Originally posted by bevo44
Does anyone else have any comments?
Please forgive my posting to my own tread - just wanted to get topic back to the front page. lol
In summary:
wide flat bars give greater mechanical advantage over any force that tries to effect the direction of the front wheel.. so they give more secure control over uneven ground, ie: mountain bikes
Some people cut down their flat bars for commuting because of heavy traffic proximity issues.
Drop bars give you a greater variety of hand positions and if you want too you can use an inverted stem to raise the bars to be more upright for commuting. Drop bars come in different widths
Bull horn bars are like flat bars with bar ends and can be set at what ever height you like.. (as with all bar types ) These are usually set very low and used in conjunction with aero extensions. However I’ve seen them on commuter bikes, set high with the end shifters set above the brakes. They look quite cool and provide that more upright position which for me is more comfortable in heavy traffic conditions.
Bull horns is what is on my commuter bike and I changed from flat bars to get my elbows in ( car wing mirrors etc.) but I could have just as easily cut down some flat bars and I would have almost achieve the same result.
I’d put drops on my tourer but I’d set them a little higher then what I would if it was a racing bike.
The whole aero argument, like the height argument, is arbitrary. You can change the height of any bar. And you can tuck into a low frontal area no matter what bars you have. If they are really wide so your hands are outside your body then there may be an argument regarding reduced aerodynamics.. it hardly matters unless you are racing, Then everything matters.
