Alternative to Jones H bar ?

[a.twiddler]

I've been motivated to take the plunge by posts on this thread and fitted a Planet-x Geoff bar to my modest MTB. Original straight bar with gel grips and bar ends was comfortable but I had a hankering for extra hand positions.
Fitting was straightforward with some trial and error. The cable runs are a little sharply curved for my liking but brakes and gears work OK.

I managed to fit my original Tioga bar ends by carefully sliding them up the bar to the welds. Note that they are reversed. They are not as ergonomic as they were on the original bars but they still give an additional hand position. There is a modified Mountain Myrricle attached to the RH one, which still gives a good rear view even though it is now inboard compared with the original fitting. The combined Shimano brake/gear levers were slid up to the relocated bar ends leaving space for the gear triggers to move fully. I used a set of drop bar foam grips from Halfords (£4.95) to cover the remaining grip area, trimmed to length. I still have enough left for another bar.

After a couple of 20 mile runs on a mixture of road, railway path and rough bridlepath I can report that for me at least the results are good. The wide bars are not such a problem even on the type of barriers found on cycleways in my locality: it is not hard to wriggle through. The bars at first seemed immense but I soon got the hang of riding with them. They give confidence on rough/ muddy sections, and allow the grip to be changed for more normal riding. I found that I could stretch out to the loop part of the bars going downhill or on the flat on tarmac. I have not tried them against a headwind yet. There is no problem in reaching the brake or gear levers.
As others have suggested, the extension needs to be reduced (mine is 9cm) to bring the bars back slightly. I also think that for me, the bars would benefit from raising slightly. I will probably try a stem adjustable for angle to address this.
The angle of the bars is about 15 degrees, which works for me at present.
I have cable tied an old camera bag between the main bar and the loop for now so that I can carry refreshments, which will be replaced with something more purpose made once I have decided on the final layout of accessories etc on the bars.
Hope that this info is helpful to anyone thinking of buying a set of these bars.

[reohn2]

It's your choice of course,but IMO the bar ends don't offer any improvement to the loop bar,in fact I'd say they nullify at least two if not more hand positions this handlebar has to offer and kills any quick access to brakes and gearlevers from inboard of them.
The latter observation has always been my gripe with bar ends on the end of ordinary straight bars.
If you like the bar ends where they are perhaps a Surly Moloko bare may be a better bar for your needs,though the backsweep isn't as much at 34degrees,as the Geoff bar.

[a.twiddler]

Still evaluating at present. The bar ends may disappear in due course, though being able to mount a mirror in a position where it is more protected than on the end of an already wide bar, and with a good view, is worth a lot to me.

If the Planet-x Geoff bar proves successful, it may have implications for the Nitto Randonneur on my steel tourer. This would be a more involved conversion than just a bar swop, needing a replacement for the brifters and removal of the cross brakes. It is a good set up that works well at present so I won't be changing over unless there is potential for a significant improvement. Also there is still that lingering feeling that a "proper" tourer should have drops. Anyhow, time will tell.

[reohn2]

Still evaluating at present. The bar ends may disappear in due course, though being able to mount a mirror in a position where it is more protected than on the end of an already wide bar, and with a good view, is worth a lot to me.

I'm using a Cateye BM300G RVM designed for drops though they now appear to be discontinued

If the Planet-x Geoff bar proves successful, it may have implications for the Nitto Randonneur on my steel tourer. This would be a more involved conversion than just a bar swop, needing a replacement for the brifters and removal of the cross brakes. It is a good set up that works well at present so I won't be changing over unless there is potential for a significant improvement.....

My Salsa Vaya has drops and I've ridden drops both on and off road for many a looonnnnggggggg year but due to the comfort and many hand positions of the Geoff bar I'm considering changing them.

Also there is still that lingering feeling that a "proper" tourer should have drops. Anyhow, time will tell

I've long since turned my back on convention in favour of what suits me for the best cycling experience

[hemo]

Fitted the PX Geoffs to my 700c Boardman last week and what a pleasure to ride with, ride position was a bit too upright for me so added a 160mm stem that suited me better. Fitted the Ergon GP2's I had on the old bars and very pleased with the new set up.

May consider doing the e-kit mtb now as well.

Only thing with the bars is the width though if need be they can be trimmed, brakes cable esp Hydraulic may be tight so you may need to think about new longer cables if you don't have enough length with them. My front was a bit long to start with but now ideal.