Trekking/butterfly bars

[mr_hippo]

I am thinking of getting these for my Trek 3900:-

Anyone have them? Pro/cons?

 

[walker]

I see these bars all the time, they remind me of stationary bikes and make me laugh

 

[hubgearfreak]

if you fell off and your arm went through the gap, then was levered by your and the bikes weight it would give you some serious bone breakages.

how likely this is, i don't know

 

[Jacomus-rides-Gen]

Pro - no-one will nick your bike
Cons - they look sh1te and offer no more hand positions than drops

PLUS - You need a shorter top tube than you would have on a road / tourer because otherwise the top bars being higher up and furter away will stretch you out, not sit you up as they are supposed to.

 

[summerdays]

That guy who cycled around the world had them on his bike.

If they're suitable for 100 miles/day until you've orbited once, then they can't be bad.

I noticed that too, and it made me wonder what they were like, - I don't fancy dropped handlebars - I like looking ahead, around, but liked the idea of alternative hand positions. But when I went looking on the internet for them, I couldn't really find them ... are they really unpopular?

 

[Jacomus-rides-Gen]

That guy who cycled around the world had them on his bike.

If they're suitable for 100 miles/day until you've orbited once, then they can't be bad.

He also suffered chronic back problems and atrophied muscle running down the sides of his spinal column, supposedly brought on from compression shocks travelling up his loaded spine, instead of being dissipated normally through the flexing of the bent back.

He also had a second set of bars atop the butterfly ones, quite sheldon-esqe, which no doubt made his problem worse.

 

[papercorn2000]

My wife likes hers. But she's a girl. What does she know?

 

[one-eyed_jim]

Pro - no-one will nick your bike
Cons - they look sh1te and offer no more hand positions than drops

PLUS - You need a shorter top tube than you would have on a road / tourer because otherwise the top bars being higher up and furter away will stretch you out, not sit you up as they are supposed to.

Bars, like saddles, are very personal things. These bars offer no more hand positions than drops, true, but the positions they offer are - obviously - different, more akin to a flat bar with bar ends. I quite like them.

For the top tube issue, I think you're looking at them the wrong way round! Fitted conventionally, these bars put the controls closer to the rider than a normal flat bar, giving a slightly more upright position, with two more stretched out climbing/cruising positions.

De gustibus, etc.

 

[one-eyed_jim]

He also had a second set of bars atop the butterfly ones, quite sheldon-esqe, which no doubt made his problem worse.

I can't see them in any of the pictures on his website:

http://www.pedallingaround.com/gallery/images/other_pictures/a_hero_returns/img_0595.JPG

http://www.pedallingaround.com/gall...istanbul___weeks_2_and_3/p1000164_512x384.JPG

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/outdoors/programmes/pedalling_around/kit/

 

[one-eyed_jim]

Anyone have them? Pro/cons?

Pros: more positions than a conventional flat bar. Inexpensive. Compatible with your current gear and brake levers.

Cons: may not give you the positions you want (no drop position, hard to tuck in for headwinds or fast descents).

 

[domtyler]

I guess the answer is to just buy them and give them a go. It's not like you will have to take out a large unsecured loan is it?

 

[domtyler]

...and if you don't like them you could always hammer them into the shape of drops.

A cracking idea Mister P!

Mister H, there goes your last excuse.

 

[snorri]

if you fell off and your arm went through the gap, then was levered by your and the bikes weight it would give you some serious bone breakages.

but if you fell off with 'ordinary' bars and the end of the bar went into your stomach it you would give you a serious prod. I consider butterfly bars to be safer because they have no pointy ends.
If you want to fit a bar bag, this would restrict the amount of flexibilty in adjustment of the bar angles.
I have had butterfly bars for some time and like the various options of hand hold position that they give.

 

[walker]

does the bike not already have an upright riding position anyway?

 

[hubgearfreak]

but if you fell off with 'ordinary' bars and the end of the bar went into your stomach it you would give you a serious prod. I consider butterfly bars to be safer because they have no pointy ends.

you're spot on

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3863814.ece