Alternatives to flat or drop bar for touring bike

Rode to Paris a couple of years ago on a Alfine tourer set up with a flat bar and Cane Creek ergo bar ends. Whilst it was comfier than expected I remember longing for alternative hand position options after about 50 miles.

Have since set it up with an On-one Midge and whilst I find the drops comfy (albeit a bit short) I find riding on the top of the bar too narrow and on the drops a bit hit and miss.

Am now wondering if I should persevere with a flat bar set up, which would also give me the option of easily running hydro disc brakes again. But are there any awesome bar set ups I should consider first? Jones H-bar or similar?

Butterfly bars? Never tried them but have seen suggested elsewhere

rose bikes link

Upside down drops with bar ends

I have been considering Upside down Mary bars or something similar lately…

Why not compact/shallow drops? You’ll get a but more width on the tops and a more natural position in the drops. You’ve also got the hoods. If you get the right bar it’ll be very comfortable.

Try Loops, certainly.

I tour with Woodchippers.

Or get creative. Some wide flats with Ergos as bar ends and some other stubby bar ends mounted inboard of your controls.

This copy of the Jones loop is so cheap that you can give a whirl. They are from St John Street Cycles

I use Mary bars. I can get another position with my hands where the bar sweeps back

I found a set of these to be pretty good, if a little odd looking. The flat section has a nice back-sweep and the ends are adjustable/swappable. The foam grips are a bit too soft, but you can easily slip some decent grips on the flat bit and keep the foam on the rest.
[/url]

Play around with different grips too. Ergo grips help a lot.

Mondolo Dumbo bars let you play with bar size/shape to your heart’s content, helped me out loads when my lower back went “twang” in 2008 (and still reminds me from time to time)!

Hated butterfly bars, the shape of them was a lot less useable than flats and bar ends were.

Really like loops.

If you have space on your bars, think about using a set of clip on aerobars. They’re great for long flattish stretches of riding as you can take all the weight of your hands.

+1 for clip on aero bars. Great for hanging a dry bag under too.

Was expecting to like butterfly bars but they felt too narrow and I could never get the positioning right – if you have one ‘perfect’ position, the alternative is unusable mostly.
Or you compromise and have two useable positions that feel a bit wrong.

I just borrowed a cheap pair – a wider, lighter, shorter set might be solve the issues.

I’ve gone for a wide compact drop set high.
Sod fashion, I like to move my hands around.

I’d love to try a loop bar, they look to put your hands in a more natural position than flats or butterflys.
Most people seem to love them.

A friend found a set of these in a bike jumble recently, and is going to try them out. Possibly a bit narrow, but certainly plenty of hand positions!

Scott AT-4 bars: