Handlebar Alternatives For Touring on a 29er?

[Nomad]

Planing on riding the GDMBR on a 29er and don't want to use plain flat bars.  Bar ends help some but I would like more riding position.  Anyone have luck with Jeff Jones bars or butterfly bars?  Any other ideas?  When not on single track I normally prefer drop bars but I am using a 29er.  I know bars are a personal choice but any suggestions would be appreciated.  Thanks.

[Wandering by Bicycle]

I'm currently touring with the Jeff Jones 710/Surly Loop Bar cut back to 690mm and love it. The loop is great for long straight stretches and a water bottle can be strapped in the loop for extra H2O capacity. I have a Fargo with Woodchippers and love that set up as well, but the Jones Bar offers better control of the heavy bike off road.

[Adam Alphabet]

I've switched from typical 8 degree sweep riser bars to a 23 degree Salsa Bend bar. I've road toured, dirt road toured and currently run it as my mountain bike bar up here on the North Shore. For now I couldn't see myself going back to anything with less than 20 degrees of sweep. For road touring and dirt road touring I add aerobars.

[Area54]

I run 46cm woodchippers on my Fargo, with a 120mm 17deg stem (it's really slammed), I've lobbed 30mm off the ends of the bar. Love this setup, still spend a lot of time in the drops despite the low position (still not as low as my other road bikes though) and tackles steep descents with confidence.

With your 29er you might need to experiment with shorter stems to get the fit right with any drop style bar.

[james-o]

I rate the H-bar shape for bikepacking and can't imagine putting in long hours on other bars now. H or loop bars feel like both MTB bars and drops in some ways, more range and grip options than the others I've used. I have a collection of dirt drops (inc Midges, Luxy, Woodchippers) but they always seem compromised in that they work best in the hooks so they're not really as multi-position as I thought they may be, not when compared to my road bike drops or the H-bars anyway. It's all personal though, I like drop bars generally so maybe I need to give them another shot. I like the space the loop gives for lights etc also, another benefit for longer trips.
Butterfly bars are probably the closest you'll get to these bars but most seem to lack the H-bars 45 degree section that gives the great fore-aft grip range without fundamentally changing your position, that's possibly more of a benefit to climbing and technical descending than pure distance work though.

[bmike-vt]

this is the old titec h-bar. like it well enough, but would love a loop bar. i've used this on and off on my pugsley. works well with a shorter stem than normal, but i like the salsa bar (forget which one came stock on my pugs) for general mtb and snow use.


IMG_2293 by mbeganyi, on Flickr


IMG_2164 by mbeganyi, on Flickr

[ladyof thelake]

I have a Jones loop bar on my Ogre and its great - lots of hand positions, extra bar space for gadgets, easy to tie a dry bag or other cylinder to, and the sweep is great.  I think I have the 680 or 690, whatever the older version is compared to the one they just brought out.  Seems plenty wide for me.

[SlowRide]

Are there any gotchas/cons to riding these kinds of bars as far as handling(or any other aspects of riding)? I'm coming from Easton Haven carbon bars and wondering if I should think about a switch before TDR.

[SlowRide]

I would guess from the silence that the answer to my question is "no"
I'll have to look into a possible switch if time and cash flow allow.

[james-o]

Not everyone likes the feel of them and I didn't really click with them on a playful-handling 100mm fork hardtail, but on a rigid / loaded bike they feel like a more natural choice.

[aschuhmann]

Are there any concerns with attaching aero bars on a carbon handlebar? I was looking to go with Ergon GS2 grips, but it's red flagged on their website as a safety concern on carbon bars. Not sure why? So I'm thinking now that there may be some issue with aero bars on a carbon handlebar? Is it because carbon doesn't like to be "pinched", for lack of a better term?
-Andrew

[BenjyC]

The GS2 issue is that it can a) crimp your bars on the end and b) ran with poverty spec carbon bars you'll find they will eventually stress around your controls area.

