Handlebars

[Thorn]

Anyone have any handlebar recommendations? I'm looking 38cm bars that can have the brakes mounted so that the top of the bar to brakehood transition is level-ish (no v-shape at the junction). And, of course, when configured that way, there is still some drop to hang onto. My 20-year old bike has such a beast (but it is a 40cm), but I'm having problems finding one for the new bike I'm building.

This spring I replaced the 44cm handlebars on my newer roadbike with 40cm's. The shop installed them in the latest fashion with the v-variation--quick angle to the brake hoods and the brake hoods angled up. I had terrible hand and wrist pain, but the drops were great. Once we reconfigured the bar so that the brake hoods were level with the bars (angled up the handlebars and moved the brakes down), the drops almost disappear. They're too far forward and the anatomic bend is in the wrong place.

Anyway...any suggestions? I swear I've searched a dozen sites and the best matches I seem to find come no smaller than a 40cm, many no smaller than a42.

[Pedal Wench]

Look for some of the women's specific ones. Salsa Poco, Bontrager Fit VR, Ritchey BioMax, Specialized - there are quite a few with a short reach and drop.

Edit: Performance has a carbon bar that I'm dying to try, and Aerus has a similar design, both with a flat section right on the bend between the top and the hood section where I spend alot of time, but neither come in a 38cm. Grrrr.

[VeloVT]

I have Ritchey Biomax handlebars on my roadbike (below, in pink):
3924

They do allow a pretty flat transition between bars and hoods, and I find the anatomic bend pretty comfortable (much more so than the stock Deda Piegas that you can see on the other bike in the picture). One thing to be aware of though, I'm actually considering moving the hoods up a hair on my roadbike, but if I do I'll probably have to shim the brakes -- and that's a bit of a drawback to these particular bars, because of the dramatic anatomic slope there's really not a wide range of practical adjustability for hood placement. I have the hoods placed as low as they are as much because it gives me a good purchase on the levers from the drops as because it puts the hoods in the most comfortable position.

As I said, I like them though. Mine are 38s. Switching from the stock 42 bars really helped.

[RoadRaven]

My EMC2 road race bike is the FemetapePro... its the women's specific bike.

The frame size wasn't why my partner bought it for me, it was the bars and shifters. They are female specific, so not only are the shifters "short reach" but the bars themselves are a tad narrower then on "normal/men's" bikes.

I have wide shouders and am 5'10, and some wonder why I need narrower bars, but I think it is to do with the balance of the bike as much as the comfort.

If you can't get narrower bars, or don't want narrower bars, you can just get shims to pop in the brake levers.

As for actual measurements, it is still dark and cold here, so I will go out to the shed later when the sun has emerged and do a measurement and see if my bars are lass than 40cm :)

[ehirsch83]

Edit: Performance has a carbon bar that I'm dying to try, and Aerus has a similar design, both with a flat section right on the bend between the top and the hood section where I spend alot of time, but neither come in a 38cm. Grrrr.[/QUOTE]

I have the kwing from FSA, it has the same flat ergo section, I love it. I used to ride on the hoods all the time, and now I find myself riding on the flats of the bar instead. Also great for long climbs! Mine are a 40, I'm not sure if they come any smaller, but if they do I would suggest looking at FSA's bars.

[Surlygirl]

Try aebike.com. They have many sizes and they have salsa short and shallow bars which is what I have in 38.

[Grog]

I love my FSA compact Wing Pro Shallow. They saved me from buying a new stem (because the reach is really short). They're 38cm wide...

[Thorn]

Thanks all! This board is simply amazing.

Before posting yesterday, I spent an hour or so surfing handlebar manufacturer sites. What I was seeing was depressing me. But, after reading your posts (and that wonderful visual Liza), I now see that looking at handlebars online is not very useful (or, more likely, I just don't have a eye trained for what I need to see).

For example, the Ritchey site shows the Biomax looking like:
http://ritcheylogic.com/web/Ritchey~Logic/Ritchey~Site/Templates/eproducts_single.aspx?id=16863&live=true. When I saw it, it didn't look like it had a flat section. Clearly it does. Now that I go back and look at the FSA and some of the others, I see that they would also align flat.

Thank you all for the suggestions. Now it is time to dig deeper using your sugggestions. Many thanks.