Transition from drop to flat bar tourers

[KTHSullivan]

Mrs KTHS and I have always cycled on drop bar cycles for touring. We have been cycling on and off collectively for some 80 years, so have reasonable amount of experience doing so. We were out yesterday on our MTB's and came to the joint conclusion that we preferred the experience of having a more upright stance. (age ) So after an in depth conversation we are investigating the possibility of thinning the stable, so to speak and purchasing said flat bar tourers.

Q1) Has anyone made such a transition and how did you get on? (if you are embarrassed about revealing so in public please PM )

Q2) What are flat bars like in hills?

Q3) Looking possibly at a pair off "Cube" trekking bikes, anybody out there got one? Are they any good?

We both have Cube MTB's and find them more than adequate for our needs, but don't really relish the though of hydraulic brakes on a long distance tourers. A life time of dealing with complex systems has taught me to "KISS", keep it simple stupid.

Thanks in advance

K

[LittleGreyCat]

Q2) What are flat bars like in hills?

Pretty good.
Outstanding in mountains.
That is why they have been the default for MTBs for decades.

Edit: why don't you just fit flat (or butterfly) bars to your tourers?

[nez]

I have a flat bar electric tourer, a Koga World Traveller, which was expensive but is a beautiful ride. The bloke who does them is in Tadcaster, or they come from Holland. I never managed to thin the stable, so I still have a Roubaix, which I ride 'nez dans le guidon' when I want a Sunday spin and I have a Dawes Super Galaxy tourer, for all other occasions. I still love riding the Dawes, but the Koga has become the daily ride. I thought the bars would be too wide and if I had nerves of steel would cut a bit off the ends, but I manage okay. It's very heavy, but so is the Dawes at 14kg. My Roubaix is 8, so that probably loads the dice for me in judgement. Not sure I agree with you about the brakes - modern hydraulic brakes are pretty amazing and bike mechanics do so much work on them now they could be trusted.
re your questions, on 2 I agree with littlegreycat

[markjohnobrien]

I always prefer drop bars but bought a second hand Raleigh Randonneur with flat bars and it’s been fine: used it to cycle from Newcastle up to NCR 1 to Berwick and hence onto Edinburgh.

Not a problem on hills.

It already had bar ends which make a big difference on alternate hand position comfort.

Won’t convert my drop bar bikes to flat bar, bearing in mind that all of my bikes have a pretty upright set up already, but the flat bar setup on the RR is good.

[Paulatic]

I find climbing hills is more about what low gear I have rather than what handlebars I have.
I don’t agree with your thinking on brakes having a bike with hydraulic disc brakes . Had excellent braking for two years and haven’t touched them yet.

[Oggi]

I made the change to flat bars with Ergonomic GP5 grips 3 years ago and haven’t looked back. I use Thorn flat track bars and have reduced the width to the minimum they allow. I find I spend most time on the horns of the GP5 unless I’m braking heavily. I no longer get the back ache I used to because of the more upright position. I’m also past my sell by date as far as working goes.

[531colin]

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/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.)

[PH]

I ride both, including long touring days and Audax on a flat bar bike with GP5 grips. I'm equally comfortable on either, no faster or slower, my climbing isn't increased or diminished. However I think there's at least as much variation within each category as there can be between them. Depending on what it is you're hoping the change will offer, it may be available within the same category.

[Mike Sales]

My only flat bar experience was not good.
I rode about forty flat miles on a borrowed bike with flat bars.
The last fifteen miles were rather unpleasant. My lower arms began to ache and I could not find a position on the bars to ease them.
I even had to stop to rest my arms.
I seem to be untypical, and perhaps the position on the bike was poor, though it did not seem to be too different.
It might be wise to try the flat bars without irrevocably committing to that set up.

Others have suggested butterfly bars or bar ends, which give a variety of positions and might well be the answer. Flats do not give this variety.

[pq]

I did one tour, 10 days I think it was 25 years ago with flat bars and it took the best part of a year for the nerve damage it caused to heal - obviously I've never repeated the experiment and am very happy on shallow, narrow drops. However we're all different and many people seem to do fine on flat bars and you obviously have enough experience to make that judgement. My mountain bike has original and absurdly expensive Jones H bars (you can buy cheap replicas now I think) which make straight bars for me bearable as the sweep prevents the nerve damage and puts my wrists in a more natural position. One-one/Planet X seem particularly good a copying/inventing quirky straight bars. So I suppose what I'm saying is if you want a more upright position, there are options to explore which might work better than simple flat bars.

[tenbikes]

There are flats and flats.

Retro straight flats are not good.

Flats with rise and back sweep are good.

Bars with lots of back sweep are very good.

Bars like the Jones Loop bars or On One Geoff bars are excellent. The sweep back gives a natural hand position , no nerve damage and good control. There are integrated bar ' ends' and an aero tuck position. Prices vary from £30 to £370 for carbon. They will transform your riding pleasure.

[simonhill]

I've only ever ridden flats (or straights as I know them) apart from a couple of years with a 'racing bike' in my youth. For the last 20 odd years this is for tours of up to 3 months in a variety of terrain, including some big hills. Never knowingly had a problem with hands, arms, etc.

Over the years I added long, then short bar ends and a few years ago ergon grips - recommended.

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.

[Tompsk]

Q1) Has anyone made such a transition and how did you get on? (if you are embarrassed about revealing so in public please PM )

Q2) What are flat bars like in hills?

Q3) Looking possibly at a pair off "Cube" trekking bikes, anybody out there got one? Are they any good?

K

I ride both, after a few miles no problems either way with my flat bar bike a bit more comfortable - perhaps as I do more miles on it and the position has been optimised (body and bike)! The flat bar I have has a very slight sweep back, basically a very shallow ^.

Hills no problem, a flat bar is fine. I'm not sure if the mtb trend of wide flat bars would be ok for you.

As others have said converting your bike may be the best initial way forward, perhaps convert one first rather than both? If you get a shop to do the conversion make sure they give you all the old bits back in case you want to swap back!

I have forward bar end extensions on the flat bar bike but a revelation (for me) was to fit them 'inside' the grips, i.e. between the inside of the grip and the mount for the brake/changer. This means that riding on the extensions is more like riding on the hoods of drop bars (but obviously without the brake levers being at your finger tips). I found I had to be careful with the angle of the extensions and brake/gear levers to ensure everything worked ok and is comfortable.

ymmv

[simonhill]

One other thing about flats is that I consider that when my hands are in the normal position, ie on the grips, they are correctly positioned to operate the controls - properly. The brake levers are in the correct position to my fingers for correct leverage. The thumbshifters are next to my thumbs for shifting. Even my small bell is at hand.

I find this very comforting when in a situation where I want maximum control like long twisty downhill or going through a busy urban area.

....................but each unto their own.

[Jamesh]

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