I just did a long ride a week ago and the shop totally changed the placement of the shifter on the bike right before the ride. At any rate, I ride mostly on the hoods and I had to tilt the handlebar up after this change they made and this is what I ended up with (look at the near shifter only in pics):

It turns out it was very comfortable for riding on the hoods. (I don't think bike fit is the issue, I don't believe it was because it was higher). But it was impossible in the drops. With these bars (Ritchey Biomax Pro...ergo bars) I found the following is the ideal angle for riding in the drops:

But the hoods don't feel so great in that instance. Incidentally I have another bike that has the handlebars oriented as below. I find them to be the most comfortable in the drops, but I can't reach the brake levers well from the comfortable position in the drops:

So it would seem I need a handlebar that can provide a flat ramp area to a flat hood, all angled slightly upwards. Then I need something in the drops that is also angled slightly upward (not horizontal). If the drops and ramps are nearly parallel that might work, but in that case I don't know that I'll be able to read the levers from the comfortable position in the drops.

I watched the competitive cyclist review of the FSA Omega bars and I'm considering those. It seems like they have less of a sharp downturn at the ramps than the Biomax bars do...the drop section and ramp seem almost parallel.


I thought of a 3T Rotundo Pro and turning them up a bit. I think it would work but I just don't know if I'd reach the levers from the drops in that case. I am big (6'5") but have small hands for my height.


Lastly I looked at the Nitto Noodle but it's silver and has a 26.0 mm clamp size.

IMO maybe a troll but after looking the 3 pictures IMO you have a fit problem, style problem and probably stretch problem added with small hands. Go to a fitter man.

Ps: the good news is that for fit the problem u have reaching the brake levers u can move to sram or to campagnolo, their shifters a way smaller than the super big stuff u have in there. Thats why i have problems with shimano, they lever are just ridiculously big. And worse in the low end, because beside big are hard to use and clunky.

I bought the biomax bars several months ago and really like them (I have the 3T Rotunda's on my track bike, don't like classic bend for road)
Have you tried putting the top of the bars parallel to the ground with the shifters striking a plane with a slight rise mounted at the bend to the drops? The first pics looks like the bars are tilted up and the shifters are turned down. 2nd pick, the bars are turned way down.
I would work with the biomax setup some more

FWIW I'm not trolling. Before I took the bars to the shop I had a bit more of a traditional position of the shifters on the hoods. Kind of like the second picture but tilted up a little more. It seemed to work fine. A little uncomfortable in the drops but doable. I'm just trying to find what would be the ideal position in both the drops and hoods.

You mean like this? That's what I finally settled on. I only took it for a ride around the block, so it's hard to tell, but it seems like a decent compromise. But, as a compromise, it's also not ideal for either position.

Just stop cycling.

Huh?

I hate those bars where just as it hits the drops, it comes back up again. Bikes Direct seems to use them on most of their bikes.

I actually like the ergo feature quite a bit. It fits nicely in the palm of the hand. The bike came with Control Tech One bars that don't have that and I felt all the pressure was on the two ends of the hands, nothing at the palm. The problem with the bars is that to get the ergo section comfortable then the ramps are not flat enough. There needs to be a sharper angle, but maybe it would be too sharp and the shifter clamp wouldn't work well.

Try the compact bars - FSA, Rotunda etc. They don't have the ergo bend you want but the curvature of the drop combined with the flatness of the top make it easy to get what you want. The Noodles are really nice and there are versions that are flatter than the one you show but as you stated, they only come in the old narrow clamp size. Plus, the bend is very round and traditional.

I have the Rotundos, and none of the problems that you mention - my hands feel comfortable in just about any position in the drops (I have kinda large palms and those friggen ergo bends leave me with only two drop positions) and I don't have any reach issues (and I don't have long, concert pianist fingers).

In any event, do you have levers that you can shim for reach adjustment?

edit - are those 5700 levers? If so, I have the same on the Rotundos. Positioning can be seen here.

The levers are adjustable, they're 7900 levers. Kind of looks fugly adjusting them in but if that's what it takes...

I'm really not being sarcastic even though I'd like to.

Ideal?

I just would like comfy.

It depends.

From Red Kite Prayer:

In the mid-1990s I saw Sean Yates’ bar rolled down. It seemed physically impossible for him to put his hands on the levers the way they were positioned. Later, in 2002, Johan Musseuw’s bar was positioned crazy low and the levers were rolled up so high they seemed just as impossible to put your hands on the hoods. Then I noticed how when he did place his hands on the hoods, there was no bend at the wrist. The combination of how bar and relatively short reach made the lever position workable.

https://redkiteprayer.com/?tag=sean-yates

Okay, so poor choice of words on my part. Yes, comfortable is what I'm after.

Thanks, that looks exactly like the way I'd run the Rotundos. I think I might try the FSA Omega Compacts first, but if that doesn't work maybe I'll give the Rotundos a try in that configuration. This showcases why I was considering these bars. You can move the shifters down a little bit on the bars and tilt the bars up. Still have a relatively flat hood and the long, straight drop section is tilted to what appears to be comfortable angle (at least for me I think it would be). Plus, since the shifters are down a bit, it looks like you can reach the shifters while the hands are along the straight section of the drops. Thanks for the example.

It definitely is a fit issue if your bike only feels comfortable when you're on the hoods, and only when your bars are rotated backwards.

You don't want to be tilting your bars upward like in the first pic. You want the bars angled so that your wrists are at a natural angle when in the drops.

Have you tried flipping your stem back up? In the first pic the hoods were probably more comfortable because they were closer and higher when the bars are rotated backwards. If you keep the bars rotated downward like in the second pic, or maybe back a bit, but flip your stem it might help.

3T Ergonovas might help. Tighter curve to allow the shifters to be closer in the drops, ergo-ish drop bar (no bump but very comfortable), flat top area so you can be comfy on the hoods. If you need to jack up your hoods like that then you are definitely too stretched out. get a shorter stem or flip it back. (they are crooked too which can't help)

I should say that having the handlebars tilted up like that was comfortable just because of the way it felt in my hands. It wasn't that it made me less stretched or any back or neck issues out or anything like that, so I don't feel it's a fit issue. It just turns out that's what felt good on the hands. I can put the handlebars like the second picture and things feel fine except for the the feel of the hoods on the hands.

Thanks for the tip. They look very much like the FSA Omega Compact I show above. I'll probably try the FSA's first as they are less than half the price. Looks like the FSA's might also have slightly closer to parallel drops and ramps.