frpax

What handlebar do you tour with? I've got several bars in my arsenal, and not sure what to use.
I like drop bars, but do not really care for bar end shifters.
I currently am using a mountain bike bar w/ Shimano Rapid Fire shifters, but am not sure this will work for serious miles.

blauger

This year I bought a pair of butterfly/trekking handlebars and they're great. I can choose from 4 positions and that gives my neck a lot of relief.

fietsbob

I made up a custom, wider Randonneur bend bar with 2 narrow ones,
cut off-center, and combined in a 4" wide stem.
it was made to be quite comfortable.
and Bar end shifters

then I got a Rohloff hub trekking bike, and a trekking bar, the gripshifter,
and MTB Brake levers are a perfect combination..

I just don't use my Derailleur bike much, since.

You can continue to use that whole shifter set-up,
just relocated to the rear open end of the figure 8 bend bars.


It is all about how you set it up as far as height and reach.

I have my bars on the 2 bikes now have Trekking Bars on them
outfitted with pretty Fat double tape wraps .

I set them up so as to be a bit higher than the saddle.

and fairly close. A 10: and 2: hand position is the normal reach
and the bars rotated fairly flat, as I often spread my hands out flat
not gripping at all.. more than just leaning forward a Bit.

You can Buy Ergon GR5 combination Bar end/comfort grips and achieve touring comfort with out changing the bars at all.

many possibilities more than just an up/down vote on a few possible
A,B , or C options.

the Ergon upgrade is easy, buy those, then, go some where
you have to take all day riding to, camp there and ride back.

change the handlebar setup and go for the same ride , again.
personal experience will be more useful than a survey..

I have all 3 on different bikes
third one, Ergon grips on my Brompton M3L 2 speed crank.

I could take tours on it as well. Touring, after all,
it is just time in the saddle, turning the pedals.

skilsaw

Drops with Brifters on one bike and low riser bar with rapidfire shifters on the other.
Like them both. Drops on highway, and riser bar on old railroads with tracks lifted.

wahoonc

Need to add a multiple bars choice...

My "road" tour bike currently has drop bars and brifters, though I plan on going back to bar end shifters. Expedition/rough stuff bike has butterfly bars, my Raleigh 3/4/5 speed has Northroad style bars. I don't know what you would call the bars on my folding bikes.

Aaron

bktourer1

Both my rides have trekking bars with grip shifters. Gel pads under the tape works best for me.

bradtx

frpax, I think in N. America drop bars will be the most common, less so in Europe. The flat bars w/bar ends wasn't bad when I used my mountain bike for my short tours, but I'm more comfortable (accustomed?) to the drop bars when on a road bike. I think trekking/butterfly handle bars are a great choice for someone that doesn't want a drop bar.

Brad

staehpj1 

I answered drop bars but do also sometimes use my flat bar mountain bike. My bikes are ll either:

1. Drop bars with STI brifters (2 bikes)
2. Drop bars with down tube shifters (3 bikes)
3. Flat bars with thumb shifters (one bike)

I have sometimes considered drop bars on the mountain bike as well.

Edit: I should have mentioned that the flat MTB bars have a bit of rise, a bit of back sweep, and bar end extensions.

jbphilly

Surly Torsion bars (flat with I think 15 degrees sweep back) with Ergon GR2 grips.

Two hand positions, but really the extra one only gets used for climbing, because the regular one is so dang comfortable.

Cyclebum

Thousands of miles with double wrapped bull horns, friction shifters, and aerobars. Did not help my rear end a bit, thus the bent.

cyccommute 

I use Salsa Bell Laps for road touring. Nice flare of the drops and the tops are angled just about right for your hands on the hoods. I also use, and prefer, STI shifters. I've used barend shifters in the past and never been a fan. Reaching down to shift never felt natural and the auto shifting from bumping the shifters when parked drove me nuts.

For off-road touring, I use flat bars with handlebar ends (not shifters) and Sram X0 or X9 shifters. But the flat bars always lead to numbness even with the barends. There are just not enough positions available.

