Show me your long distance/gravelised MTB handlebar setups

Sorry, I think this has been done in the past but it would be good to refresh my memory.

I’ve plotted some gravel routes that I’m really excited about for the summer (assuming I’m ever allowed out of my local authority…). Most feature a crux or two that I’m happy limping over/down on the gravel bike for the sake of speed and comfort elsewhere, but one of them is a sort of mash-up of the Tour de Ben Nevis and some coffin trails in Ardnamurchan, so I think I’d rather stick some wide fast tyres on the Superfly.

I see the Koga Denham bars which look like the hoods of a road bar but with the width and brake position of an MTB bar.

I already have some touring ‘butterfly bars’ which should in theory give me the same positions as my road bars, but when I tried them last time I got a lot of weird numbness and tingling in my fingers. I’m wondering if that was just because they are thinner than road bars so would benefit from double wrapping.

So what does everyone else run if they want drop bar hand positions on their MTB?

Ta

I tried the On One Geoff on the Longitude (with a 90mm stem) bars rotated back and down as recommended by both Jones and some riders of this Parish.

Couldn’t really get along with them. Still uhming and aahing. They are rigid af. Weighty too. Too wide for my liking and the loop offers no ‘brake hood’ (rotated wrist/thumb up) position. On my tourer (and prior monstercross with wide flared drops) the brake hoods are where I prefer to spend my time on long hauls. The ‘loop’ bars do offer a medium aero-tuck option/stretch which is useful at times (ie long flat stretches with headwind). I tape-wrapped it for that reason, leaving a central gap for light bracket. Have since moved light to fork crown, which is better IMO (Ravemen PR, w/cutoff beam)

So I switched the Geoff loop bar for a narrow straight carbon (620mm?) bar with Ergon GP3 grips/bar-ends. So now I have my faux-‘brake-hood grip’ (on the bar-ends) for long hauls and climbs, and the grips themselves have a nice (slightly flexible) palm-rest built in for when I’m back on the bars and controls.

Did look at the Koga Denham’s as an option, but I typically seem to do a lot of climbing so the bar-end option is more in line with my shoulder-width, whereas-there’s ‘only’ 400mm between the Denham bullhorns. The latter makes sense for standard touring (a la 400mm drop bars) but I prefer a bit more width for MTB/gravel touring.

ymmv

I’ve got these on pre-order for when I rebuild the bike at the end of winter.

Those kitchen sink bars are well overdue – I suspect they will be popular.

Flat bars with bar ends in board of the brake levers. Gives a passable “on the hoods/elbows tucked in” position.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CALRNDynkz4/?igshid=14jgqw46qgweh

Thanks guys, should have thought more about a simple flat bar/inner bar end setup! Think I was worried I couldn’t run normal bar ends inboard enough but that’s daft, I’d want them at 440mm at least.

Already have some stubby ergons for the end of the bar.

I do the same as Jonedwards but I have mine much further in board and another set on the bar ends themselves.

A nifty solution two get added hand positions and to a lesser extent aero in 24hr racing where aero and drop bars are not permitted.

I currently have inner bar ends and Cane Creek Ergos on my Pact. The inners are set 300mm apart, though I’m still experimenting a bit.

I’ve put the PX Molly Mawk bars on my Swift. It gives fore and aft wrist orientation similar to a road bar and they’re narrowish similar to road width. It’s very comfortable for bimbling and means I keep MTB brakes and shifters. Side by side to my road bikes road and mtb hand and wrist position is nearly identical (large Swift/ 58 road bikes). You should give em a go – only £10 at minute! Prefer em to Geofs I had before, but its all personal.

For my rigid mtb that does long distance, i have two additions to the carbon bars

i) some cane creek rubber type bar ends that extend forward and slightly behind the bar. This allows a really comfortable geip where the end of the handlebar is in the palm of my hand. Really really comfortable.

ii) i add a pr of aerobars with forearm rests. The ones shown above dont allow you to rest your weight, and you are always tensed to stop yourself slumping forwards. The aerobars with rests prevent this. Thay can also be angled so you can choose a variety of positions from ‘flat’ to ‘praying mantis’.

