Handlebar types... what are the pro's and con's
 

alright,

I ride a Fixed Gear Duracycle road bike. It's a small frame and I like it.

I have the stock Drop Bar setup and I am at a small crossroads.

At first I didn't like the drop setup (mainly because I have the cheesy foam around the bars that looks nasty, but now I know I can just upgrade that to Cork Tape)... but Now i'm starting to grow to appreciate it... I like the drop stance when i'm climbing a hill or I need to be ready to use my brake in traffic/congested areas.

The only thing I don't like (Besides the cheesy foam) is my upright position. I feel the the bars a bit too low causing my arms to get tired. Maybe it's my setup.. maybe its me.

Anyways.. I have a spare set of Drop Bars (bare) that i'm thinking of doing the ol "Chop and Flop" to. If i do the chop and flop, i won't have the drop stance anymore and i'm worried climbing/traffic areas might be weird.

Any advice here?

climbing on bullhorns is super easy, because you still generally have the same position as in drops, just higher up.
as for the brake - you just have to position your brakes in an easily reachable position on the bullhorns... maybe get a set of those bar-end brakes.

Flip and chops wont be any higher than your current brake hoods. If your hoods are too uncomfortable to ride on you might want to try tektro aero levers (pic); they're cheap as ****, they feel great and they're easy to brake with from the tops. The big draw of drops is multiple hand positions and cobnverting to flipnchops is basically just going to lose you that aero position while not gaining anything new.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/b...san-jos8-3.jpg

Track drops:
Pros: sexy, if you sprint out of the saddle your forearm won't hit the upper part of the bar or curve
Cons: Only two riding positions, one of which is relatively uncomfortable for long rides and unsuitable for city riding, the other of which is a little too narrow for climbing leverage, and you lose control. People call it leverage, but that's a bit of a misuse of term. Oh, and mounting brakes can be a bother, most look terrible, except for cyclocross levers near the stem

Road drops: Same as track drops, except brake levers generally do better and thus afford more hand positions, but hoods make the bars bulkier, and they're often wide to begin with.. kinda lame on a fixed gear, as you've found.

Time Trial/Tri Bullhorns (as opposed to flip and chop jobs):
Pros: Many hand positions, if they're long enough, you can get into a nice aero position while still being sort-of high up. Internal cable routing on some models. Brake mounting is sexy and effective with "reverse" levers. Great for climbing, I've found.
Cons: Look a little funny if they're really long, and if they don't have a "drop" to the horn parts. And they often look out of place on old steel bikes, except for the nitto models.

Flip and Chops:
Pros: economical (usually), great upright hand positions for city riding, ample flats for comfortable positions, generally accepted for use on any road bike, you can cut 'em like you like.. also great for climbing
Cons: Not quite as many hand positions as other road-oriented bars, have to do your own handiwork, brake mouting can be dicey (again, cyclocross lever or reverse lever if you can get it to fit), no real aero position (really, most of these have a completely different feel than time trial bullhorns, because those have a drop and long horn section, and these usually are angled up and have a short horn section). Most older road bars are very narrow for bigger people, but some people (me included) like narrow bars.. give me 35 and I'd be happy.

Flat bars and risers:
Pros: really wide or really narrow if you want.. I guess you can do barspins, but no one cares.
Cons: everyone will hate you if you put these on a road bike, especially with those damn neon or oury grips (there is a reason you people find them so difficult to install). Few hand positions, none of which are very effective for city riding. Did I mention your whole bike will suddenly look like ****? Please don't put these on.. I'd give anything not to see another road bike with flats or risers. They scream "I like fast bikes, but I can't handle the resultant body position. And I may be brain-damaged".

EDIT: If I see anyone riding a bike like this, I will not speak to you. I'm serious, folks.
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/5125/img18311qo4.jpg
(sorry to the guy who posted this in the riser fan club thread)

hey hoss my polo bike has risers on it and my everyday bike as well sorry it makes you upset but my everday bike also gets bullhorns on occasion

you forgot a few

Mustache bars: basically a road drop with no drop a few hand positions great for climbing and really comfy
cons: often times too wide for tight maneuvering in traffic

cruiser/ arc/ northroad style bars: one position very upright very comfortable
cons: looks a little wonky at times but the comfort takes the cake

Right, on polo bikes or mountain bikes they're quite suitable.

Moustache bars are damn comfortable, and look nice on certain bikes (usually ones with nice fenders and vintage goodies). I wouldn't really call them road drops with no drops.. they're completely different. Usually they swoop forward for a truncated form of a bullhorn, then sweep back for a wide and upright position. All of this is roughly in a plane parallel to the ground, although the outer parts may be dropped a little.

just take the handlebars off... be a real man.

look at a mustache bar and a road drop and you will se what I am saying trust me

http://bikecult.com/works/parts/nittoB602a.jpg

The next big thing in the fixed world; get on it now so you can hate when everyone else does.

Risers are nice because they change the handling of the bike a bit but I'm getting tired of them.

What I've found is my taste for bars changes depending on my gear ratio. Risers feel better with a lower, more spinny ratio to me, while drops feel best with a higher ratio (80").

I really need to get those Nitto Bullhorns though.

woah! thanx so much fellas!

okay, now to really push the envelope.. i know I can search google images or even these forums... but is it possible you could include pictures of each type of handle bars?

haha i know i'm asking alot. but thanx in advance if you can! :eek::):D

The levers pictured are Cane Creek SCR-5. The Tektros are the same basic shape though, and a few bucks cheaper.

get these:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...41_1982197.jpg

^those are hot bars. I kinda want some for my BFSSFG IRO....

In days prior you'd point people to Sheldon Brown

Now its Bike Snob NYC http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2007...bar-scene.html

yeah the scrs have those skinks on the hoods and not much (nothing?) else different. AFAIK they're the same thing.

I'm about to change my track bars out for road bars. The track bars look nice, but I'm not in the drops enough, I miss the position on the brake hoods, and the reach is just too long for me.

I would never go for a more upright handlebar for a road bike or track bike. If I want upright, I have a cruiser. I would never change the ride of my road bike.

I personally will be going with the Nashbar TT bars in 40cm width on my IRO group by frame. On my other two road bikes i spend nearly 95% of my time on the hoods or the top of the bar only using the drops to sprint or when descending. I figure i won't miss the drops too much since i won't be tackling any major hills with the fixie and i can get low and aero enough even with my hands on the brake lever hoods.

If you're an experienced cyclist, you gain absolutely nothing with flat bars on a road bike -- nothing! All you're doing is losing some usable hand positions, and sort of keeping the tops position.

:lol: I was looking on the Ben's Cycle site today thinking 'damn...those would be fun to ride if you chopped them down a touch.' :lol:

those look so ridiculous and uncomfortable.

wrong. they rule.

perhaps for a cruiser about a foot above the saddle.

Midge bars are nice, trick is to get them up high so you can truly employ all the positions