2011 LHT Handlebar Upgrade - Crazy Bars or Truck Stop Bars?
#26
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You can compare their shapes on https://whatbars.com/
I understand the basic argument wrt width (wider -> more control; wider -> less aero). I kinda understand the backsweep argument (not enough or too much puts strain on the wrists). I don't understand why one would want a rise instead of a proper stem. And there is no discussion on the merits of aero extensions (from experience, I know that I have tried to ride in this position over butterfly bars, quickly giving up because it was so uncomfortable)
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I used a stem extender to raise up my bars on my trek 520. apropos of nothing, are some uncut steerer longer than others? I know that the surly lht uncut is nice and high. I wonder if the trek 520 was just as high before it was cut. (i bought it used) .
#28
Senior Member
high bars=Old foggy
and I get it partly., from the marketing angle.
#29
Mega Clyde
Thread Starter
Thanks for all the great suggestions and options presented. The picture of my bike I posted before was rather old and I took a new one today. I had already rotated the bars so they were more level to the ground, but I have not moved the brake levers to adjust for the change.
I am going to make the following changes before I take my next ride to see how things shake out.
1. Make sure the top of the bars are parallel to the ground.
2. Reposition my brake levers further towards the bends to provide a better angle for riding on the hoods.
3. Move the stem up one or two spacers closer to the top of the steerer for a more upright riding position.
Once I make those changes I will take a test ride and post a new picture. The weather has been pretty crappy lately, so the timing of a test ride will be somewhat variable. If I can get a dry 40 degree day, I will go out and ride.
Here is a current picture of my bike.
current set up as of Jan 14, 2022
I am going to make the following changes before I take my next ride to see how things shake out.
1. Make sure the top of the bars are parallel to the ground.
2. Reposition my brake levers further towards the bends to provide a better angle for riding on the hoods.
3. Move the stem up one or two spacers closer to the top of the steerer for a more upright riding position.
Once I make those changes I will take a test ride and post a new picture. The weather has been pretty crappy lately, so the timing of a test ride will be somewhat variable. If I can get a dry 40 degree day, I will go out and ride.
Here is a current picture of my bike.
current set up as of Jan 14, 2022
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#30
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My Thorns I think all had the same steerer length too. I cut it on one of my Thorns to make it fit better in the S&S case but left it on my other one. I have a stock uncut LHT fork on my Lynskey, has a good height.
#31
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Thanks for all the great suggestions and options presented. The picture of my bike I posted before was rather old and I took a new one today. I had already rotated the bars so they were more level to the ground, but I have not moved the brake levers to adjust for the change.
I am going to make the following changes before I take my next ride to see how things shake out.
1. Make sure the top of the bars are parallel to the ground.
2. Reposition my brake levers further towards the bends to provide a better angle for riding on the hoods.
3. Move the stem up one or two spacers closer to the top of the steerer for a more upright riding position.
Once I make those changes I will take a test ride and post a new picture. The weather has been pretty crappy lately, so the timing of a test ride will be somewhat variable. If I can get a dry 40 degree day, I will go out and ride.
Here is a current picture of my bike.
current set up as of Jan 14, 2022
I am going to make the following changes before I take my next ride to see how things shake out.
1. Make sure the top of the bars are parallel to the ground.
2. Reposition my brake levers further towards the bends to provide a better angle for riding on the hoods.
3. Move the stem up one or two spacers closer to the top of the steerer for a more upright riding position.
Once I make those changes I will take a test ride and post a new picture. The weather has been pretty crappy lately, so the timing of a test ride will be somewhat variable. If I can get a dry 40 degree day, I will go out and ride.
Here is a current picture of my bike.
current set up as of Jan 14, 2022
If you are new to unwrapping and wrapping bar tape, I think that Park Tools video is pretty good on youtube for bar tape. There are lots of good and lots of bad videos on youtube, but anything you see from Park Tools will be well thought out.
I use strapping tape to tape cables to my bars before I try to wrap them, that way the cables stay where they should be. I do not wrap the strapping tape full length, just use it in about three spots on each side to keep the cables where they belong.
#32
Senior Member
what I'll add is that if you look at where the hoods are in relation to the steerer tube, they are at least 6 inches ahead of the steerer, the flats are maybe 3 inches closer--but what is cool about alt bars that sweep back, like in your very first photo of the whatchamacallit bars, your hands are now way back closer to the steerer area. This is what its like with my jones bars, and it makes for a neat feeling.
Yes, you'll want positions to move your hands forwards for a more leaning forward position, but I have to say that I find this far back position kinda fun, and most of these swept back type bars have hand options forward a bit for headwinds or whatever.
but really, all this blah blah is only that....you're just going to have to try stuff and see how you like it. And the more you ride, the stronger you are and all that, plus theres the weight thing going on, which probably affects some ridiing position aspects, but that can change.
