Bar ends or new handlebar?
 

To start out I have a Trek fx 7.1 that I have had for about 4 months. It is a good bike for me but I keep having to lower myself with my chest almost to the bar and my elbows almost fully bent when battling wind. This gets really uncomfortable fast but it is the only way to maintain decent speed while going against the wind. The average wind speed here is around 15-20mph.

So my options are to tough it out or modify my handlebar configuration so I can maintain a comfortable aerodynamic riding position. I prefer the second option. I have been looking at the origin 8 drop bar ends to cheaply get the drop bar configuration. I know the cons of them but for twenty bucks it might be worth it. The other option is to get a new handlebar that has a better hand position for when battling wind. I know a true drop bar is out of my price range but will any other type of bar meet my needs?

Looking for any advice or recommendations.

I use them and love them.

http://www.bikewagon.com/part/handlebars/bar-ends/origin8-propulsion-bike-handlebar-road-ends.html

I just ordered these drop bar ends for my Trek 7.6. They should arrive in about a week. So you like these bar ends? I'm excited to try mine out

I don't know which Treks have Isozone bars, but you'll need adapters if you intend to put any type of barends on the ends of those bars.

I bought a pair of the adapters, but I think I'm going to stick with the bar I have on it now anyways. I swapped out the bar while I was waiting for the adapters to arrive and I think I enjoy this new bar better anyways :thumb:

You won't need the adapters to use bar ends on a 7.1 FX. The Isozone handlebars start on the 7.3.

You might consider trekking bars- they won't get you way down low out of the wind, but they will stretch you out forward, and somewhat lower. Compared to a drop bar conversion, though, the advantage is that they're very inexpensive, especially as you have the option to re-use your stem, brake levers and shifters with no compatibility issues. Here's a picture of my setup on a 7.2 FX:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5343/7...9a504a2d_m.jpg

I think it's a matter of personal preference. Of course, you could get new bars AND put bar-ends on them! I got trekking bars, myself, and am happy with the upgrade from my old riser handlebars, after I tweaked things to my preference. I was going to eventually get gel pads and/or gel tape, but the combo of old innertubes and cork tape seems to be perfectly fine for me, so I'll probably just keep the current arrangement.

Of course, if I had gotten bar ends, I may have been perfectly happy with that, as well, though the new grips I'd have needed as well would make this option twice as expensive as the trekking bars plus cork tape. (Old innertubes of course, were free! ;) )

I found some foam padding (Pyramid brand IIRC) that I put on mine. I have done 40 miles with no issues whatsoever.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...th_Bike008.jpg

Did you change your brake lever location? I wasn't planning on moving my breaks on to the drops.

Photobucket has been weird lately. Let's see if this works.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...rd/Bike005.jpg

So, no you don't have to move the brake levers to the drops, you simply have to move them in toward the stem a bit. Road bike bars are about 440mm wide. Most hybrid bars come in at about 600mm. I have a road bike and am used to my drops being narrower, so I sawed a little off each end of my flat bar to put my drop ends in a more familiar location.

maybe not the answer you want-- but if you are looking for speed, you might upgrade to a road bike...


train safe-

FWIW, my average speed on the hybrid I just showed a picture of is normally faster than my average speeds on my Tarmac carbon fiber road bike. Admittedly it's a relatively souped up hybrid, but at 22 pounds it's not a featherweight.

Another option to try before buying anything- when you're riding move your hands to in between the controls and the stem, with your fingers lightly curled around the brake/shifter cables and your palms resting on the controls. Or depending on how much rise/sweep/bend your bars have, you could mount some bar ends inboard of your controls. Then there is using a clip on aero bar...

So it seems the overall consensus in this thread is leaning toward the drop bar ends, so ill be ordering them either today or tomorrow.

My bike is used mainly as a commuter so i like the versatility of it over a road bike, but at the same time i like to ride fast lol.

I tired them on my sirrus sport. I liked them but then I bought a Soma Sparrow handlebar and I love it.

Good choice, I really like mine!

Think ill order some as well, although I'm not sure how much of my flat bar I should cut off.

Is the bar completely flat with no rise at all? If not, the controls can probably only slide in so far before running into issues if they're on the bends.

Put all your controls and your barends on without tightening them. Slide them in to a point that it feels comfy. Mark the bars and cut. I use SRAM X9 twist shifters. My brakes visually appear very far in, but it doesn't feel unnatural at all.