GamblerGORD53

Neither. There are FOUR categories.
My Raleigh swept back 70 degree bar has NO resemblance to broom handle mountain bars.

Carbonfiberboy 

Drop bars with STI. 3T bars have a nice flat top behind the brifters. The thing with drops and brifters is that there are hand positions associated with the hoods that do not involve holding a round bar. Hence better hand comfort. I don't know of a brake lever on the market that provides the same comfort and hand positions provided by a modern brifter. Close, but not the same.

Bullhorns and aerobars or drop bars with clipons are good options, too, IMO.

Bekologist

I'm building up a monster cross touring bike over the winter with salsa bell laps or another salsa classic bar. i'll be using brake interruptor levers for mixed on/off road touring. I've always hated going downhill offroad on steep stuff with drop bars. Brake interruptor levers will give a nice secure upper braking position.

I've used salsa bars for a few years on my touring bikes; i like them because of the long ends of the drops really provide a nice lower perch on the handlebars that soaks up a lot of road vibration.

robow

Currently my Habanero Ti Road bike I use for lighter touring has STI and drop bars. My beefy 26" LHT has trekking bars with thumb shifters and MTB components which are great for trails and slower riding with heavy loads.

ClemY

Nitto 115 model drop bars with Shimano indexed barcons.

Western Flyer 

I use 46cm Moto Ace Bell Lap cyclocross drop bars. They give me lots of room on the bar top, keeps my arms and shoulders wide for comfort on the road and a little extra leverage on dirt roads and single track.

When my STI shifters gave out I replaced them with Dura Ace barcons mounted on Paul Thumbies. I much prefer having the shifting up topsides especially on very steep off road descents where venturing out to the brake hood is done at your peril. I put cross brake handles under the Thumbies like old style mtb thumb shifters/brakes. Once I got it all dialed in it made all the sense for touring and I don’t see myself ever going back to STI shifters.

One big draw back to the Bell Lap bars and most modern ergonomic drop bars is the run-out is too short to comfortably grip for long periods when pedaling into a head wind. I added Controltech Terminators which extend the bars for comfortable support the entire width of my hands. It gives me a 7[SUP]th[/SUP] hand position that I use far more often touring than the deep tuck position under the brakes. As a side note, you can’t mount bar end sifters in the Terminators.

DropBarFan

Poll shows drop bars winning heh (well I gotta cheer since it's in my nym). Kinda ironic that drop bars for touring are now considered an "American" thing since during 70's bike boom the prestige Euro tourers typically had drop bars. Unless the road/trail is very slippery or bumpy I like how drops offer the more aero/ergo riding position. Hard pedaling with flat bars feels like more strain on the back. Switching now from a bike w/brifters to bar-end shifters. Brifters are super-convenient but the Shimanos have some drawbacks ie cable sticking out (interfering with handlebar bag), not rebuildable, no q/r button etc.

sstorkel

My Ultegra 6600-series brifters don't seem to interfere with my Lone Peak H-100 handlebar bag. I just push the cables out of the way and everything works fine. I'm using this setup with 40cm 3T Ergosum Pro handlebars, which are my favorite by far.

Clarabelle

Drop handlebars, but I raised them with an extender to take pressure off my hands. Helped with the numbness a lot.

surfjimc

Drop bars here too. I have 48cm Nitto Noodles, double wrapped, with bar end shifters. I ran all the cables in an aero fashion so it has a nice clean look.

alexaschwanden

I am using drop bars but my setup is that the seat is abit higher so I have an aggressive position.

SparkyGA

MTB bars for me, unknown brand. It works fine for me comfort wise, but I don't like the lack of real estate. Might switch out to a trekking bar this winter.

Aushiker

Same here.

Andrew

frpax

Well, I wish my bike had braze on's for downtube shifters... then, I could use a drop bar and not worry about bar end shifters.
But, alas, the bike has cable stops; so I either use a drop bar with bar ends (don't really like them), or use my current mtn bike bar setup with mtb shifter pods. I suppose I could get some bar ends and then I'd have some extra hand positions... or maybe get a trekking bar.

Thanks all, for your input!