Commuting, flat bars, bar ends and my sirrus

[Twanger]

I have now been commuting for one month. I am fitter, happier and healthier. My legs have stopped hurting.

I have had my Sirrus elite for one month. So I have been using flat bars for one month. Well, not quite true, but the last time I had a bike with flat bars I was 14 (actually this is completely untrue as I have a Dahon Vitesse D7HG, which has very flat bars. But I don't consider the Dahon a real bike - not one that is honkable or rideable at anything other than glacial speeds) and now I am 50.

Now, I like the flat bars in town. I like the riding position and the control. They outclass drop bars for zipping through traffic. But I am not so happy with the flat bars while zooming down long stretches of relatively empty, fast, straight bus lane (think Brixton Road, Kennington Road, Camberwell New Road), or honking the thing up a hill. That's when the brake levers and other positions on drop bars really get missed.

So I am thinking bar ends, and I have two questions. Which style ends do preople prefer, and do you need shorter bars? My bike has 58cm bars.

Ooooh! And a third question ...what about teh stretch? Do you fit a shorter stem?

 

[fossyant]

I have fairly straight bar ends on my MTB, but I lopped off the maximim handle bar I could - they are no more than 50 cm wide, maximum.

 

[Twanger]

Any disadvantages to shorter bars?

 

[fossyant]

Slightly less leverage off road, more twitchy on road, but as I am mainly a roadie, I didn't like the width anyway, so out came the hacksaw. Bar ends are a necessity I'd say.

 

[Twanger]

I am beginning to think they are a necessity. I notice that there are bar ends that curve inwards. I guess those might offset the length of my bars.

 

[Theseus]

There use to be something from Newk that gave drops as well as horns. I have only seen it on one bike tho.

http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/html/853_commuter.shtml

 

[ACS]

I use Specialized A1 Dirt Rodz. Tried the smaller type bar end but prefered the additional grip space.

Image

 

[HJ]

Or you could do as HLaB (of this forum) has done, and convert you Sirrus to drops...

 

[Twanger]

Or you could do as HLaB (of this forum) has done, and convert you Sirrus to drops...

I thought about it, but I like the flat bars in town. Bar ends are cheap. I'll try them first.

 

[jimboalee]

Bar ends in town.

You're a long way from the brake levers.

Be ready to change to the grips in an instant. No lapses in concentration.

I got best results by :-

Cut the bars so the bar ends are at the width of your shoulders. Measure up the gearchangers and brake levers first so you don't cut too much off.

Reposition the main bars so the grips are slightly on the down slope to the ends. This is more ergonomic. - think motorcycle clip-ons.

 

[Twanger]

Bar ends in town.


Cut the bars so the bar ends are at the width of your shoulders. Measure up the gearchangers and brake levers first so you don't cut too much off.

Yup. This was giving me thought.

 

[Crankarm]

Fit bar ends but as to what sort that can only be decided by you according to your budget and tastes. There's no point recommending any as they might suit me and be within my budget but not suit your taste or be within your budget. Just look at a selection and buy what you like the look of. Also get grippy material to cover them if they are smooth. Then fit them in whatever position you feel comfortable with ie suck it and see. You're not going to know which suits you best without experimenting. What might be comortable to some one else might be torture for you. You can have them pointing directly up, down, flat or even backwards if that takes your fancy . One thing you might not realise is that the stem can be reversed to drop the bars down which is what I did and you can remove the spacers on the steerer tube to make them yet lower which I have not done as the set up I have is now fine. You can cut the bars down to make them narrower if you so wish, but be careful as once the bars are cut.........you can't go back. Better to cut slightly less off than more and obviously equal amounts from each side. It really is not that hard .

 

[Twanger]

You are very right. One man's meat and so on. But I am not looking for recommendations. I am looking for people's reasons for what they chose and what their concerns are in this area. Here's a lot of experience on this board and a lot of information to be gleaned. What Jimboalee says fits in with my experience of drop bars. I think I would find standing up on the pedals with wide bars a bit strange.

I will probably go with curved bar ends, and a shorter bar. I won't cut my bar, I'll get a new one.

 

[Twanger]

Another thought...is it possible to mount bar "ends" in other places, such as immediately inside the grips on the bar?

 

[Cubist]

What about some clip-on aero-bars?