'm 68 and I like the bar higher, 1 or 2 inches below the saddle.
Don't worry about how much seatpost you have above the top tube (within reason).