What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

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eyremowing
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What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby eyremowing » Mon Jun 03, 2013 4:57 pm

I have just set up a Surly Ogre for touring but am unsure what handle bars to fit. I have some mountain bike bars on it now but would like bars that give me more hand positions. What bars do you use?

flippant
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby flippant » Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:30 pm

I use the Grand Bois Randonneur, but I haven't got a great deal of experience with other sorts of touring bars, so I can't give you any definitive answer as to my personal preferences. I do like them, though.

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RonK
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby RonK » Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:36 pm

Discussion on a Ogre build, including handlebars here.
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby Aushiker » Mon Jun 03, 2013 11:13 pm

I have dropbars on my Surly Long Haul Trucker and a flat bar on my Giant XTC 2 ....

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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby iacl » Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:14 am

I use the humpert ahs bars on my tourer and comuter, same as 2013 VWR. Not had them fot that long but so far comfortable and bag friendly.

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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby kukamunga » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:28 am


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eyremowing
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby eyremowing » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:27 pm

Thanks Guys, It certainly seems like I have plenty of choices. I am leaning towards these: http://www.xxcycle.com/multiposition-ha ... ck,,en.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. plenty of hand position choices.

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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby WestcoastPete » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:54 pm

I have Thorn Comfort bars on the expedition bike. Only one true hand position, but with the Ergon grips it's fine.

My everyday bike has Nitto Noodles at 44cm wide. Wrapped in leather, these are my favourite bars and will go on pretty much every drop bar build I do. I recently toured on them and they were sweet as. Most of the time I sit just back of the drops, otherwise within a few cm of there. Occasionally on the crossbar, and in the drops for a headwind.

Personally, I don't think it's too important to have an abundance of positions, as long as you have at least one excellent one.

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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby Cheesewheel » Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:40 pm

eyremowing wrote:Thanks Guys, It certainly seems like I have plenty of choices. I am leaning towards these: http://www.xxcycle.com/multiposition-ha ... ck,,en.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. plenty of hand position choices.
I have just taken these off my LHT.
I have since changed the stem and installed drop bars.
None of the variety of positions the handlebars offer involve taking the pressure off the ball of the palms.

Also if you are taking a bit of weight on the front through panniers or a handlebar bag, there is a disconcerting flex felt through the handles if you are holding on to the very ends.

Like westcoastpete said, more important than having a variety of positions is having one excellent position
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eyremowing
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby eyremowing » Fri Jun 07, 2013 9:14 am

Thanks, other people have complained about the flex as well. They were pretty cheap so no great loss if I don't like them.

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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby Cheesewheel » Fri Jun 07, 2013 1:10 pm

eyremowing wrote:Thanks, other people have complained about the flex as well. They were pretty cheap so no great loss if I don't like them.
If you want to keep your options open keep the brake cables a tad longer than what you might otherwise so if you want to change your handlebars, that is the only thing you have to change. Also be aware that there are short and long pull brake levers, so if you ever have to redo the brakes (like you might if you go from a flat handlebar to a drop handlebar), you could end up having to change the entire braking system, from the calipers/pads to the levers
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby Tassiecelt » Sat Aug 10, 2013 11:43 pm

An issue that I am thinking about too. Looking at a Fuji Tourer, it comes with drop bars, but having never used them I am not comfortable with them. I could change over for straight bars.


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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby RonK » Sun Aug 11, 2013 7:50 am

Tassiecelt wrote:An issue that I am thinking about too. Looking at a Fuji Tourer, it comes with drop bars, but having never used them I am not comfortable with them. I could change over for straight bars.
Give them a decent try before deciding. It doesn't take long to get used to them, and changing to a flat bar will be an expensive exercise.

Alternatively, look at the Vivente World Randonneur. It's the best value tourer and is offered with Humpert trekking bars as an option.
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Wingnut
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby Wingnut » Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:42 pm

Can anyone advise of a readily available mtb handlebar that has a bit of a sweep backwards and is durable enough for handlebar bags etc? I'm thinking of a Thomson Ti 12 degree bar but they're pretty expensive...

Groovy Luv Handles are not available atm and I think the Jeff Jones H-Bars might have too much backwards sweep...
Last edited by Wingnut on Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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singlespeedscott
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby singlespeedscott » Sat Oct 05, 2013 1:44 pm

Try an On-One Mary bar.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/reviews/ ... _id=160514" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Wingnut
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby Wingnut » Sun Oct 06, 2013 12:27 pm

Thanks for the link singlespeedscott!

I like the On-One Fleegle bars too...

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il padrone
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby il padrone » Sun Oct 06, 2013 5:32 pm

Nitto North Road bars are quite good

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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby FXST01 » Sun Oct 06, 2013 6:54 pm

I just swapped over to Butterfly bars from the flat bars I had.

BBB BHB-30 i think is their model number.
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Wingnut
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby Wingnut » Mon Oct 07, 2013 12:09 am

Ordered a set of these from the USA, the fabricator is custom bending them for me in a wider length and using a heavier gauge...in titanium too. :D

http://www.watsoncycles.com/Handlebars. ... oductId=16" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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geoffs
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby geoffs » Sat Oct 12, 2013 8:33 pm

3T Ergonova pro has the best shape and a nice fat flat section. Very comfortable

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queequeg
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby queequeg » Sun Oct 13, 2013 1:09 pm

geoffs wrote:3T Ergonova pro has the best shape and a nice fat flat section. Very comfortable
+1 I have the Ergonova pro on both my road bike and my CX Commuter. The flat section is extremely comfortable and great for extended rides when you want to get off the hoods for a while.
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rifraf
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby rifraf » Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:30 pm

I've been humming and haaaing for a while now over final handlebar choice.
I've never been much of a fan of aluminum for anything except Landrover bodies and certainly not handlebars.
With much angst over price I repeatedly returned to look longingly at Jeff Jone Ti Loop bars.
This posting in MTBR forum certainly has given me further pause for thought regarding Ti:
http://forums.mtbr.com/29er-components/ ... 82020.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Dont get me wrong as I'm sure any metal has a fatigue life but handlebars snapping always gets a gasp out of me as its the stuff of nightmares.
Thankfully its not something that appears to happen too often if reading our forums is representative of whats happening in the real world.
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Wingnut
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby Wingnut » Tue Oct 15, 2013 4:25 pm

I would be inclined to think the failure is more to do with the shaping of the bars rather than the material, those ripples are potential stress risers in any material be it Ti, aluminum etc. And as one of the posters says, all materials fail at some stage, my line of thought is a well built item of Ti or steel is better than a well built item from aluminum...

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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby rifraf » Tue Oct 15, 2013 5:46 pm

An unusual looking option coming soon from Velo Orange:
http://instagram.com/p/efV0cRgVkw/#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: What Handle bars do you use on your touring bike

Postby RonK » Tue Oct 15, 2013 6:29 pm

rifraf wrote:Dont get me wrong as I'm sure any metal has a fatigue life but handlebars snapping always gets a gasp out of me as its the stuff of nightmares.
Such paranoia. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Personally I'm more doubtful about the titanium and the carbon fibre bars on some of my bikes than I am about alloy bars. I've used alloy bars for years and never broken one.

When I look at the wall thickness of the CF and Ti bars they don't fill me with confidence, but then I don't have years of experience with them. Maybe they'll be OK, but who knows!

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