Transition from drop to flat bar tourers

[ossie]

How about some butterfly bars?

They give a greater number of hand positions, infact the furthest position are most akin to being on the hoods...

Just a thought.

Cheers James

I was just about to post the same. I stuck butterfly bars on one bike and cycled around Europe, extremely comfortable.

[gbnz]

As others have said converting your bike may be the best initial way forwardv

+ 1. I grew up on drops in the 80's, stuck with drops in the 90's and when heavily back into cycling in the 21st century, was a dedicated, superlight roadie on drops for several years!

But have had two road bikes c/w flats, a cyclocross I converted to flats after a 15month tour on drops and the Spa Tourer on flats duringt he 21st century. Never had an issue, hills are more to do with fitness and gearing. Head winds are always an issue on any bike!

[pq]

[quoteIf you look at many foreign tourers they are riding flat bars. I've never quite understood the fixation for drops by the Brits, although this is slowly changing.][/quote]

I've never understood why so many (non British) tourers never even consider using drops. They aren't for everyone but for some (including me) they're a great option. Having often been quizzed about it by other riders, I think it's because of the association with racing - therefore you wouldn't fit them to a tourer. I ride them simply becasue I'm more comfortable on them than any other bar I've tried.

[nez]

How about some butterfly bars?

They give a greater number of hand positions, infact the furthest position are most akin to being on the hoods...

Just a thought.

Cheers James

I was just about to post the same. I stuck butterfly bars on one bike and cycled around Europe, extremely comfortable.

I've never ridden a bike with butterfly bars. Obviously they provide loads of choice for hand positions but they look very unwieldy.

[Mike_Ayling]

Until we purchased our Thorn tandem in 2012 I had always ridden drops but Thorn were persuasive in their argument for flat bar so the tandem is flat bar. I was riding a Surly LHT with drops but when I wanted a single with Rohloff I had no hesitation in specifying flat bar for my Mercury. Both the tandem a d the Mercury have TranzX bar ends.

LIke the OP Mary and I are in our seventies.

Mike

[Bullsnut]

I use butterfly’s on my tourer, drops on my gravel bike. Just food for thought if you were to consider butterfly bars. I find them very comfortable and find the extra hand positions brilliant. I’d taken it off when I took the photo (bike went into storage for housemove)but you can fit an Ortlieb handlebar bag using the ortlieb extension bracket so it clears the bars properly. I’ll try to update the photo sometime.

[markjohnobrien]

[quoteIf you look at many foreign tourers they are riding flat bars. I've never quite understood the fixation for drops by the Brits, although this is slowly changing.]

I've never understood why so many (non British) tourers never even consider using drops. They aren't for everyone but for some (including me) they're a great option. Having often been quizzed about it by other riders, I think it's because of the association with racing - therefore you wouldn't fit them to a tourer. I ride them simply becasue I'm more comfortable on them than any other bar I've tried.[/quote]

Same for me: they have more hand positions so are simply more comfortable.

[Jdsk]

If you look at many foreign tourers they are riding flat bars. I've never quite understood the fixation for drops by the Brits, although this is slowly changing.]

I've never understood why so many (non British) tourers never even consider using drops. They aren't for everyone but for some (including me) they're a great option. Having often been quizzed about it by other riders, I think it's because of the association with racing - therefore you wouldn't fit them to a tourer. I ride them simply becasue I'm more comfortable on them than any other bar I've tried.

Same for me: they have more hand positions so are simply more comfortable.

And us. This comes up quite often in conversation with other cyclists who have bought bikes with flat bars. It's usually followed by the observation that in traffic I ride head-up and mostly on the hoods, that point about multiple positions... and then aligning the bikes of interest. My dropped bars are much higher than they expect.

Jonathan

[markjohnobrien]

I've never understood why so many (non British) tourers never even consider using drops. They aren't for everyone but for some (including me) they're a great option. Having often been quizzed about it by other riders, I think it's because of the association with racing - therefore you wouldn't fit them to a tourer. I ride them simply becasue I'm more comfortable on them than any other bar I've tried.

Same for me: they have more hand positions so are simply more comfortable.

And us. This comes up quite often in conversation with other cyclists who have bought bikes with flat bars. It's usually followed by the observation that in traffic I ride head-up and mostly on the hoods, that point about multiple positions... and then aligning the bikes of interest. My dropped bars are much higher than they expect.

