Handle bar advice?

Seaneh

Right lads, recently got rid of my hybrid and bought a road bike from a friend.

Going grand except for one thing, I find using the hoods totally alien and end up either on the flat part of the bar or the tops/ramps (just before the hoods) all the time.
Only time I use the hoods is when sprinting (so I can have access to gears and breaks) and when I am in traffic.

I actually think the bars might just be a little too long from the flat to the the hoods for me.

I have no idea what bars I currently have, I assume they were the stock bars for the bike (Giant OCR4, few years old) but I couldn't be arsed unwinding tape to be sure.

Anyone here have advice on either how to get comfy on the hoods (hand positioning, etc) or on a nice bar with a shorter distance between the flat and the drop?

Cheers.

colm_gti

Maybe try a shorter stem?

Idleater

You can try a shorter stem to bring the handle bars closer. Other than that it probably is just you getting used to the different bars which should improve over time.

Seaneh

colm_gti wrote: »

Maybe try a shorter stem?

The stem is fairly short as it is.
The problem, in my opinion, is that there is enough room for me to actually grip the tops and there is still a few mm each side between the hoods on one end and the flat on the other end. That seems awful long to me, most bikes I see there would be not enough room to even grip the tops properly.

niceonetom

I agree that a shorter stem might go some way to fixing this but if your stem is already less than, say, 90mm then changing bars could be an option too.

Bars like the 3T Ergosum or FSA Omega are deigned to have shorter reach and shallower drop (which you might also benefit from if you're new to drops).

Seaneh

niceonetom wrote: »

I agree that a shorter stem might go some way to fixing this but if your stem is already less than, say, 90mm then changing bars could be an option too.

Bars like the 3T Ergosum or FSA Omega are deigned to have shorter reach and shallower drop (which you might also benefit from if you're new to drops).

its a 100mm stem and the bike is a medium Giant OCR and I am 5'9/10 so im afraid a shorter stem would be a bit crowded.
Ill check out those bars though, cheers :-)


anyone have hand positioning tips?

happytramp

Had the same problem until a couple of weeks ago. 100% resolved by taking the following steps

1. Changing from a 100mm stem to a 90mm one.
2. Changing stock bars to a short reach/shallow drop compact bar http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=50187

Seaneh

happytramp wrote: »

Had the same problem until a couple of weeks ago. 100% resolved by taking the following steps

1. Changing from a 100mm stem to a 90mm one.
2. Changing stock bars to a short reach/shallow drop compact bar http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=50187

They look great, from reading the reviews, I might go with the wider version, the Vero which one reviewer recommended. I like the fact that they are slightly flared as I'd been considering the OnOne Midge bars but the extreme flare looks a bit ****e to me so these would be a good middle ground and still have a (very) compact bar.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=36060

clog

Hi if you look in my advert i've a wing pro compact bar for sale if that would be any use. Open to offers.