Bars

[yehuwdiy]

Handlebars...hmmm. I have narrowed my thoghts down to three options, these being:

- El Toro Pursuit Bar
- Nitto Moustache
- Butterfly "Trekking" handlebars

I have found that normal drop bars do not work for me, and there is no way I'm going flat etc. Any suggestions out there? Anyone using/ used any of these bars? Interested in your ideas.

Cheers,

y.

[.isaac.]

If you don't like normal drops and like to ride along the top of the bars then you should be able to get some small levers which go along the top part of the bar so that it changes your neutral riding position. I don't have a fixie yet so "take any of my advice at your own risk".

[drubie]

Take some old steel drops off a Repco Traveller and make chop'n'flops. Best to use a brake lever from a BMX or similar mounted in the middle if you want to do this though.

[rustychisel]

I like hanging around in bars

[munga]

butterfly's are on my list of things to try when i admit i'm getting old

[yehuwdiy]

I'm actually chasing a set of butterflys at the moment. If they don't work well on my single speed cruiser they'll go onto my 2-speed tourer.

[brauluver]

Handlebars...hmmm. I have narrowed my thoghts down to three options, these being:

- El Toro Pursuit Bar
- Nitto Moustache
- Butterfly "Trekking" handlebars

I have found that normal drop bars do not work for me, and there is no way I'm going flat etc. Any suggestions out there? Anyone using/ used any of these bars? Interested in your ideas.

Cheers,

y.

Moustache bars, with brown leather tape and a brooks saddle would make your SS bike an awesome machine.

[Recycler]

Butterfly Bars work for me ! I have them on my touring Moulton APB. There are three positions I can use them, Sitting upright , Mountain Bike style and Road bike style( hands on brake levers). Give them a try. Bob.

[two_hands]

they look great!

[yehuwdiy]

I may just pony up and ebay a set, only $45 delivered. Anyone have experience with these bars i.e. brand recommendations, or is it much of a muchness?

[scotto]

make sure the diameter is conventional.
i have soma urban pursuit bars, and they're a PITA for when i wanted to fit a brake, as they're such an unusual diameter.

[il padrone]

I'm actually chasing a set of butterflys at the moment. If they don't work well on my single speed cruiser they'll go onto my 2-speed tourer.

Thorn Cycles point out a few notable disadvantages with butterfly/trekking bars. Flex, narrow brake position, greater width in traffic and difficulties with frame/stem length - they seem to rate fairly poorly. I've decided that my straight bars with long bar-ends are quite OK.

Northern Europe is blessed with an abundance of high quality, flat cycle paths and also with drivers who have a courteous attitude towards cyclists. Butterfly bars are very popular there but we have serious reservations about them. They appear, at first, to offer many different positions. The most important position, the one that gives you access to the brakes, is a very narrow position. If you ride, for any distance, with the outside of your hands pressing against the inside curve of these bars, you will find it very uncomfortable. These bars can be very comfortable in every position, apart from the one which gives you access to the brakes! To make matters worse, if you straighten these bars out, you would realise what massive length of tubing is needed, consequently, the bars also flex significantly, when the “access to brakes” position is used. This flexing is a positive thing, when riding slowly on flat cycle paths, it enhances comfort. At high speed, down bumpy mountain roads (or hilly country lanes) the flexing of the bars becomes alarming; yet you must hold them here, because this is where the brakes are! In heavy traffic, the narrow position offered, when covering the brakes, cannot be used to advantage, when filtering through slow moving or stationary vehicles, because the overall width of these bars is very wide. On loose, greasy or icy surfaces a bike is much easier to control, during heavy braking, if it has wide bars. The choice of bar affects frame design and vice-versa. A bike, designed for drop handlebars, needs a shorter top tube than a bike which is designed for “straight” handlebars. The reason is simple...drop bars have a pronounced forward throw, straight bars have no such throw (they usually sweep back, towards the rider.) When cycling on drop bars, the brake hood position is used 90% of the time and the rider’s hands are even further forward. The designer of a well designed drop bar bike, will know that this is where a riders hands are, most of the time and will have taken this into account, by providing a suitably short top tube. Straight bars and comfort bars, need to be used with frames with long top tubes. When drop bars are used on a bike, designed correctly for straight bars, they will grossly overstretch the rider, unless the stem length can be reduced by around 60 to 70mm. As most straight bar bikes are designed for use with a stem of from 100 to 120mm, drop bars would generally mean fitting a stem between 30 to 60mm. This is far from ideal.

Butterfly bars bend deeply, back towards the rider, therefore the stem must be long enough (at least 120mm but 130mm would be better) to place the brake position, forward of the “centre of steering”. If you ride with your hands behind the centre of steering, you run the risk of, not only being unable to control a speed wobble but of actually precipitating one in the first place! As a consequence of the long stem the bike requires a short top tube. Most people who choose butterfly bars are looking for a relaxed position, with the opportunity to “drop forward” into a more sporty position. Butterfly bars could in theory provide these positions and, like bar ends, can also give a comfortable hand hold, with the wrists rotated through 90 degrees, at the sides of the bars. I see riders with butterfly bars rotated through 90 degrees, to give a higher position, which renders the other positions useless and/or dangerous. These people would undoubtedly be safer and happier with straight bars, or comfort bars, set somewhat higher than “normal”. Yet the bikes’ owners can’t achieve that position, because, in a triumph of form over function, most manufacturers provide their bikes with fork steerers, which are too short for the necessary range of vertical adjustment.

[AUbicycles]

A minus from my side for the butterflies... my previous hybrid had these and they weren't my thing. On the top section, the brakes and gears are at the bottom, so a big move to get your hands down... and the angle / reach was not that nice for me. It can be tilted though I never warmed up, found the reach too far (for upright riding) or too close.

For me, the moustache would be the way to go, comfortable position, brakes can be mounted at the front or at the ends to best suit your preferred hand position and it is more stylish.