Anyway, just wanted to say how I was surprised to find how I liked riding with the jones bars and having teh hands much closer to me, and a more upright position, If I were to tour on that bike, if more on gravel and offroad it would be fine, but on more open roads , I might like them less and or put a longer stem on.....so many variables here eh?
well, have fun trying out stuff, I guess just try to think of options or at least order of things so you dont blow too much money on something you could find out you arent crazy about afterwards.
Yes, you'll want positions to move your hands forwards for a more leaning forward position, but I have to say that I find this far back position kinda fun, and most of these swept back type bars have hand options forward a bit for headwinds or whatever.
but really, all this blah blah is only that....you're just going to have to try stuff and see how you like it. And the more you ride, the stronger you are and all that, plus theres the weight thing going on, which probably affects some ridiing position aspects, but that can change.
Anyway, just wanted to say how I was surprised to find how I liked riding with the jones bars and having teh hands much closer to me, and a more upright position, If I were to tour on that bike, if more on gravel and offroad it would be fine, but on more open roads , I might like them less and or put a longer stem on.....so many variables here eh?
well, have fun trying out stuff, I guess just try to think of options or at least order of things so you dont blow too much money on something you could find out you arent crazy about afterwards.
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#33
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I ride one of the newer Disc Truckers so I have had over a year riding on the Truck Stop Bars. For dropbars, I do like them and appreciate the rise, but have been increasingly towing with the idea of migrating the bike to a flat bar configuration. Like many others, I pretty much never use the drops.
I am pretty confident that I would not find flatbars with more than a little backsweep comfortable. At the moment, I am pretty sure I am going to start with the Ergotec AHS Comfort bars, which are basically just the riser (25mm) version of the Humpert Hornbars:
I am pretty confident that I would not find flatbars with more than a little backsweep comfortable. At the moment, I am pretty sure I am going to start with the Ergotec AHS Comfort bars, which are basically just the riser (25mm) version of the Humpert Hornbars:
#34
Clark W. Griswold
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I don't think they are available in N.A. at all we have tried hard I have emailed many times along with other people at the company including our owner and some former staffers as well. Koga has a goldmine and they don't want to extract all the gold just yet or they can't be bothered to just ramp up production and I believe they are made by Satori and they need to get on the horn right away and tell them to kick into overdrive. These are great bars and hard to beat.
#35
Senior Member
I don't think they are available in N.A. at all we have tried hard I have emailed many times along with other people at the company including our owner and some former staffers as well. Koga has a goldmine and they don't want to extract all the gold just yet or they can't be bothered to just ramp up production and I believe they are made by Satori and they need to get on the horn right away and tell them to kick into overdrive. These are great bars and hard to beat.
#36
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https://www.cyclesense.co.uk/m61b0s7...ndlebar-31-8mm
(they ship to the US, but currently out of stock)
(they ship to the US, but currently out of stock)
#37
Clark W. Griswold
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https://www.cyclingabout.com/koga-denham-bars/
#38
Senior Member
Nothing from Koga that I have seen but this is going to be better than what you will find as it is from the guy who designed them:
https://www.cyclingabout.com/koga-denham-bars/
https://www.cyclingabout.com/koga-denham-bars/
#39
Clark W. Griswold
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#40
Mega Clyde
Thread Starter
I moved my existing bars up the remaining two spacers to give me some additional rise and went for a quick one hour ride today. Things are much more comfortable on the tops and on the hoods, but the drops were still not even close to being a comfortable position. I still need to move the brake handles down a little to give me a better wrist angle when I am on the hoods. I will post a picture of the changes tomorrow.
#41
Senior Member
Mounted the bars. Have not had a chance to try them out yet so still need to be tweaked. May need to change to a shorter stem and there is no convenient way to mount a strap on mirror, so ordered a bar end mirror. Will probably re-do the tape job. Not my best work
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#42
Mega Clyde
Thread Starter
Sorry for the delay. Here is my latest set up after raising up the bars two spacers.
#44
Mega Clyde
Thread Starter
257 roberts I do like the look of those Moloko bars, but my Carradice Keswick handlebar bag will not fit in the loop so I had to rule them out.
I do have a couple question about the Ergon grips.
The VO Crazy Bars are now back in stock on their website and I took the plunge. They should be arriving shortly and I will be going with some type of Ergon GC grip. Not sure about GC1 vs. GC4 vs. GC5.
I also need to work out the brake levers for this build. I am now thinking Shimano Sora BL-R3000 . I believe they support both short and long pull brakes, so I can stick with my current cantis and easily switch to V brakes later.
Does anyone have any experience with the Soras?
