Customized handlebars

[rij73]

What kind of bars do you mean?

I meant that pushing the lever with my thumb to downshift hurts a lot after a while. I figured it's harder than the upshift lever because the chain is going up to a bigger cog instead of down to a smaller one...

[KnottedYet]

If that nifty set-up you've created starts bugging you, you might want to look into a set of regular drop bars or albatross bars, which would also allow you to hold your hand in a shape that feels neutral and natural.

www.rivbike.com has albatross and moustache bars.

A lot of folks like the ergonomic drop bars like Salsa short and Shallow and Poco bars, too. Switching to drop bars could take a lot more work than going to albatross bars.

[velogirl]

Ingeneous! You've put your hands in a very neutral position -- just like they would be on the hoods on a drop bar.

One of the big struggles with bike fit is fitting folks with a flat-bar road bike. It's nearly impossible to put their wrists in a neutral position. I end up moving the levers in toward the stem (in alignment with their shoulders) and tilting the levers down, but it's still not perfectly neutral. This seems to be more of a challenge with new riders who have more difficulty relaxing on the bike (and thus grip the bar with more tension in their hands and forearms). More experienced riders (and mtn bikers) tend to be able to relax more.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

In my opinion the best thing about "regular" road bike drop bars is that you can keep switching your hand positions frequently between 4 or 5 totally different positions. This really helps eliminate hand fatigue, for me anyway.

[SadieKate]

What kind of bars do you mean?

I meant that pushing the lever with my thumb to downshift hurts a lot after a while. I figured it's harder than the upshift lever because the chain is going up to a bigger cog instead of down to a smaller one...

Flat bars like you have. All flat bars have a straight center section. They then bend at an angle back toward the rider. To achieve a neutral position you may need a bar at steeper angle. You may also want to look at Grip Shift (twist) shifters.

Look at the yellow line in this photo. There's the neutral postion.

If you cannot locate a bar with the correct bend, both Dean and Seven make custom flat bars that are worth it. Sometimes drop bars are inappropriate for the application.

[SadieKate]

This is another more expensive solution to the same problem. Years ago 11 degree bars were fairly readily available. People are finally getting the concept back. These bars are all over the Handmade Bike Show.

http://www.jonesbikes.com/update/hbar/index.html

[rij73]

Thanks so much for all the replies everyone! Those last bars posted are AWESOME! They cost almost as much as the bike, though. Still, they look like they'd be perfect. Nice to know there are more stylish options for the future. For now, this is working great, and now I know what to keep an eye out for.

I don't think drop bars would quite solve my issues, but that Jones Bikes bar looks perfect...

[SadieKate]

Titec licensed the idea from Jones and is making a much less expensive version. I may order one for my townie/cross bike. Though Bubba says the Jones bars are showing on eBay also. Hmm, decisions, decisions.

http://www.titec.com/ -- look for the H-bar

[KnottedYet]

Wow! Those Jones/Titec bars are seriously awesome!

(Hmmm, do I need to get another bike now, so I can use those bars on it?)