I'm piecing together a new touring bike, intending on using Kona Sutra frame. I am thinking I spend majority of my time on the tops when I ride and tour, so my thoughts are going to building up the new bike with a flat bar (580mm) that way I can have top performing Hydrualic brakes, and use MTB shifters. for an extra hand position I was also thinking that I would install bar end grips.

What are everyone's thoughts on this? or has anyone toured 100+km(60+mi) a day on flat bars, and how well did it work?

My mountain bike fits me really well and does have bar-ends. I didn't have a touring day near 100 km, but I was pretty sure that drop bars would suit me better, and they have. At a minimum I consider the bar-ends essential and using a twist shifter for a wider grip area might help. If you don't already have a flat bar bike you won't know exactly how you'll cope with the change. Good luck...

Brad

Only you can decide what is comfortable for you . If you find a flat bar comfortable for eight hours it's okay. If not, it's torture.

Just getting trekking (butterfly) bars. Tilt them down at the front and you have an aero position. They also have good shock absorbing capabilities on the rear free ends. Just make sure you fit them with a long stem so the rear hand position is at least an inch in front of the steerer axis, otherwise they feel weird.

I'm not to keen on trekking bars, I think I would rather bullhorns

That is a personal decision. I will say that yes I have done that and found it OK but less comfortable than drop bars. Trekking bars came in a poor third in comfort for me.
Of course your results may be entirely different.

When in continental Europe, I noticed that most bike tourists I saw were using flat bars instead of drop bars. I think it is more of a regional thing. But I prefer drop bars, especially if there might be headwinds.

If you switch to flat bars, do not be surprised if you start thinking about a wider flatter saddle too. But if I recall correctly, you use a B17 which should be good for flat bar riding too.

The friend that I have done most of my touring with has gone to the type of bar in the photo, his bike is the closest bike to the camera on the left, I think he calls them bullhorns.



The gal with the bike in the photo below is in year seven of her continuous around the world bike tour. She said that her bike has about 100,000 km on it, but most components have been replaced a few times.



There are a lot of flat bar bikes pictured here if you are looking for ideas: Loaded Touring Bicycles - On Tour Photo Gallery by The Loaded Touring Bike Photo Gallery at pbase.com

I made one short trip on a mountain bike with flat bars and bar ends. I found myself always looking for the brake hood riding position that wasn't there. The bar ends did not provide it as thay were too wide and I got numb fingers using them. Brake hoods place your arms at a more natural shoulder width position.

Have you considered adding cross-top levers to drop bars with conventional brakes? They add the powerful flat bar mountain bike braking grip that is missing from drop bar levers alone. I use them continually on long gravel road descents...

I switched out the drop bar on my Salsa Fargo for a Jones Loop bar a couple of years ago and have found it to be very comfortable. I like it far more than the trekking bar I had on a LHT. I like the sweep back shape and I can use the far end of the loop for a more aero position, though I never really do that unless coasting down hill.

Love the photo gallery . Bookmarked. :-) Thank you.

Not enough hand positions for me. Being able to rotate my hands and wrists 90deg every few miles or 30min really helps reduce hand, wrist, and arm soreness.
I loved the butterfly bars I had on a bike last summer. Those things were fantastic. I could have my arms out wide, ride upright, ride more stretched out, and there were dozens of hand positions to keep my body from aching due to being locked in a position too long.

They arent the most beautiful, but when they are on a bike carrying a bunch of gear, utility becomes the main concern.

I also use those brake levers on all my drop bar bikes (five). I have mine a bit further apart than you have yours, that gives me more real estate on the top in the middle to mount computer, GPS, bell, etc. And a bit further apart, I get a little more leverage for steering at slower speeds. Photo is one of my bikes.

I find flat bars way too limiting. You are always in an upright position. When riding all day, I find that I spend a good amount of time in the drops- not for the aero effect but to stretch out my back and shoulders, etc. and to move my butt around on the saddle a bit. Also, as others have said, a lot of different hand positions as well.

I was wanting to go hydraulic, and they don't work with cross levers

If the work for you.

I have never taken to flat bars. I put bar ends on them, and they became more tolerable, but still not great. On my LHT, I had Albatross bars, and I liked them. I thought I'd get multiple positions out of them, but in reality, I spent 99% of my time grabbing the end of the sweep. Trying to hold on at the bend didn't feel right, but it was useful when I started to need a change of position or wanted to get a little more stretched out. My Troll runs some Crazy Bars. Not as much sweep as the A-bars, which I like for this bike. I thought I'd have 3 hand positions: the ends of the sweep, the flat, and the horns. In reality the flat section is where headlight is attached and where the bar bag harness attaches, so it's not always accessible. The horns are just a little too far out, so I tend not to use them unless I really need a stretch or need to duck down a bit. I suspect they will get more use once I get some longer days on them. For me though, it's having some amount of sweep to the bars that makes them pleasant to use. Flat bars, even with bar ends, never did it for me. And neither did drops, really.

A good suggestion, thanks. A new installation, still tweaking the fit. The pictured cross-tops have to be attached on the 31.8 bulge so they can't go much wider. My previous Midge bars were a continuous 25.4 so I had them wider like yours. I may experiment with the previous 25.4 clamp cross-tops.

Oops. I had read that but forgot. Sorry.

I have one bike with the 31.8 mm bars. I first tried the smaller diameter clamp levers, but that put the brake levers too far apart for my tastes. Got the 31.8 clamp levers and have them as far apart as I can put them without mounting them on the taper which I am sure would be a disaster. In the photo the clamp for the brake levers is under my computer on the right and under the bell on the left. You can see a sliver of silver color between the black tape and black brake clamps.

For all day comfort, postural variety is key. Muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc. rebel when they remain contracted ("loaded") for extended periods: they become sore. They will get stronger, but there are limits.

Holding handlebars recruits muscles in your fingers, hands, forearms, upper arms, shoulders, neck, upper back, lower back and more. The more ways your setup encourages postural variety, the less likely it is you will overwork muscles.

I would get very sore on flat bars, even if equipped with bar ends. Both of my touring bikes have drop bars and aero bars. The aero bar position is good for resting the hands, and also makes it easier to climb hills and ride into headwinds.

I am using Racface XC mtn flat handlebars and Shimano XT m770 thumb Shifters 9speed
on my Surly LHT 26in 52cm 2008 and I like using the flat bars and clamp 25.4mm

Another vote for Jones Loop H bars. More hand positions than drops and very stable. I have Ergon grips on mine, Deore shifters.

They are expensive at $120, but they hold resale value remarkably well if you want to go back to flat bars or drops.

This is a Rando/Adventure bike set up (Nitto North Road), but it has done quite a few all day rides. It is both comfortable and versatile.
I gives me several hand positions including resting my forearms on the bars while holding the hoods to get out of the wind. It also affords enough leverage to permit good control off road.

I have both kinds of bikes - one with flat bar and one with drop bar. I will get hand fatigue on both, but the drop bar more so. On the drop bar I ride predominantly on the hoods and for me, the pressure of the handlebar between my thumb and forefinger gets painful.

My longest day in the saddle on this bike was 116 miles offroad. Only reason I had to stop was the sun was setting and I needed to set up camp. No comfort issues at all, and plenty of hand positions.

I find this to be one advantage of the unconventional hood position in my setup. The hoods are now sideways and offer a much wider platform which reduces pressure.

It is a matter of personal preference, riding style and comfort. For me I prefer drops for any longer rides because it gives me 3- different positions to help minimize and address fatigue and in case of strong headwinds, going the drops I find is a real advantage.