Having said this, I've known a few people to use Easton EC70 & EC80 bars with GS2 grips without issue. Potential benefit of their 'Taperwall' technology maybe?

[dadana]

I run a Jones loop bar with Ergon grips and a 100 mm suspension fork on my Niner Air Nine when I am doing multi day trips. I use a Revelate Designs Sweet Roll, 2 feedbags, a light, a cycle computer and a GPS and I still have plenty of room to move my hands around. They tend to be kind of wide and take a little getting used to but once you have the angle set right they are really comfortable. When I'm not touring I switch back to carbon bars and a rigid fork.

[intheways]

I just got some Loops about a month ago and really like them.  I have tried just about every other "alt bar", I think the Loop is my favorite. 

I'm on a fully rigid Misfit Dissent

[vivalavelo]

Are there any gotchas/cons to riding these kinds of bars as far as handling(or any other aspects of riding)? I'm coming from Easton Haven carbon bars and wondering if I should think about a switch before TDR.

having recently switched my KM to Jones 710 from niner carbon, the only downside i've arrived at is less responsive steering, although, the bike feels so much more stable. may be placebo effect?? But i'll take this over the persising innerwrist pain that had been growing over the past year with a flat bar. The more ergonomic position plays nicer with my busted, yet repaired, scaphoid. Furthermore, having more space to put all my shiny gadgets and toys has been nice.

I didn't change the stem length, though, despite the recomendation to run a longer stem. Or so I'm told...

[THE LONG RANGER]

I didn't change the stem length, though, despite the recomendation to run a longer stem. Or so I'm told...

Really? I totally went with a (much) shorter stem when I switched.

The first few rides with the bars was pretty terrifying - felt very much out of control, when things got technical - I'm not the best technical rider by a huge margin, I def. had to rewire my brain for this new position. Raced the Vapor Trail with them and they worked pretty well! Still fell on the descent off of Granite Peak, but again, I sort of chalk that up to me not being the best technical rider.

One thing that was sort of a learning point was that *when* you fall, and the the bars hit the ground, the brake levers seem to be in a more prone position to take more of a hit. May be more anecdata than not, but I now kinda keep the levers on kinda loose on the bars, so they'll spin outta the way, if they get hit.

The brakes levers on the bars helps with getting the brake line out of the way of strapping bags to the bar itself, which is really nice.

Everything else about the thing is just amazing. I got bad hand problems after the CTR, and I'm very glad for all the positions on the H bar.

[THE LONG RANGER]

Oh, and wheelies - Jones H Bars work way better for wheelies.

[vivalavelo]

Really? I totally went with a (much) shorter stem when I switched.

Looking into it after your comment, i found this from Jones' blahhhguh: "I do not recommend using a longer stem to make this grip position have the same reach as a normal bar. It will make the front positions too far forward and make you less likely to use them. It will also reduce how much you can get your weight back on the down hills." https://www.jonesbikes.com/?option=com_wordpress&lang=en&p=31&Itemid=58

Glad I didn't heed the advice of the rider that stopped to talk. sick wheelie.

[occamsrazor]

For those with the Jones bars... How are they for XC trail riding, not touring? I'm considering buying an Ogre with them, to which I'd add a front suspension fork. Are they less/more manoeuvrable than standard MTB bars?

[vivalavelo]

riding XC with these bars isn't bad. Going back to fruita and G.junction this week for a few days and i'll be using jones bars there on my hardtail KM. Like i mentioned above, to me the responsiveness is a little bit more sluggish compared to a traditional bar.

I wrapped up the bar with bartape i had laying around. So i could easily swap back and forth, I keep an extra set of avid levers, sram shifter clamps and my old grips mounted on my old flat bar in case i want to get rad. had to lengthen housing a bit to put the jones bar on, so I imagine i might have a mild case of floppy cable syndrome when i swap out to the flat. Don't think I'll bring the flat bar on this trip to CO, though.