Flat top handlebars
 

Can anyone give some feedback regarding flat top handlebars? If you switched from round to flat top did you feel any difference in terms of comfort?

Any other benefits or even cons you can think of?

Thanks for your time

you mean flat top as in wing style? http://www.competitivecyclist.com/pr...183.221.0.html ?

pros - definitely more comfortable for climbing IMO. it may be mind tricks, but I also feel like it's virtually minimized hand tingling I had intermittently before

cons - the wing style is wider so it's more difficult to fit camera mounts around them

Not really a con for those of us that don't ride with a camera.

The White Sox suck, by the way. There's some crappy baseball going on in Chicago right now.

I've been searching for a k wing style alloy bar. Ive ridden flat top bars and much prefer them, just much more comfortable for me. Probably won't ever go back to round bars.

I just switched to the wing pro (same as the cc link above) from a round-top bar. I had Fizik gel pads on the tops on the round bar and still never felt really comfortable on the tops. The transition to the hoods was also not very friendly. The new bar is SO much more comfortable WITHOUT the gel, even. It even feels as if there is a concave-ness to the underside that my finger tips can really dig into due to the cable route.

Hand pain and tingling is totally gone.
I love these bars.

I just switched to an Easton EC90 Aero from a regular bar:

http://www.eastoncycling.com/en-us/r.../ec90-aero-303

and I enjoy it. I have larger hands so the extra real estate ontop makes for a more comfortable ride. I haven't felt any kind of performance boost while climbing, but extended climbs are noticeably more comfortable. I had a 15 mile...4200 ft climb, a real hamstring punisher,and basically spent an hour up top; nothing went numb.

Also, I put an alum stem ontop for a little more flex...those wing bars are really stiff.

3T Ergonova

You can thank me later.

Depends on the camera mount. This is what I use, and I think it would fit.

I first rode an OEM Bontrager Race Select Bar. Didn't like it.
Then, an OEM Cannondale C3 Ergo Bar.
Liked it a whole lot more than the Bonty.

But, when it was time for me to customize my cockpit, I went with the following set-up:
FSA K-Wing Carbon Compact Bar (44cm)
Bontrager XXX Race Light OS Stem (110mm)
Fi'zi:k Microtex Bar Tape
Fi'zi:k Gel Pads

It changed my riding experience. ("my" being the key word there)
The flat top bar offers me more riding positions over longer rides.
I personally found it more more comfortable than a round top bar.
Plus, the compact bends allowed me to get into the drops much better.
I was lucky in that the LBS owner had an identical set-up on his rig.
I got to get a real feel for it before I invested into it.

Good luck.

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/...pgrades005.jpg

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/...pgrades012.jpg

I recently went with a winged or flat top handlebar and I really like it. Like previous posters I'm getting less tingling in my hands. I too have kind of large hands so it's just more comfortable to have more space to rest my hands.

As soon as you wrap them, they are no longer flat.

Then don't wrap them.

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/s...d/IMG_1330.jpg

Ditto to many of the comments above. I had the FSA Wing Pro's (alloy) . Loved ' em....then just switched to FSA compact wings (alloy) which I really like. So selling off the regular FSA's this week and keeping the compacts.

Bought a Token Mono-Q white carbon fiber handlebar and 110mm token white carbon fiber stem. Nice, gives my bigger hands a nice platform when on center bar going 25 mph. Little heavy but excellent quality.

nice!

I didn't mind the "heavier" cockpit parts on my bike.
I think the extra weight helps dampen vibration than superlight aluminum bars/stems/etc...
I could probably get my bike into the 14lb range if I went light with my cockpit,
but I don't want to lose the comfort I've put into it so I'll live with the weight.

:)

Guess it's not really a pro then if you don't climb either.

I have a contour 1080, and the XL mount works, its just very very tight.

I have been riding these for quite a while now:

http://www.ritcheylogic.com/dyn_prodfamily.php?k=98031

There is a weight penalty with most of these bars but I will never go back to round bars. At 6'4" I have large hands and was never comfortable on long rides with a round bar. I also find them to be excellent for climbing. I suspect I will switch when these become available:

http://zipp.com/bars/vukasprint/

They are lighter and I expect up to Zipp's usual level of super stiff and strong.

The FSA K-Wing Compacts are Pcad Approved®.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...ckpitS2Di2.jpg

I don't see what other information you would need after that.

Please note the spiffy red electrical tape applique covering the stupid Cervelo cable holes in the top tube.

But those Zipps are sharp.

Well then, I must have them!

K-Wings do rock. Went to the compacts on the S2, and now that bike fits me better when I'm in the drops.

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za....ID=9575&MODE=

Avail July 1st.

Still wish someone made this style bar in alloy.

I will only ride with flat bars. They just feel so much better in my hands. I have Winwood Road Scholars but if I ever need to replace them, the Ergonova are probably the bars that I would get. They have flat tops like my Winwood bars but are a compact design which I like better and they do not dip near the stem like the K-wing so mounting my Garmin and head light next to the stem should be easy.

The only down side is that I use 46CM bars and they now appear to be extinct. The largest size I can find is 44CM now.