are bum bars the new risers?
 

sorry if i'm behind the times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIwMGkqa6Sw

I saw some bars with just the very bottoms chopped off and positioned like promenade bars. They were... awkward looking.

They're just a poor mans way of staying comfortable is all, no harm, and far from deserving the stupid ass nickname of "bum bars."

What are "bum bars"?

No way. They're totally bum bars. They're usually accompanied by plastic grocery bags of dirty shoes and old food hanging off each side.
And these days, in Philly, I've been seeing more & more hipsters using them... Weird.

aka Hobo Bars.

I see them a lot in Memphis. A lot of homeless guys have these old road bikes, don't know from where, and they're bars are often rotated up like that. No adjustment to brake lever placement.

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2009/sept/1/Caine.htm

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2009/sept/1/Caine-1.jpg

Apparently they are "comfy for commuting". I guess this would be comfy for commuting too:

http://media.rei.com/media/729920.jpg

I might just be on to the next FG trend!

I've never seen such handlebars on the street, but I know that such setups are used in artistic cycling. I'd guess that's the reason they appeared in that scene in Quicksilver.

I thought they were called DUI bars :)

Sometimes the dudes from our LBS will filp em around as a joke....

1:1 gear ratios are in now too, I guess.

The road drops on my fixed are rotated up about 15 degrees past horizontal. Gives a little bit more bullhorn-esque leverage when pulling on the corners, and turns the flat bottom of the drops into a more ergo-road position.

It's pretty sweet. I'll call it the half-hobo.

All the older guys in my area ride them like that and have been for about 35 years, and they are far from bums/hobos. Matter of fact if any of you feel like going to the corner of 4th and Indiana (Philly) and telling the guys there that their riding "bum bars" let me know, I'd love to be there and get a pic of you walking to the hospital with your rear wheel sticking out of your ass.

lol....another internet tough guy.
hardly ever see those.

Oh no, your mistaken (for what ever reason?) I never mentioned that I was going to be taking part in the ass kickin' did I, all I'd be doing is taking pics. :thumb: Sorry that you couldn't read that right guy.

you know what you were trying to do.

You know nothing about what I was or was not trying to do. (it also apears that you didn't take a second to go back and re-read it.)
Wait! are you god! Sweet! Let me take a second out to let you know that I don't believe in you! Wait! your god! you knew that already!

when did this become a vague religious nonsense/horrible punctuation thread?

pwned by a n00b

Now, I mean just now, like at this very moment! when you told us it was, thanks! your the best nOOb ever! I thank you for taking the time out to pwn me! your awethum! :thumb:

"bum bars" refers to the origin, doesn't mean that everyone with them actually IS a bum. :thumb:
Just cause old guys stole an idea from the bums (or they think alike), doesn't make them a bum either.

Oh, and anything that is THIS WIDELY known, becomes truth; even though they aren't actually marketed as bum bars... they are bum bars.

Nice edit. Contractions are hard, huh?!

Thanks again for your wisdom, you are the nOOb King! Enjoy the title. :thumb:

Uh, no. I never, ever, saw bums riding around with upturned bars when I was a kid, just the neighborhood guys. Oh, if you really beleive the highlighted part of your reply, you are truly a sad person. :(

This is crazy. I would never have expected to see ilikebikes picking a fight in the ss/fg forum.

My girlfriend rides her bars like this and I've tried and tried to find another type of bar she would like but she insist this is the only way she wants her bars as she has been riding them like that since she was younger. I really don't care if they look stupid because they are comfortable to her, but the brake positioning is very hard to reach and I really have serious concerns about her safety. It's to the point where she gets mad whenever I mention it now. Any advice? Different brake positions? Bars girls tend to like?

Not picking a fight, if I were there would be no doubt. ;) I can reply with my opinions just like all other are, on that note I guess they're "picking a fight" too? Anyways, so you know, I'm not picking a fight. :)

The kind where they can get drunk and dance sexy with each other.

What makes me crack up about the SS/FG forum so much, is that folks brag and boast about how they "love simplicity" yet over-complicate everything. Argue over brakes (breaks), trying to add length to their headtube for bAr$p1nz, mounting the brakelever (breaklever) to wierd positions (under seat, top tube, etc), and countless wierd set-ups and conversions.

I thought SS/FG was all about Zen and "one-ness"... however, aside from the Road forum, this place is filled with cranky haters. It reminds me of when I used to work at a gym and the worst complainers and b|tchers were the "peaceful" yoga people. :lol:

Lighten up, people. SS/FG is about simplicity, right?

I see what you did there.

were neighbors.