Let's talk handlebars....(long)

[KnottedYet]

I suppose I could try a steeper stem (I've seen a Ritchey one that is 30-degrees), but I think it would look rather silly, IMO.

Yes, it is unfortunately far more important to look like Lance than to avoid permanent debilitating nerve damage.

[OakLeaf]

Another alternative (a little bit pricier than new bars, but in the same general ballpark) would be a new fork, that you could cut to a height that would make you comfortable. 80mm at 17° gives you so little offset, that has to be super twitchy ... and going to a longer stem obviously would increase the reach, which you may or may not want to do.

Cheapest and simplest is messing around with the lever positioning and handlebar tilt ... either one can make an enormous difference in comfort, reach and accessibility of the levers.


How does your overall fit on the Trek differ from the C'dale? Did your fitter take measurements from the Trek?

[nscrbug]

Another alternative (a little bit pricier than new bars, but in the same general ballpark) would be a new fork, that you could cut to a height that would make you comfortable. 80mm at 17° gives you so little offset, that has to be super twitchy ... and going to a longer stem obviously would increase the reach, which you may or may not want to do.

Cheapest and simplest is messing around with the lever positioning and handlebar tilt ... either one can make an enormous difference in comfort, reach and accessibility of the levers.


How does your overall fit on the Trek differ from the C'dale? Did your fitter take measurements from the Trek?

Well, the shifters are being replaced (under warranty) as we speak. I'm waiting for the new ones to be sent from Shimano in CA. So, I plan on having some input when they are installed, as far as positioning goes. Had not thought about tilting the bars...thanks for that suggestion!

My fitter did not take measurements from the Trek, as I only brought in my C'dale to the fitting. And IMO, I never did have a "proper" fitting on the Trek...just the standard plumb line from the knee measurement and a "how does it feel?", before they sent me on my way.

[Cataboo]

You could post pics of your cannondale for us to get an idea of the geometry.


I have shitty wrists or thumbs or hands or something, and I'm always irritating them typing, kayaking, or biking. So this is what works for me.

I use the fsa carbon wing bars - but I get them wider than probably what I should be riding (I haven't measured). the 42 cms bars gives me a lot of flat for me to just hold my arms straight out on. I put bar gel on (either fizik or planet bike) and handlebar tape over that. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's a corky handlebar tape or not. You have to aim the flat on the handlebars so that it's keeping your wrists at a relaxed position. I have my handlebars at roughly the same height or a teensy bit above the seat.

TxDoc's been riding my litespeed some this week and flipped the stem down and moved the spacers - the bike looks very cool now, I'll have to give it a shot and see how it feels.


I also do best with gloves that have absolutely no padding - so I either get leather gloves, or I rip the padding out of the gloves I'm using. If I've got padded gloves, for whatever reason within about 15 mins my hands are numb. I like gloves that end above my wrist, so basically the pearl izumi ones, and I rip the padding out of them. If the velcro goes around my wrist or the gloves do, my hands go numb pretty quickly.

My litespeed/titanium frame is far nicer on my hands than my other bikes, but the carbon bike isn't bad either.

Too bad you don't live around here - I have a ton of spare handlebars and stems you could try. (Probably all in widths that are too wide for you). Isn't someone selling some round 38 cm bars off their specialized over in the for sale section? that might be a cheap way to try a different set of bars on your bike. Otherwise, specialized does sell adjustable stems which have little inserts that you can swap or flip around depending on what angle you want to try.

[macski]

I have recently bought a Cannondale Synapse Ultegra model and it came with the bars you describe - my LBS swapped them out for me at the fitting stage for two reasons:
1 - I prefer rounder bars and especially bars that have more space behind the hoods so that you can vary your hand position - the bars they put on are a Specialized short reach bar but not a women's specific model
2 - he thought the bars were a touch narrow for me (they are supposed to be a 38 but they measured narrower than other 38s at the same point to point)


I have a Specialized Amira that I'll be selling soon but I had immense hand pain on that bike - quite debilitating. Once I rode the Synapse I realised that I should have swapped out the bars on the Amira and I would have had less pain.

I have no hand pain on the Synapse