Cycling UK Forum

Ordered these from China, works for me, drops as wide or narrow as you like, you can use flat bar shifters, brake/shifters , bar end shifters, top mounted repeater levers, you can adjust the flare by rotating the riser bars, I am using Tektro drop bars for V brakes paired with top mounted cyclo cross style repeater levers so 2 pairs of brake levers and flat bar shifters, ....what do you think ?


[https://photos.app.goo.gl/gYvARQNQRvxVNNfd8

There are other options around that create a shallow drop bar but use the original flat bar brake levers, which avoids all sorts of fiddling with pull distances.

This is one, the levers fit onto those horns at the front, but there are others very similar and I think made from less exotic materials if you hunt around.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Handlebar-Exte ... th=1&psc=1

Solution in search of a problem....

Aha, this is the best known one:

https://surlybikes.com/blog/the_surly_c ... _handlebar

Personally, I think the one you showed first looks like an ergonomic disaster zone, likely to cause wrist problems and to lead to nasty events if one needs to grab the brakes in an emergency and happen to have your hands elsewhere.

Nearholmer wrote: ↑23 Apr 2023, 12:25pm Aha, this is the best known one:
Personally, I think the one you showed first looks like an ergonomic disaster zone, likely to cause wrist problems and to lead to nasty events if one needs to grab the brakes in an emergency and happen to have your hands elsewhere.

Not finding that as a problem, there are 2 sets of levers both of which work well, the drop levers are designed for V brakes and work great, using the top levers is no different to using flat bars, so for me its working well

I recall Brucey suggesting them on a couple of occasions:

viewtopic.php?p=1495749#p1495749

viewtopic.php?p=853216#p853216

there are 2 sets of levers

Oh, I get in now. I thought you were in the process of re-cabling from one to the other, and that you’d end up with only drop brakes.

I think it would still confuse me though!

I do like the look of those Surly ones. If they suit then much cheaper and variable than road stuff.

When I used drop bars, one of my most liked hand positions was on the ramps, quite often the smooth curve between those and the tops. The area occupied by the camp in those add ons. What those offer is a choice of very clearly defined hand positions and one of the benefits of drops is the opposite, the ability to vary. If it works for you than nothing else really matters, but the only gain seems to be the ability to re-use the shifters, My preference would have been to get the bars right, then sort shifters and brakes to match, rather than the other way round.
I now ride exclusively on straight bars with bar ends, IMO too much is made of bar shape, when what's important are hand positions. The positions I was mostly using on drop bars were easily replicated on my current straight ones, plus I prefer the grips and brake lever position.

mattsccm wrote: ↑23 Apr 2023, 2:13pm I do like the look of those Surly ones. If they suit then much cheaper and variable than road stuff.

I'm not sure whether I like the look of them – but I do like the idea of them as something between flats and drops. Perhaps a bit similar to the more extreme of the flared drops now available, but set up for flat-bar brake levers (which are arguably easier to use and more powerful) and shifters (which are usually cheaper and possibly more robust).

PH wrote: ↑23 Apr 2023, 4:13pm When I used drop bars, one of my most liked hand positions was on the ramps, quite often the smooth curve between those and the tops. The area occupied by the camp in those add ons. .

It was an experiment but it does work really well for me, I ride on the drops often but the problem I have with drop bars is that although we are told we should use bars the width of our shoulders, 46cm bars are considered very wide and my shoulders are 48cm, ideally I would like 50+cm and it really is hard to get standard drop bars of that width . I know we are now seeing wider bars for "gravel bikes" but they tend to be crazy expensive (like upwards of £150) and even then, most are not that wide between the hoods, the flare is wide but that is less important
I also use wide flat bars with bar ends, but the hoods on these are spaced at 55cm and work for me just as well as bar ends, I also use a small mirror and the flat bar overhand is a great place for it

I was being a bit casual in my comment. They look very handy and my thoughts were also about the cost and choice of off road kit..

Not that I've ever used them, but the guy who runs the cyclingabout.com website likes these bars: https://www.cyclingabout.com/koga-denham-bars/.

Practical albeit hideous in my view

wirral_cyclist wrote: ↑23 Apr 2023, 10:02pm Practical albeit hideous in my view

Ha Ha, I dont mind the look of them, they are different and very functional, not a thing of beauty but with the added advantage that they were far cheaper than any alternative