Ergonomic bars?

[ededwards]

Ok, I'm on a roll of righteous fury!

Are ergonomic handlebars more or less comfortable than the more traditional drop bar bend? It's interesting that many pros are swapping back to a classic shape - surely they wouldn't do that if ergonomic bars were more comfortable?

 

[Roger_P]

I have had both ergonomic bars and traditional shallow drop bars. I found that I cannot use traditional shallow drop bars as my hands are too big for the bends!
I have now got a set of shallow drop bars that need to find a new home!

Horses for courses I guess.

Roger

 

[pigman]

I tried ergo and soon went back to round. Round lets you rest your hands in the "corner" of the bend (if thats not a contradiction of terms). The ergos tend to have a sloping flat section that you rest your hands "on".
also I found that with ergos, the sloping bit is further away from the brake levers, so you need a bigger hand. The apex of the curve on round ones are closer to the levers, so allow better reach on descents.

Cinelli 64's - best bars ever.

 

[dbmtb]

Depends how long your fingers are and how much time you spend braking on the drops I think....

I loved anatomic bars until I rode La Marmotte and ended up with very sore wrists after the descent from Galibier.

I went back to traditional bend after that.

Still have anatomic bends on my cross bikes and the De Rosa though. They don't see so many long descents and riding on the drops is more comfy with them.

 

[barry2017]

Personally, I reckon the fewer flat bits on a bar, the better. The best bars for long distances allow you to put your hands and wrists in lots of different positions. To me, "Ergonomic" bars are like a child's drawing of how a drop handlebar ought to look. But bear in mind I do lots of touring, and want to spend a lot of time in the saddle in comfort and with little effort. If you're a racer, wider, flatter bars might be better.
To my mind the best road bar design is the Randonneur.

 

[mrkawasaki]

On Approval

Tried those Midge bars yet...

Mr K

 

[Jamiedyer]

Ergo or standard

Hi Ed
Of my two roadies I have ergo's on my Giant TCR and on my Merckx corsa extra I have traditional bars. Both are Cinelli's and 40cm c to c.
I have ridden with ergo's solely for the last ten years but when I built my Merckx two springs back I purchased a nice set of 'campione' cinelli's. I thought I would try them and see how I got on. I had a few worries thinking I might have got a bit 'soft' after using the ergos and it might take a while to get used to not having the positions defined. How wrong I was, they are the most natural feeling bars I have used and for the first two rides I forgot I was using trad bars, didnt think about bars at all. I have done some distance on them and they feel as fine at the end of a long day as at the beginning. I find it more so now than before but I sometimes feel like my wrist is a bit of an unnatural angle to ride on the mid drop for too long on the ergos, whereas on the trads I dont have that. They are also great for climbing on the drops.
Maybe I just chose a perfect bar for me, but traditional bars seem to be ergonimically better for me than the propossed 'ergonimical' bar :roll:

Jamie

 

[john]

Interesting, only ridden ergo bars for years. Maybe I should try a regular bar again.

When did ergo bars emerge? Early 90s IIRC.

 

[TheGreenRabbit]

I ride Ergo bars on one bike and regular bars on the other, and I tend to ride on the hoods or the tops of the bars, Can't say I notice much differance. They are however different widths. I prefer a narow width on my arround town/Winter/Pub/Shopping bike and widers on the out and out fast ride.

 

[Old Ned]

I tried ergo and soon went back to round. Round lets you rest your hands in the "corner" of the bend (if thats not a contradiction of terms). The ergos tend to have a sloping flat section that you rest your hands "on".
also I found that with ergos, the sloping bit is further away from the brake levers, so you need a bigger hand. The apex of the curve on round ones are closer to the levers, so allow better reach on descents.

Cinelli 64's - best bars ever.

Exactly, see my comments in Ed's STI thread.

Ergo Bars = :evil: :evil:

Cinelli 64 etc. =