Jonathan

Yes, same for me. My dropped bars are much higher than roadies would have and they’ve made some funny comments “but your bars are nearly higher than your saddle” leading to my explaining that it’s a touring bike, etc, etc.

[thirdcrank]

I took it this was not about which type of bar was somehow better, but what it would be like to make the change. Like a lot of British riders of my era (b. 1944) I grew up using drops as it was the normal thing to do. Along the way, my attitude was confirmed when an older CTC member - the father of a cycling chum - decided he only ever used the centre of his drops so he chopped the rest off and then discovered how much he actually used the rest of his bars.

Having spent the first few decades of my cycling life riding second-hand bikes, the reality is you can quickly get used to anything.

It's my impression that it's easier to get your position right ie comfy, with a bike designed for the bars which are fitted but the modern type of stem makes that much easier. As noted by others above, I found my first pair on a standard bike too long and chopped off a bit at either end. There's less choice of position, which is perhaps why bar ends are popular; there are even some (Neuks?) which give a sort of drop position. I think climbing with flat bars is better done by gearing down than pedalling harder in all its forms, but gearing down may be inevitable with ageing anyway.

[PT1029]

I would suggest:
Try a higher bar position if easy to do.
Try (if you have not got them) interrupter brake levers on the tops (so you still keep the drop levers as well). allowing you to ride on the tops with brakes easy to hand:
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brake-lever ... amp-black/ these allow you to brake from the tops, and they do work unlike the "suicide" extention levers of the 1970's that didn't work. You need aero cable routing type drop bar levers to use these.
Although I use drops, I also use;
Scott AT3 bars (flats with built in long bar ends is an approx decription).
I also get on with butterfly bars on the tandem (chosen for brake lever type, so the tail wagging the dog perhaps), but I found them fine.
The first buttefly bars I had were like the ones pictures up thread, but I wanted a longer reach, so I got some Humpert bars which had the clamp at the back (so all the handle bar was at/infront of the clamp).
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/handlebars/ ... amp-black/ these the"butterfly bit" can be adjusted in the same way you can adjust a bar end (the dark grey splodge on the outer bend is where you put your allen key to loosen the internal wedge to adjust the position).
Unlike the original bars, I get a bit of numbness in my hand after some miles which I don't get on my other bikes), so getting the angle right is obviously important.
What I miss when not using drop bars - being unable to lean forward to do long descents with my hands on the lever hoods. Descending on the tops/flats is just not the same.
Re windy Lincolnshire comment. A fair point. That said, in Holland I saw a tall Dutch roadster bike (proper one, full chaincase, mud guards, stand etc) with very high flat handlebars on it with yes, tri/aero bars bolted on!

[531colin]

Butterfly bars are enormous!
If I set them up with a sensible reach, I can't do a U turn in a narrow lane because i can't reach the further end of the bar!

[Greystoke]

I converted my MTB tourer from flat bars to drop bars and prefer it.
But I'd experimented with bar ends of various sizes and shapes. I ended up with ergonomic grips then pieces of old handlebars welded at 90° on the ends which turned upwards. I wrapped all this in handlebar tape. I left it like that for a few years as it gave me upright and a position like riding on the brake hoods of drop bars. I spent so much time in the last position with no brakes to hand so I swapped to drops.
You could try something similar.
They were the most comfortable bars ever.

[PT1029]

Re size of butterfly bars, yes can be big!
The Humpert ones I linked to are noticably narrower (choice of 510mm or 560mm wide) than my original bars that I would call "normal" butterfly bars.
Also on the SJS website are Humpert bars at 590mm wide, also "narrow" at 520mm wide.

[cycle tramp]

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=144946
An upright stance in "windy Lincolnshire"..?
If you fit shorter stems to your drop bar bikes (say 2cm shorter, or play about with whatever stems you have knocking about) you can have the best of all worlds; a more upright stance when you choose, with the ability to get down/forward a bit when you want to, or into a headwind.
(This is easier with ahead stems with a 2 bolt faceplate, because you don't have to re-tape the bars each time. You may need to ease the saddle back a bit as well.)

+1
I've spent the last 25 or so years trying to find the perfect handlebar - whilst flat handlebars can give you a more upright position, I found that they put my wrists and shoulders at more stress (imagine holding a broom handle out in front of you with both hands) when compared with riding in the hoods of dropped bars. If the position is the only thing stopping you from enjoying your ride then I would simply try a shorter stem.

My current handlebars, courtesy of the utilitycyclist. There's more life choices than (a) dropped handlebars or (b) straight handlebars