In option ii) i would recommend aerobars that are adjustable. So the reach is adjustable, but so is the placement of forearm pad. A set of Profil t2 are what i use and are about £25 used on ebay

Ian

My full suss has carbon Jones loops. The Solaris has a set of Velo Orange Crazy Bars – sort of a mix between the Jones bar without the loop and a set of tri-bars. The “tri-bars” are set at 440mm apart which initially feels a bit wide but I can use them on moderate off-road (more than fire road but not proper trail centre if that makes sense)

I don’t really have a decent shot, this sort of shows what they look like.

OK, £6 brand-x bar ski-bend bar ends ordered, I’ll probably try them on my On-one Fleegle bars first similar to Whitestone’s arrangement above, but I do like the idea of some slightly swept back carbon bars, am not sure I get on with excessively swept bars.

I’m intrigued by the aero bar idea but I think this flatters my ‘long distance’ aspirations too much, and I’ll only be using this bike when the going is likely to be too rough for my drop bar gravel bike (i.e. when I want suspension forks!) so I think it’s unlikely I’d be able to rest in the arm-rests very much, I just want the hand position of a set of hoods.

Also just found some Kenda Small Block 8’s in a 50m width (well, 1.95″) which should be the perfect complement to the setup, happy days!

I managed to source some 11 degree Thomson Ti bars off here. I was after some additional sweep and those became available in the Classifieds.

Hmm… I think I like it!

Realised that the Fleegles might have been part of the issue in the past, the bends effectively put my hands 3cm further forward, so I was probably more stretched than on the road bike!

This set up is maybe 5mm more stretched at the end of the bar ends, so will probably fit a slightly shorter stem, much as it pains me to get rid of the ‘satin rhodamine’ that I’ve got fitted now.

If it works I could be tempted by carbon but its ~£100 I don’t have to spend right now…

Bikepacking.com did a feature on “comfort bars” a while back, should be easy to find on their site (the search function works for a start!).

Before I got the VO Crazy Bars a mate lent me a set of clip-on aero/tri bars to try out. Can’t remember why I didn’t use them, possibly incompatible bar/clamp diameters, but that might be something to consider.

Bikepacking.com also do a “rigs of …” series, have a look at what people use for the Tour Divide which I suppose is the ultimate long distance gravel/MTB ride. Of course that assumes they finished and didn’t have problems!

I attempted to improve comfort on my gravel/MTB by using TOGs. They help but are far too small for my shovel like hands and of course, keep your hands actually on the bars . I think the inboard bar ends look a more effective and cheaper fix.

Won’t you be shunned, ignored and eventually stoned to death for not having curly pube bars on your Grovel bike? 🙂

I have TOGS on a couple of bikes. Nice for another place/way to rest your hands. I think they also have a value in colder weather too as you’re not wrapping your knuckles round a bar.

Slight thread hi-jack – does anyone know of any bar ends that have a fully removable or hinged clamp (like more expensive brake levers)? A set of bar ends on the inside would be a useful second position when on the turbo when using my drop bar bike. I would want to mount them close to the stem though and be able to take them off easy hence the double clamp or hinged clamp request.

Spirgrips

I’ve tried loads. The Surly Moloko’s are the best I’ve used.

I even commited sacriledge by replacing the Jones bars on my Jones bike with them.

People complain about the weight, but this is something I have never ever noticed while riding.

This bike is long-since sold and I’m now looking at photos longingly wishing I still had it.

700mm flat bars, barends and aero bars. Great for longer distances as there are at least 4 hand positions which can be used.

Won’t you be shunned, ignored and eventually stoned to death for not having curly pube bars on your Grovel bike?

That depends, will need to test this setup back-to-back against the short-n-curlies. If any slower or no more comfortable I’ll probably be forced to shun myself for even thinking about deviating from the one true way!

Although as one of my buddies pointed out, if I need suspension is it really still gravel? Possibly as simple a test as any… 🙄