You might think me crazy, but has anyone else done this? I recently bought an 80s motobecane with the stock drops. I cannot ride drops, very uncomfortable for me, especially in city riding. So what I did was cut a bit off and set them up like bullhorns, but facing down and towards me. The end result is pretty much like a touring or northroad bar, but narrower. I find this very comfortable and like how the bar ends dip down a bit. I think it looks cool too. Crazy?

Whatever gets you to ride the bike is good.

Pictures!!!!!

I think stronglight has done a variation on this theme. If you ask nicely, stronglight may put photos of his handlebar setup on here . It's pretty slick.

East Hill

pics ...

Kind of reminds me of a Nitto Promenade (I think) with less rise.

Thank you!!

colintdesign, that looks really great! - Nice to see someone being creative!

One problem I personally would have with that set up is simply that it moves the bars back a bit too much for my comfort range. _ This is just a matter of personal preference, but "porteur" or flat touring bars all tend to force me into either too cramped or too upright a position.

So, here are a few options I've messed with... and, believe me, I'll be forever experimenting with different set-ups on different bikes... glad I'm not alone!

This bike has a moustache bar, but an older chromed steel one. It's MUCH narrower than the modern alloy versions - which I find simply too wide. The reach is comparable to where my hands would wind up when riding drop bars with hands resting on the brake lever hoods.



This is my winter commuter bike. The bars are basic bullhorn time-trial style, BUT they are now inverted so they are raised up slightly from the stem rather than dropped down... And, the curved ends were also cut off so the brake levers now reach farther back along the bar and are also positioned closer to it - effectively making them more like MTB levers (... only backwards). This makes it very easy to grab the brakes with heavy gloved hands in cold winter weather, and raising the bars seems to make the bike just feel more stable (to me) on slippery roads, and allows me better vision in traffic during crappy weather conditions.



This bike originally had randonneur style drop bars, but with the old Mafac Guidonnet style brake levers there was nothing to rest my hands on (no hoods) so I kept slipping forward along the curve. So, this bar is another old french drop bar with very square corners which I simply hacked off and then inverted. I left just enough of the curve to offer a good "stop" to keep my hands from slipping forward. Might look odd, but it works... in fact, I guess it is forms something like bar-ends on flat MTB bars, but this is only 40cm wide at the tips, and I really like narrower bars than I can usually find.

I've done this before with my Profile Design Airwings. They have a good amount of drop, so when flipped and reversed they make for a very upright promenade style bar.

Someone sent me this image in an email, just after Ihad purchased a Mixte bike earlier this year. Not sure if the original source, but it appears to be a Nishiki fixed gear or single speed conversion. Looks pretty cool with the modified drop bars!

I did the same thing last week with my 84 trek620. I cant get comfortable on drops so I made bullhorns. It was versy stretched out then in shower I had an epiphiny!! So far only short test rides but so far superbly comfortable with no investment in money.

If you like the results isn't that all that really matters? Who cares if some cycling fundamentalist thinks you're a Fred?

If I had my way, my handlebars would probably resemble elk antlers. I really love having a wide variety of hand positions and my ideal handlebars would probably combine drops, aero bars and have some kind of swept back, bar ends suitable for an upright position as well.

Years ago, I took some cheap road bars; inverted and cut them off for a new look on a flipper. I didn't particularly like it, but it sold.

here you go:

Crazy bars, you say?
Casey's Crazy Bar - Handlebars - Components

A few days back, I spotted a Motobecane with road drop bars in the conventional set-up but they hacked the 'U' portion of the drop handle off and just left it like an inverted bullhorn. Made no practical sense and looked weird.

Anyhow, how about a rise stem as depicted on this Moto? (spotted on another sale listing)


(edit : is this the zombie handlebar thread?)

I like this setup.

I experimented with this idea on two bikes I was flipping a few years back. I actually really liked the way it looked and it definitely provided the rider with a comfortable riding position. Plus you could always just loosen the brake lever and rotate the bars back to a standard bullhorn position. Figured it was a low risk proposition. Both bikes sold within the week if I remember correctly and both to girls as a matter of fact. Great, little bar hopping bikes.

PS - Kinda wish I still had that 'ice pink' tempo

I've done a few as well like this. I've been riding my PX10 like this most of the summer, it is very comfortable and no more numb hands.

When I switch over to our Burley tandem with conventional road bars, numbness returns after ~ 10 miles.

Everyone who has ridden these likes it.

It reminds me of an amputee ... I didn't think I could ride drop bars comfortably either, I got used to them, and have grown to love them (I ride the 70s Schwinn GB drops). They are pretty versatile, ride the tops, or hoods for easy braking, I almost never ride in the drops. If a taller stem is an option for you that can also help make drops more comfortable, not to mention positioning the bars in the stem. But if it works for you, congrats!