I'm thinking of getting a new handlebar. My current one has a bend in completely the wrong place in the drops for where I want my hands so I rarely use them. I'm thinking about getting something more curvacious and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations?

You haven't offered us much help for understanding what you're trying to get away from.

Sorry, I'll try and be more specific.

On the drops it goes down at an angle, then bends to a horizontal section at the bottom. Unfortunally the position where I am most comfortable body wise is with my hands on the bend between the two, which makes my hands very uncomfortable. I'm looking to a bar with a gradual bend, rather than straight -> bend -> straight.

Check-out the 3T Ergosum and Ergonova. I love the bend on both of these bars...

I just setup an Aluminum FSA Omega, $40, on one of my road bikes. It has a shallow drop and reach and curves the whole way so there's no sharp bends. Feels great. Competitive Cyclist has a review on them and he seems to like them.


I do to. The carbon version is going on my new bike build. GL

Sounds like you've learned that ergo bends suck. You'll need to choose between a "Belgian" deep drop or more recent "compact" bars. That'll depend upon the amount of saddle to bar drop you're running and your overall flexibility.

Yep, sounds like you might like a classic/pro bend. Before you do that, though, have you tried tilting the bar so the bottom part isn't flat? The first time I switched from a classic bar to the new "ergo" design, I hated it because I like to grip deeper in the drops. Going back to a classic bend made me realize I didn't like having a curve in my hand either. Then I realized I could tilt the bar a little and get a compromise.

I've tried changing the angle of the bars more from the point of view of comfort on the hoods which I've got comfortable, but the drops haven't been comfortable at any point. I may try those compacts. Only problem is if I get those I'll want to drop the bars a bit lower and I'm not sure how to go about doing that.

If you have spacers under your stem, or you have a stem that's not a +/- 17* angle, you're in luck.

Sorry, I should have worded that a bit better.

I've already flipped my stem, not sure what angle it was. I do have spacers left underneath but I use a cyclocross bike and I can only lower the bars about 10mm more before the stem makes contact with the tube coming out of the headset for the brakes. I could probably trim this a bit I suppose, just slightly worried about chopping up bits of my bike, not something I've ever done before.

I think I'll start to have problems with brake cables before that point as well, although I suppose my cables need replacing anyway and if I'm getting new bars then it seems like an ideal time to sort them out.