My new trekking/butterfly handlebar setup :)

I was starting to have some issues with numb hands and in another thread I had posted, someone recommended trekking bars. I found some for $15 at a LBS nearby and decided to give them a try.

I really liked them but my original handlebars had gripshifts and I bought Ergon grips to go with those. Unfortunately, when I changed to this new bar a week after I got the new grips, the gripshifters and the new grips would not fit together on the bars closest to me. I couldn't get them around the bend to the front bars farther away, and I had to move my brakes to the front bars because they would not fit with the shifters and grips. I wanted to keep my Ergon grips so I ended up hacking the ends off them and cutting the gripshifts in half so I could squeeze everything on the bar. After doing that, I realized that it wasn't going to be a truly workable solution, but now I was stuck with these "customized" grips. I also wanted to bring my brakes back to the bars closest to me because I didn't feel safe having to constantly reach forward to be able to grab my brakes (I am using the bars closest to me probably 80% of the time). Anyway, so I ordered dual control shifters and we installed them today. Because I had shortened the Ergon grips, I had to add some additional grip there between the shifters and the grips (the new shifters aren't as wide as the original gripshifts), which I did with this weird electrical tape stuff that DH has. It's not super sticky at first but as time goes on it seems to melt into itself, and it's tacky enough so my hands don't slip around on it. I don't recall what he called it but it works really well and while I have a hackjob for handlebars, I don't care. They are totally comfortable and that's what I was after.

I was also again reminded how DH and I do not make a good project team :P I did, however, learn how to change out shifter cables and I wrapped handlebars for the first time. I think I did a pretty good job for a first timer :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3349/...2a5594c7_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3617/...0685ea6a_o.jpg
I know the brake cables are a little too long but didn't feel like changing them out when I switched to the new dual shifters. They work and don't get in my way so I'm happy. If I get ambitious I might shorten them but if they aren't causing any problems, I probably won't.

Good for you for finding something that works for you and taking the initiative to do it yourself! Whatever keeps you riding, right?!

I can't tell for sure from the photo but it looks like you have trigger shifters, not grip shifts :confused:
I didn't think Ergon grips would work with grip shifters.

That's quite a setup you have there. Where's the coffee maker;)

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Originally Posted by Zen

I can't tell for sure from the photo but it looks like you have trigger shifters, not grip shifts :confused:
I didn't think Ergon grips would work with grip shifters.

That's quite a setup you have there. Where's the coffee maker;)

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I originally had gripshifts, I changed them to trigger shifts yesterday. Ergon does make grips that are shortened to work with gripshifts, which is what I had. Even so, with the Ergon grips and the original gripshifts, they didn't fit on the bars and I had to hack them to fit. Which is why I ended up changing to the trigger shifts, which I like a lot more anyway :)

Hehe, I was thinking I'd like to add one of those bike blenders to the back ;) I did actually add my mirror back on, too, which isn't in the pics. :D I'm not concerned with weight, apparently. I have to haul my fat butt around so a few extra ounces isn't going to break me :)

I know this is an older thread, but do you still like the trekking handle bar setup? I'm thinking about changing out my flat bar for a setup like yours. Did your husband use rubber electrical tape? How well did it hold up?

Hi, Melissa.

I really, really like my trekking bar set up. It has made a HUGE difference in how comfortable it is for me to ride (not that I have done much this year so far but we won't get into that ;)

The tape I used is self-sealing electrical tape and it has held up very well. I am not sure where he got it (and he doesn't remember) but I know you can order it online. I just did a search and found some at Amazon.

Hope that helps!

Lesa

Thank you, Lesa. That helps a lot. :) It looks so much more comfortable. I'm going to go ahead and order one. :)

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Originally Posted by Melissa71

Thank you, Lesa. That helps a lot. :) It looks so much more comfortable. I'm going to go ahead and order one. :)

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No problem. I also want to clarify that the only place I used the electrical tape is at the ends of the bars where my grips were cut. The majority of the black tape is normal grip tape, and I wish that I had gotten cork or something a little more squishy. It's not uncomfortable, but I think a cork tape would have been nicer. I have some Salsa tape on my "project" bike and it is much more comfortable.

Ahhh, thank you for clarification. I've read about putting some sort of padding underneath the grip tape, I need to look more into that. I can't wait to change my handlebar. It looks like it should be a fairly simple swap.

Anyone know where to find these? Nashbar doesn't sell them anymore. I've had a couple people ask me about mine, and I have to tell them I got them from Nashbar but they've been discontinued there.

I just ordered a pair from a seller on ebay. I hope they're nice. His feedback is pretty good, and he was good about answering my questions. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...:X:RTQ:US:1123

Ah, thanks. I see that Wallbike has them too.

Heifzilla, I'm so impressed that you did that yourself. I'm glad this thread was revived because I am starting to get numb hands and I may want to do the same thing.

Well my goodness, you were certainly thinking outside the box! :cool: I think you'll enjoy those long rides even more now that you have your handlebars customized. And nice job wrapping the bars. :)

Just so I understand what I see in the photo - the portion of the bars where your shifters are located - are they above the stem at all or directly in line with the top of the stem?

Bit of a dredge, the bars can be found here too:

Touring Bars

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Originally Posted by snapdragen

Bit of a dredge, the bars can be found here too:

Touring Bars

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I've been checking out touring bars and really wanted to change to them + XT trigger shifters. My meeting with my fitter is this Thursday, but I have noted that these bars are very large - they seem to fall into the 58-65cm range :eek: Nor do they seem to really come in different sizes, at least not that I can find.

My fitter may have other thoughts on this, but since I take a 48cm road bar, my thought is that these are just too wide for me :( Such is life, there are other options for me.

One nice thing about touring bars, as they are not so popular in the US, they are quite affordable!