Handlebars For A Touring Bike
There are three points where a person and a bicycle make contact when riding. The first two are the rear end on the saddle and the feet on the pedals. (OK, so there’s 4 if you count two feet). And you should read the first page in this series if you haven’t already. The handlebars are the last point to worry about. For efficient pedaling the saddle height and setback relative to the pedals will fall within a certain “best” range for each individual. Things get a little blurred when it comes to handlebars and bike fit and touring, mostly because there are so many different shapes of handlebars and every bike tourer will have a preference.
Flat handlebars are typically sold as original on mountain bikes and hybrid bikes, but can be used on a touring bike as shown above.
Drop handlebars are associated with road bikes and most touring bikes.
Swept back bars such as the Albatross shown above allow for an up-right riding position.
When I owned the bike shop some people told me they would never ride a bike with drop/road handlebars because they didn’t want to ride in a position with a lot of weight on their hands and/or a position that makes them strain their neck just to see where they are going. I suggest that with the right bike and the right adjustments a drop bar can be very comfortable, partly because there are so many hand positions a person can ride in. Every time you change hand positions it will also stretch and work different muscles in your back and arms and legs reducing fatigue.
Most bikes sold as touring bikes will come with drop bars. That doesn’t mean you have to use them, although there is some expense involved in changing them to a different style.
Former world class American racer Andy Hampsten (white helmet). Looks comfy!
In the last installment I’ll try to put all of these ramblings into some sort of understandable approach to figuring out what size touring bike will work best for a given person, and how that bike can be set up and adjusted.
On most short Bike Rides around the City and County it did not matter you would not have sore Hands but on those long Trips over 20KM it would. I have had a Hybrid and a City Bike with Straight Handlebars and went on short tours of 50KM over the past two Years and suffered from Numb Hands in spite of wearing Gloves. I tried changing my hands semi sideways to alleviate this which helped a bit.
About last year I got an Audax which is a kind of light Tourer in Steel with Drop Handlebars,result more comfort for my hands. I now have more of a choice in positions when my Fingers get tired but the Handlebars are set to low for my backs comfort .
Last September I ordered a Surly LHT in 26″ Wheels as I always wanted a Tourer and received it in November 2010. I am delighted with it so far as it is very comfortable. It has the Handlebars set 2″ higher than the Audax which is better for my back on very long rides. It has Drop Handlebars and I can change Hand positions if they get tired or Numb but they have not so far. I never really use the Drops at all as I find them too uncomfortable. I only ever use them in a high Wind when I am trying to cut down on Wind drag. I did not like the Saddle that came with the Bike so I got a Brooks B 17 Flyer for comfort.
Result a very comfortable ride over long distances of 55KM and more. Dublin Ireland.
John,
Glad you can ride without getting numb hands. The LHT is a great bike. How high are the tops of the bars relative to the top of the saddle?
I’m currently steeling around the US and wish I had a quasi-aero position option for the long straight boring roads. I ran into a gentleman in Minneapolis with what I seem to have found are Scott vintage drop/aero combo bars. Are you familiar with these and what is your opinion on them. My only issue is the compatibility issue with bar end shifters.
Are you talking about these? You may want to just get a set of clip-on aero bars which attach to the top of your handlebars and provide a rest for the forearms.
I put a bontrager satellite trekking bar on my old mountain bike for commuting. This made riding longer distances 200% more enjoyable by eliminating my wrist pain.
The road bike now has a Ritchey biomax pro bar on it the width is same as my shoulders@ 40cm and the multiple positions are a must on the long rides (200 to 600km) for randonneuring.
I also put a sorbothane layer under the bar wrap to absorb vibration. I have also used a steel fork and a carbon fork, the carbon fork is more comfortable for me and there are even significant variation in the comfort of carbon forks. I had a Xero fork and replaced it with a Reynold Ouso Comp and the reynolds fells “solider” on the road and more comfortable.
And that’ Andy’s brother Steve in the red helmet.