Advice on Handlebars

Ray1964

I have a road bike and a hybrid bike. The hybrid is approx 15/20 years old. I use the hybrid for shorter rides, say 15 to 20 KM and use the road bike for 20 KM plus. The hybrid is alot heavier than the road bike which is a full carbon frame (Trek Madone 5.2). I will be doing the Wicklow 100 in June and hope to do longer sportives during the summer(no competitive cycles).

The hybrid have the straight handlebars and the road bike has the standard drop ones.

I find that the ride on the hybrid is more comfortable than the road bike. This is probably to do with the width of the tyres in conjunction with the positioning of the more upright straight handlebars.

I have been offered to convert the road bike with straight handlebars but before I go to that expense I would like the views of more experienced riders on this forum. What are the pros and cons in changing the handlebars on my road bike?

Thanks in advance,

Regards,

Ray.

smacl

Flat bars can become sore on the hands and wrists on long rides. The various hand and hence body positions on drop bars can also make a long ride far more comfortable. I've done the Wicklow 100 and 200 on a flat bar hybrid, and the 200 on a drop bar road bike, the latter being more comfortable.

Rather than swap from drops to flat bars, maybe find a set of drops that suit you better, and get a bike fit that is aimed towards a more relaxed riding style. I hated drop bars starting out, but found changing to compact drops a huge improvement. For tyres, 25mm will be more comfortable than the 23mm that come with many road bikes, and 28mm will be comfier still if your bike can take them. For me the last piece of the jigsaw was a decent saddle, and I found the Brooks B17 was a good fit, though everyone is a bit different in this regard.

These days I'm happier with drop bars than flats; plenty comfy, more space to move and stretch on a long ride, less wind resistance, and much securer on fast descents.

Brian?

Have you had a bike fit done?

Don't replace your drops.

Ray1964

Many thanks for your replies Smacl and Brian.

Yes I had a proper fit with Aidan Hammond last year.

Very interested about your comments on the tyre sizes. I have the 23mm at present. What are the pros and cons of going to 25mm or 28mm as you suggest? I cycle on some very uneven and bad surfaces and I fell every small bump with the 23mm tyres.

slap/dash

smacl wrote: »

Flat bars can become sore on the hands and wrists on long rides. The various hand and hence body positions on drop bars can also make a long ride far more comfortable. I've done the Wicklow 100 and 200 on a flat bar hybrid, and the 200 on a drop bar road bike, the latter being more comfortable.

Rather than swap from drops to flat bars, maybe find a set of drops that suit you better, and get a bike fit that is aimed towards a more relaxed riding style. I hated drop bars starting out, but found changing to compact drops a huge improvement. For tyres, 25mm will be more comfortable than the 23mm that come with many road bikes, and 28mm will be comfier still if your bike can take them. For me the last piece of the jigsaw was a decent saddle, and I found the Brooks B17 was a good fit, though everyone is a bit different in this regard.

These days I'm happier with drop bars than flats; plenty comfy, more space to move and stretch on a long ride, less wind resistance, and much securer on fast descents.

this is all good advice.
i run mtb bars on my single speed around town, but when ive done longer rides - say anything over 20k in one go, they arent the best. they work for upright commuting. for real rides, drops are the way to go, no question. maybe get something like these http://www.wiggle.co.uk/3t-ergonova-pro-alloy-road-handlebar/ or another short reach bar. if those are too much, search for women specific/short reach bars...these enable a less stretched out riding position and easier access to theshifters when youre on the drops. you could also maybe get a stem with an increased angle of of less length. you can shop around for more shock absorbing tape, or even put dampening inserts under the bar tape.

25c will also help without any real difference in speed/rolling resistance. id recommend conti gp4000s' - good puncture resistance and pretty grippy too.

if your budget stretches, you could also try a carbon seatpost, but thats probably best left for later. a good saddle is very important. i am a fan of specialized. especially the avatar...saddle width is an important consideration: many come at c134cm but unless your small, or more race inclined, a 143 or so will most likely work out best for you....

good luck

Lumen

Road bikes are designed to be optimally fast and bearably comfortable. If the bike fits you and isn't actually causing you an injury, just ride it more. Eventually you'll adapt.

Sticking flat handlebars on a Madone is wrong. If you don't want a road bike, sell it to someone who does.

smacl

Ray1964 wrote: »

What are the pros and cons of going to 25mm or 28mm as you suggest? I cycle on some very uneven and bad surfaces and I fell every small bump with the 23mm tyres.

The wider the tyre, the lower the pressure, the better cushioning you get against bumps in the road. Up until recently, the thought was that this was at a cost of speed / increased rolling resistance, but new evidence now suggests the opposite.

slap/dash

i just noticed its a madone. in that case, just get the bike fit done. probably wider tyres, dampening tape and a nice saddle, or some subset of those will suffice

Ray1964

Lumen wrote: »

Sticking flat handlebars on a Madone is wrong. If you don't want a road bike, sell it to someone who does.

