Drops V Straights? and some touring advice...
 

Stuck in a rut. Got bikes set up with both drops and straights, and love them both. Problem is, I'm in the middle of building a tourer and got stuck on what bars to have. I've never ridden more than 100 miles in one go, and never cycled more than 2-3 days in a row, and I plan to go about cycling for 5-7 days as a sort of "beginners tour". If I go drops, I'll be using bar-end shifters, not "brifters". If I go risers, I'm not sure what grips I'd go for, as I've only ever ridden with standard hand grips, so I'm not sure where to go in terms of good ergo grips. I plan to be riding Englands Way of the Roses, 170 miles each way, but it does go across some pretty mad hills and inclines. I think I'm loaded for such a trip. My list includes -

Bike (obviously)
2 x Large Waterproof Drybag Panniers
1 man tent
Compact Sleeping bag
Camping mat
Bungie straps
Compact LED camping lamp
Handlebar Bag with Map Holder
Camping packeted food
Waterproof Pouches
Inflatable pillow

Thats all I've got to so far. Thinking about a Cycling Sat-Nav but I don't know what to do for charging? Anyway, any adivce for a first timer doing it alone would be greatly appreciated :)

Cheers, Che

3rd option : figure 8 bend Trekking Bars.., straight bar controls

Straps with buckles are more secure than Lashing down stuff with Elastic Bungees.

Bull horns with aerobars. Many hand positions. Would not leave home on an upright without aerobars. Restful and aerodynamic.

For a more nimble ride, consider 28 mm tires vs heavier, assuming pavement.

Ignore the pic. Need to change it. Rarely ride that anymore.

so like a Time trial setup, but more relaxed? I may have to look into that... and yes, it will be pavement with a tiny bit of pathway. I'm currently riding Schwalbe Durano 25mm, which have a ballooned 28mm feel to them, so I shall stick with them for now, got a few months of training to change anything beforehand. Thank you :)

Buckles, didnt think of that. Good plan Batman. I shall be investing in some of them, for sure. And the old butterfly bars, again, never thought of that. I'll have to borrow my friends bike, they have some. Thank you :)

Check out the photos of some guys setups that race/ride the Great Divide. Flat bars w/ aero bars.

https://www.google.com/search?q=grea...Ch2w5Adr&dpr=1

Fantastic pictures, looks like quite the trek :) as for the cockpit setups, some interesting combinations going on. certainly a lot to think about. I thought this was going to be the least of my worries! Thank you :)

I think this is one of those personal preference things. I like drop bars because they offer a lot of different hand positions and allow you to become more aerodynamic by dropping down a bit (obv). Another nice feature is they seem to minimize the width of the bike and rider so you can fit down narrow sidewalks on busy bridges instead of having to take the road. I think the best benefit of drop bars, though, is being able to easily use friction barcons. they work with any conventional drivetrain (that I know of) which is nice if you have problems on the road and need to replace chainwheels or cogs. And you never have to bring them in to a shop to get tinkered with, anyone can do it themselves with minimal tools and instruction.

Personally, I like the drop bar look more, too. Only thing that sucks is when you're at a standstill fully loaded and the bars flop over jabbing a barcon into your thigh (potentially). No biggie though.

Try your pillow out first, in your tent with your sleeping bag if you haven't. You might do as well stuffing your clothing, etc. in a stuffsack and using that.

I am not fond of the inflatable pillows even though I do use them backpacking.

I've used all the equipment before, festivals, general camping and such. I haven't trial-tested fitting everything I need onto the bike yet though, that needs addressing. The pillows are rubbish, but its better than nothing, especially with my neck.

I am being more drawn towards the drops, but I'm gonna try butterfly bars before I make a total decision, and see if I can grab some tri bars. I'll be using barcons I reckon if I do go drops

Generally if you use drop bars, your bike should have a shorter top tube. Flat bars you can use a longer top tube. Think about it, if you use flat bars, your hands are probably to the left and right of where your handlebars come out of the stem. But drop bars, when you are riding on the hoods your hands might be 8 inches (~20 cm) in front of where your handlebar comes out of the stem. While it might be easy to switch bar types by changing stem length, stems only come in a short range of lengths.

Maybe you should measure your top tubes on your flat bar bikes and on your drop bar bikes and then measure your new build and see if it is in one or the other category of short or long top tube bikes.

Having tried to adopt to trekking-bars for a year-and-a-half: I know many people like them, and there are several hand positions, but only one where you have control of the brakes [on drops, you have (at least?) three such positions.]

Some people like the Jeff Jones bars
If you scroll down theres a demo of the different hand positions
H-BAR

I can't even imagine what touring with aerobars would be like. My crotch gets sore just thinking of it, haha. I hope you find what's right for you though :)

Wow, lots of great advice guys :) thanks a lot, I've a lot to think about. I shall get on with it and see what's what :)

Not true - depends how you set things up. If you use reverse aero levers in the ends, you can add a set of cross levers anywhere along the bar that you like - could even be different side to side. This will give you at least 2 hand positions where you can grab brakes.

Actually, if you position the brake levers far enough outboard, you can have two positions where you can use the brakes, by "fingertipping" the brake levers from the outer sides of the trekking bars. I can stop myself quickly this way in all but the most desperate emergency stopping-in-a-drenching-rain situation. And in the latter situation, I've found it hard to stop no matter what ;) .

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=464632

What frame is it? Or is it custom and not built yet? Usually I'd go with what the builder of the frame had in mind when designing the frame.

I like drop bars. It whats my roadbike has on them and what I got used to and its what my touring bike (current and old) have on them. A few hand positions, easy to use brakes in both, with the bar-end shifters (which are easy to use in whatever position). Also narrower then some of the other options.

You`re both [David, nfmisso] correct of course. Probably just unwilling to change too much at my age :). I would like to try a cut Jones H-Loop bar.

All the bikes I ever owned (and fixed/sold) have had either drops or straight (no riser) bars w/ occasional bar ends. No interest in any other kind.

I'd like to try aero bars on straight bars. The bike would have to be a good fit before I attempt it.

I thought I had nothing to add to this conversation, but I do.

One ofmy touring bikes uses flat bars, very wide, with aerobars and super comfy grips. My other touring bike uses regular drop bars with bar-end shifters.

I like both. Both work for me. Perhaps neither setup is the "right" one for you, but rather, you'll find either/or work just fine.

Seeing the word "try" in there, I have a suggestion for you to consider.
A second hand set of Titec J or H bars would allow you to trial and see if you liked the sweepback positioning and angles.
They were made under license to Jeff Jones and where I started my handlebar journey.
I found a J-bar on eBay for $25 delivered.
Titec H-Bar and J-Bar Review ? First Impressions | Bike Carson

http://bikecarson.com/2010/10/25/tit...-final-review/

As they worked for me, I've since bought the genuine article and gotten the full loop H bar from Jeff which I love.
The genuine basic alloy H loop bar is $200 Au here in Aussie, so I wanted to be sure before I forked over that much mulah that I could get on with the hand positioning

Happy Spinning

Ergon grip systems make a Lot of bars that are 22.2mm (7/8") a lot more comfortable

and there are a lot of handlebar variations that are less than"straight"..