Any feedback would be appreciated.
I do have a couple question about the Ergon grips.
- How do you like them overall?
- Did you consider using any of the Ergon GC2 through GC5 models with bar ends?
- If so why did you go with the GC1s?
The VO Crazy Bars are now back in stock on their website and I took the plunge. They should be arriving shortly and I will be going with some type of Ergon GC grip. Not sure about GC1 vs. GC4 vs. GC5.
I also need to work out the brake levers for this build. I am now thinking Shimano Sora BL-R3000 . I believe they support both short and long pull brakes, so I can stick with my current cantis and easily switch to V brakes later.
Does anyone have any experience with the Soras?
Any feedback would be appreciated.
#45
Senior Member
257 roberts I do like the look of those Moloko bars, but my Carradice Keswick handlebar bag will not fit in the loop so I had to rule them out.
I do have a couple question about the Ergon grips.
The VO Crazy Bars are now back in stock on their website and I took the plunge. They should be arriving shortly and I will be going with some type of Ergon GC grip. Not sure about GC1 vs. GC4 vs. GC5.
I also need to work out the brake levers for this build. I am now thinking Shimano Sora BL-R3000 . I believe they support both short and long pull brakes, so I can stick with my current cantis and easily switch to V brakes later.
Does anyone have any experience with the Soras?
Any feedback would be appreciated.
I do have a couple question about the Ergon grips.
- How do you like them overall?
- Did you consider using any of the Ergon GC2 through GC5 models with bar ends?
- If so why did you go with the GC1s?
The VO Crazy Bars are now back in stock on their website and I took the plunge. They should be arriving shortly and I will be going with some type of Ergon GC grip. Not sure about GC1 vs. GC4 vs. GC5.
I also need to work out the brake levers for this build. I am now thinking Shimano Sora BL-R3000 . I believe they support both short and long pull brakes, so I can stick with my current cantis and easily switch to V brakes later.
Does anyone have any experience with the Soras?
Any feedback would be appreciated.
I like them, they help a lot with wrist numbness, but there are continual adjustments for the height/angle of the palm support too high and it's worse, too low and they do nothing.
Let us see the end job so we can oooh and aaaah.
#46
Senior Member
until I got my first pair (5 model with long barends) with a used bike, I didn't think they were worth the money, but I'm sold now.
On my Jones bars I don't have the gc1 made for swept bars, maybe should have, but the regulars work well for me...But I don't have big hands so easy to angle my palm comfortably.
I wouldn't use bar end models on swept bars, the bar ends could catch on things as they will stick out to the sides.
#47
Senior Member
Not sure why or what you disagree, it looks like we saying the same thing. When I posted continual, It considers when there is seat adjustment, handlebar height, angle, etc. It can change from season to season or even as little as moving the saddle back or forth.
#48
Senior Member
But very good point on how little changes in the various things can and do happen. It is curious how sometimes even during a season, we feel the need for small changes. I guess our bodies and flexibility change during the season.
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#49
Mega Clyde
Thread Starter
So the build has begun. New stem and bars installed. Bar end shifters moved over to the new bars. I still need to pick up some new brake levers, brake cables, housing and the Ergon GC1 grips. The new VO stem is 120mm/6 degree rise.
I am hoping to get the rest of the parts I need tomorrow as we are forecast for 18 to 24 inches of snow starting early AM on Saturday. That will make for a good weekend project. The big issue will be getting back out on the road after a big storm.
I am hoping to get the rest of the parts I need tomorrow as we are forecast for 18 to 24 inches of snow starting early AM on Saturday. That will make for a good weekend project. The big issue will be getting back out on the road after a big storm.
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#50
Mega Clyde
Thread Starter
Basic assembly and my first really short test ride is complete.
I still need to take it on a real test ride and make sure I have everything adjusted properly. I still need to cut down the new brake cables and install the crimp ends. Once that is done, I can add the final touches like bar tape and end caps.
My quick test ride have me thinking about switching to trigger shifters, but I am going to give the bar ends a try for a while and see how I like them on the end of the horns. Overall I like the change so but, but it will be an adjustment to get used to the extra handlebar width. The new bars are over 300mm wider than my old bars and even getting it in and out of my narrow basement door was an adjustment.
I still need to take it on a real test ride and make sure I have everything adjusted properly. I still need to cut down the new brake cables and install the crimp ends. Once that is done, I can add the final touches like bar tape and end caps.
My quick test ride have me thinking about switching to trigger shifters, but I am going to give the bar ends a try for a while and see how I like them on the end of the horns. Overall I like the change so but, but it will be an adjustment to get used to the extra handlebar width. The new bars are over 300mm wider than my old bars and even getting it in and out of my narrow basement door was an adjustment.
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