corwin1968

Can you post a picture? I'm planning to start retro-fitting my old Trek 730 and about the only question mark at this point is what handlebars and how high? I've thought about drops, moustache, bullmoose, albatross, flat, riser (on it now) and I've also considered a stem extender but I've never seen one actually on a bike.

When I bought the bike back in 1995, I asked for higher handlebars and this was the LBS's solution:

VoyagerAl

looks exactly like that,Corwin! same! I still plan to buy an extended quill type stem,to get it up about 2 more inches. How is it that your TREK decal is on backwards?
go here: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...Hybrid/page124

corwin1968

Wow, that is a beauty!! I thought you had put a 5" stem riser on there instead of 5" riser handlebars. Looks good! I'd say my bars have about 2-3" of rise.

I bought the bike new in 1995 and in 2007 I "upgraded" to an aluminum 7.2 FX and left the 730 at my parent's house. I recently started riding again and reading about bikes and came to realize that what I liked so much about that bike might well have been that it was steel! I plan to swap bikes with my dad and if I really do prefer the 730, I'm going to do some major upgrades. I'm leaning towards putting a Nitto Albatross bar on it, maybe with a new stem (if needed). Long-term, I plan to powdercoat it, replace the wheels/tires, replace the drivetrain (I want silver instead of black) and a few other little things.

The photo is actually reversed. I had my dad take some pictures of it and he photographed the left side of the bike but most people photograph the right side so I flipped it in order to compare it to other bikes.

I can admit to being influenced by Rivendell Bicycle Works and specifically the Bombadil and Hunqapiller pictured below. The geometry of the 730 is actually pretty close to the same sized Bombadil, with slightly shorter chainstays. The "trail" of the two bikes may be quite different. Racking up the miles on my 7.2 FX is really leading to problems with pain in my elbows and tingling in my lower arms/hands. I think I'm going to try it Grant Pederson's way and see if it makes a difference. Besides, it should look cool as hell!

GaryPitts

Here's what I ended up doing and after 100 or so miles I think this is a keeper. I put a 125mm adjustable stem on, kept the awesome trekking bars and added some GC3 bar ends with bar end mirror. I like it a lot! Now that I've done all of this, the CF handlebars creak when pushed or pulled and they didn't before. I put some of the Ergon LS100 handlebar reinforcers in and I suspect it's them that's causing the creaking. Maybe they just need to be tightened. I gotta figure that out, but otherwise I think I'm good to go.

This has been a 4 month effort to get a handlebar layout I like and get rid of my ulnar entrapment symptoms, and although I still have my tingly two fingers in my left hand I am hopefully confident that with the higher bars and some hand stretches I have started this week that it will go away. Time will tell. For the time being though I'm tickled to death!

derf36

good to hear Gary that you are winning with the nerve symptoms. I also have 'ring finger' numbness which doesn't go away after a ride so am considering going down a somewhat similar path you did.

I'll shoot you a PM about your 25 degree stem which I suspect you won't be needing anymore.

Rod

FastRod

If your using flat handle bars changed the stem as each has a different angle and use riser mtb bars.

ndekens

What kinda bars are those? I looked up trekking bars but they dont look like the ones in your photos. My problem is I need to raise the stem because my arms are short for my body causing me to lean over to much. I like those bars a lot and think they might work for me after adding my adjustable stem.