Hi Lumen, I never said I didn't want a road bike. I'm a newbie to cycling and wanted advise on handlebars. I see that you are obvisiously an expert with nearly 17,000 posts :D

Lumen

Ray1964 wrote: »

Hi Lumen, I never said I didn't want a road bike. I'm a newbie to cycling and wanted advise on handlebars

You mentioned you were considering converting the Madone to straight bars. This would just make it a very expensive bad hybrid, in my opinion.

smacl

Ray1964 wrote: »

Yes I had a proper fit with Aidan Hammond last year.

Bike fits are often done to optimize performance rather than comfort. It could be a good idea to give this guy a shout, and get his opinion on optimizing for comfort rather than performance. My bike, while still a road bike, is set up primarily for comfort, tweaked over time. As Lumen pointed out, your body also adapts over time, and my experience was that there was a period of time involved in getting used to the different riding style.

petethedrummer

I think you should go for it. Throw some Zipp 808's on it to get back some of the aero advantage lost in the new upright position. Stick some wing mirrors on it so you can watch as other riders eat your dust. Oh and don't forget a carrier for commuting to work.

Lumen

petethedrummer wrote: »

I think you should go for it. Throw some Zipp 808's on it to get back some of the aero advantage lost in the new upright position. Stick some wing mirrors on it so you can watch as other riders eat your dust. Oh and don't forget a carrier for commuting to work.

petethedrummer

Damn someone's gone and done it already.

Paul Kiernan

On a similar vein I have a bright red Ferrari which is a bit impractical to be honest. I was thinking of whacking on a towbar to get the milk to the dairy and maybe a roof-rack for moving yokes. Also the passenger door is a bit banjaxed after some eejit on a bike got too close to me on a fast downhill. I found a yellow door cheap on Ebay, I suppose I could whack that on and it'd be grand.

Ray1964

You are all sooooooooo funny. I think I get the message. Remind me never to ask for advice again.

Paul, I'll swap you my hybrid for your red Ferrari with the yellow door.

petethedrummer

If it was any other type of bike you might get away with it but due to the existence of the World's Greatest Madone you have to stick with what you have, lest you be the butt of many an insider joke.

Craig06

Why don't you just sell the Madone and buy a bike with a higher head tube and more relaxed geometry.

petethedrummer

Flip the stem upwards if you haven't already.

You should probably get a bike fit but you can find a good position by yourself if you are prepared to watch videos and tinker with your setup. Stretching and foam rollering if done properly are good for increasing flexibility. I like to stretch the night before a long cycle. I'm not convinced you should stretch directly before cycling, but I could be swayed if a decent physio told me it was safe to do so.

I went to a physio recently to improve my flexibility and asked cycling specific exercises. They are having a positive impact.

I have also found a little bit of cross training (5-a-side/swim/jog) helps work the core and makes me more comfortable on the bike.

Seaneh

Ray1964 wrote: »

You are all sooooooooo funny. I think I get the message. Remind me never to ask for advice again.

Paul, I'll swap you my hybrid for your red Ferrari with the yellow door.

Look, some people are being a bit dickish in their replies but honestly, it's all good advice.

Putting flat bars on that bike would be a fecking crime. It's a race machine, it's designed to be aggressive and aero. It has a short headtube and a very low riding position.

You can fix this in a few ways.

1) a stem with a 8 degree raised angle, this will make you more upright on the bike and put less stress on your back and shoulders.

2) new bars. as mentioned, getting a set of compact.short reach bars will make it easier to reach the shifters from the drops and give you more options for riding positions without affecting comfort, the hoods will also be a lot closer to you so when you're on the hoods or tops you will be more upright, this will be more comfortable.

3) wider tyres at a lower pressure. Normally, road bikes have 23mm tyres @120-140psi. The conbination of small impact zome with the road and "hard" tyres means you feel every little piece of bad road you hit.
running 25mm tyres at about 100psi will mean al larger impact area with the road, and thus more area to absorb the impact and spread the energy through the rubber rather than into your hands through the bike. The lower psi will add further to the same effect.

4) padded/gel lined bar tape. more dampening will lessen road buzz and make your ride a lot more comfortable, and I actually find the fatter grip that this gives a lot more comfortable as well, I have weird hands, I have big palms and short fingers so gripping normal diameter bars isn't ideal, I have specialized "Body Geometry Bar Fat" on my bike, this massively increases the diameter of the bars and gives a shot ton of padding, see if you can buy something like that, pair it with a padded bar tape and I guarantee you will have a more comfortable ride.


Then there are the other little things, maybe s shorter stem, moving your saddle forward, different crank length, that sort of thing, they are all worth considering.


But whatever you don't, don't put fecking flat bars in a bloody madone 5.2!
That bike is specced to a level that wouldn't be out of place in continental professional level races, it would be like putting bull bars and snow tyres on an F1 car!

Ray1964

Joking aside (and I deserve a slagging), many thanks to you all for the great advise.