I'm looking for handlebar advice for a fixed gear commuter bike. Basically, I find my "neutral" position occurs when my palms face down and slightly inboard and with my index knuckles slightly forward of my pinky knuckles. That's a lousy description, so think where your palms would be on the oars of a rowboat when you're extended at the start of a stroke. Other threads have detailed the ergonomic advantage of this position.

It seems to me the best bar for this position is a moustache with some drop to it, like so:


Here's my question: could I get a comparable position on a flat Nitto promenade? Here's a pic:


I'm thinking if I tilt the bars downward a bit, the outer edge of the curve gives a similar hand position to the moustache. The problem I see is the absence of reach in this position (it's actually slightly negative reach), compared with the moustache where there's probably 90-100 mm reach at this point. I'd need a stem with ~170 mm reach (!) to make up the difference from my current setup, and that stem doesn't seem to exist.

Can anyone think of a clever solution to the reach problem? Would dropping the stem help? Am I just too accustomed to my drops and the shorter reach might feel great (esp since I could climb from that position)? I know, getting the moustache is the *best* solution, but this would be such a sweet setup, and I'm not above aesthetics.

If I'm not explaining the hand positions well, lemme know and I'll try again.

I use promenades on two of my bikes and I use those bikes more than any others (I'm a messenger and spend many hours/day in the saddle.) I also have hand and wrist issues, which were practically eliminated when I switched to the proms. On one bike I have the bars jacked up to saddle height with the bars angled down toward my waist. Gives the perfect neutral hand position (for me). They have the added benefit of being:
1)relatively light
2)relatively cheap
3)Nitto, therefore well-made and gorgeous

can you fit road levers on the promenade? that might be pretty sweet.

i ride those nitto flat moustache promenade b17s! i've chopped several inches off of the ends, and they are the comfiest bars i've ever ridden. i usually use a 90mm stem, but i have these set up with a 110mm and i still even feel more upright and like i'm reaching less. the one hand position that they allow is totally comfortable (for me, at least) and climbing on them is surprisingly easy and fun. you do get almost no reach.. but, brake levers fit on them, they are classy looking, and riding a bit more upright feels nice from time to time.