Butterfly bars

[Iainj837]

I have a Dawes Galaxy touring bike and thinking of changing the drops handlebars and putting butterfly bars on it.
What are your thoughts, I realise it would have to have new brake leavers and gear selectors

 

[steveindenmark]

I had them on my Koga World Traveller for a while but didnt like them. They look the part but didnt have a natural hand position for me.

 

[PaulSB]

I used these for a year or so but didn't find any real benefits over a well set up road bike. I think one can get a more, upright flat bar hybrid position but is this desireable on a road bike?

Rarely see them these days though they seemed to be a thing 15-20 years ago.

 

[gavgav]

Calling @Rickshaw Phil who I think still has butterfly bars on his?

 

[Baldy]

I have butterfly bars on my tourer, I realized that I didn't use the drops on my road bike and fancied a change.

When I first got them I did play around with different hand positions but now I mostly just use the grips. That's the only position you can use the brakes and gear shifters from. Some people think they flex annoyingly but I've not found this. They do put your hand further back than other bars would so you ride in a more upright position. I find they are handy for attaching bar bags to, useful if you're into touring which I am. I suppose they do add weight but that's hardly an issue when you're hanging alsorts of panniers off your bike.

 

[Alex H]

I had a Dawes Galaxy and found that I was never on the drops. I rode mainly on the hood, but this caused a problem that my neck would be stiff after about 15 - 20 miles. (probably age related ) I now ride a Dawes Karakum with butterfly bars. This gives me a more upright position, I have at least 3 positions to hold the bars and I no longer suffer from a stiff neck. Also, the gears and brakes are easier to use (bar end shifters before).

 

[IaninSheffield]

I have butterfly bars on my tourer and they work for me. I find the hand positions provide enough variety, both for the hands and for body position. I also like the sponge grips ... mostly ... although not so much when starting cycling after a rainy night!

 

[Aravis]

Hi @Iainj837

I tried butterfly bars on my usual bike once, on a 200km DiY Audax last September. I concur with @steveindenmark in thinking that they totally look the part:

Acknowledgements from roadies were well down though.

I would say the experiment was a qualified success. I get some fatigue in my neck and shoulders after 10 hours riding with drops (nothing to suggest there's anything wrong with my setup) and the variety of positions provided by the butterflies did seem to help. When needing to look over my shoulder in the later stages, it was good to be able to take a firm grip with my left hand.

But in the end, nothing could compensate for the loss of my favourite position, hands resting on the shoulders of the bars, fingers relaxed and spread across the hoods. My next ride was a 140-miler and the drops were back for that.

If it's of any interest, I've kept the bars in the pictures above intact, with cables, brakes and shifters attached. The sponge grips are covered with black bar tape. They take up space, and I'm very unlikely to use them again...

 

[rogerzilla]

Sie werden wie ein deutscher Tourist aussehen.

 

[Iainj837]

Sie werden wie ein deutscher Tourist aussehen.

In English please lol

 

[Iainj837]

I had a Dawes Galaxy and found that I was never on the drops. I rode mainly on the hood, but this caused a problem that my neck would be stiff after about 15 - 20 miles. (probably age related ) I now ride a Dawes Karakum with butterfly bars. This gives me a more upright position, I have at least 3 positions to hold the bars and I no longer suffer from a stiff neck. Also, the gears and brakes are easier to use (bar end shifters before).

As I said earlier I had the Karakum, which I loved but after reading reviews on steel bikes against the materials on the Karakum etc, I fancied getting a steel bike hence the galaxy.
Then I thought rather then buying another bike maybe put butterfly bars, is it easto swap over?

 

[Iainj837]

Hi @Iainj837

I tried butterfly bars on my usual bike once, on a 200km DiY Audax last September. I concur with @steveindenmark in thinking that they totally look the part:

View attachment 536707

Acknowledgements from roadies were well down though.

I would say the experiment was a qualified success. I get some fatigue in my neck and shoulders after 10 hours riding with drops (nothing to suggest there's anything wrong with my setup) and the variety of positions provided by the butterflies did seem to help. When needing to look over my shoulder in the later stages, it was good to be able to take a firm grip with my left hand.

But in the end, nothing could compensate for the loss of my favourite position, hands resting on the shoulders of the bars, fingers relaxed and spread across the hoods. My next ride was a 140-miler and the drops were back for that.

If it's of any interest, I've kept the bars in the pictures above intact, with cables, brakes and shifters attached. The sponge grips are covered with black bar tape. They take up space, and I'm very unlikely to use them again...

How much would you sell for and the current shifters would be be compatible with the gears I all ready have which is a nine speed cassette

 

[Gravity Aided]

I think they are a good compromise, allowing hand position changes flat bars to not afford, but lacking the drop bars' ability to get into a lowered stance. I don't mind them on short tours, or tours with low miles per day. I think they become a problem for my back above . Depending on road surface, I find them an issue above 20-35 miles, or at least I did when I was covering 60+ miles per day on events and tours. I'm over 60 years old now, but I still do not care for upright riding.

 

[rogerzilla]

In English please lol

They'll make you look like a German tourist.

 

[Nigeyy]

Well... mixed opinions on them.....

I had some for touring, and while i got comfortable with them, I ended up replacing them. The biggest issues were that I felt the particular bars (and I believe they were about the same as any butterfly designs I've seen) had the lower bars too close, and the farther upper bars too far away. It meant that if I got the lower bars to be the perfect distance away -oh and by the way add in the cost of a new stem in all likelihood -then if I attempted to use the upper bars it felt like I was too stretched out and uncomfortable. Vice versa, if I had the upper bars at a comfortable distance, then the lower bars felt incredibly too close to me. I know, I know, why didn't you put the bars more in a vertical position effectively shortening the distance between the upper and lower bars? Well because I also wanted the side parts of the bars to be flat as they were most comfortable to me (like the old bar ends).

So while I did get comfortable with them, I realized it was only because I'd given up pretty much on using the upper bars, and by then I realized I might as well have more usable traditional road bars or a simple "straight" handlebar with bar ends that didn't interfere as much with a front handlebar bag. I think I still have them somewhere in my basement -one of the those spare bits of kit in case I fix up an old bike and am short of handlebars. However, I certainly don't have any thoughts of resurrecting them anytime soon.

Obviously different people have different experiences with them, and it could have been my butterfly bars were of a different design or dimensions, but honestly, they seem to have been in line with any butterfly bars I've seen. Also other people may have been happier to have run them at a steeper angle than me, so there's that. I'd say give 'em a go!