March 11, 20206 yr I've now had a chance to ride my TSDZ2 converted bike for a couple of hours and so far I'm well pleased. Living in Swansea west this has included a few hills including a 25.1% gradient. For the benefit of Mike Killay, Dunvant Hill. The only niggle I have is the pain in my arms, and I discovered a friend who has not been cycling for a while complaint of the same thing. Any suggestions on raising the bars or fitting modified one? I must admit I've not checked to see if there is any adjust left in the existing bars. Pete
March 11, 20206 yr Hand position/reach affects can affect parts of the body from thumbs up to the shoulder and the neck. I was getting bad hand ache esp around the thumb /wrist joint even with suspension so I changed handle bar to a swept back design giving a more natural wrist angle when riding, so much so that I have dispensed with the front sus fork and gone rigid with no effects. Add a nice pair of ergon grips even gives more suppression from uneven roads or trails. Look at the various options available at Planetx. I use the Geoff bars bars, brilliant though a bit wide and I had to lengthen the cables due to the width and sweep but have not regretted the change. I have 600/625mm wide swept back bars on the Swizzbee but the ride comfort isn't the same, for me 600/625 is to narrow.
March 11, 20206 yr I think most 'ordinary' riders are more comfortable with higher bars that are more swept back than those typically sold on bikes. There are lots of good reasons for straight bars, drop bars etc etc., but not for many (most?) riders. Bars can often be raised by an extender. And/or buy new bars which have both some raise and some sweep back. (Those for our tandem arrived this morning, I'll fit them soon. Our Motus solo already had high swept back bars.) Be aware that cable lengths can be too short for higher bars; and swept back bars can have rather short a straight section for attaching gear and brake levers, e=bike monitors, etc.
March 11, 20206 yr Palm grips and bar ends may provide a partial quick fix. Bar ends are worth having because they enable a change of hand position - a weakness of all flat barred bikes. Ergon is the best make, but the cheaper alternatives do the job. Something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/MEETLOCKS-Handlebar-Ergonomic-Designed-Integrated/dp/B073PT748H?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_3 Money no object? The Ergon cork grips on my Riese and Muller Charger are excellent. https://www.merlincycles.com/ergon-gp3-biokork-grips-bar-ends-54548.html
March 11, 20206 yr Planetx currently have bars on offer. These are excellent value at < £10. https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/HBHUBOOM/humpert-ergotec-boomerang-handlebar < £8 https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/HBOOMB/on-one-mike-handlebar
March 11, 20206 yr Bar ends are worth having because they enable a change of hand position - a weakness of all flat barred bikes. I like to try bar ends as they are a great way of temporarily changing your position which helps work out what you then need to do, shorter /taller longer riser, seat position etc etc. I don't like them on an mtb as they hook round trees and branches at the most inopportune time. mine are still on my hybrid but I could take them off now its sort of the right fit.
March 11, 20206 yr Author North Road handlebars for me. [ATTACH type=full" alt="34337]34337[/ATTACH] If that is part of the old LMS line from Blackpill, past The Railway and on toward Dunvant Square, it was part of my ride today.
March 11, 20206 yr Author Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. Plenty there to ponder on. How about these? https://tinyurl.com/vxsv3kd
March 11, 20206 yr When I was a lad everyone (else) had these, I couldn’t bring myself to have one as they were so inefficient to ride, today with the addition of a crank drive that wouldn’t matter ;-) (Edit) in case the point was badly presented, position on the bike is still important to effective cycling, motor or not. Try small changes first . Edited March 11, 20206 yr by gw8izr
March 11, 20206 yr How about these? https://tinyurl.com/vxsv3kd Those look a bit too swept back to me; but difficult to tell from just a couple of photos, and everyone has different tastes/wrists. I just fitted https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GPM926K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 this afternoon. Feel good so far; but I've only had a chance to ride the tandem by myself so time will tell. In order to get my bell handy it did require the motor LCD to be placed at an angle on the slopy part; a bit of a compromise but still very easy to see/interact. The ones Darren66 mentioned above look as if they have a good long straight section for fitting bits; but maybe the rise isn't very big?
March 11, 20206 yr If that is part of the old LMS line from Blackpill, past The Railway and on toward Dunvant Square, it was part of my ride today. Yes, by the pond. Hard to think that I can remember riding along it on a railway train to Victoria Station from Killay station.
March 12, 20206 yr Author Those look a bit too swept back to me; but difficult to tell from just a couple of photos, and everyone has different tastes/wrists. I just fitted https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GPM926K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 this afternoon. Feel good so far; but I've only had a chance to ride the tandem by myself so time will tell. In order to get my bell handy it did require the motor LCD to be placed at an angle on the slopy part; a bit of a compromise but still very easy to see/interact. The ones Darren66 mentioned above look as if they have a good long straight section for fitting bits; but maybe the rise isn't very big? Look good. In my basket and I'll click later if I don't see anything better. Thanks.
March 12, 20206 yr Those look a bit too swept back to me; but difficult to tell from just a couple of photos, and everyone has different tastes/wrists. I just fitted https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GPM926K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 this afternoon. Feel good so far; but I've only had a chance to ride the tandem by myself so time will tell. In order to get my bell handy it did require the motor LCD to be placed at an angle on the slopy part; a bit of a compromise but still very easy to see/interact. The ones Darren66 mentioned above look as if they have a good long straight section for fitting bits; but maybe the rise isn't very big? Update. Just done a proper ride. Handlebars comfortable. No problem with the funny LCD position. Some of the bear/brake cables have a bit less slack than I'd choose (both raised handlebars and stem extender), but they are operating fine and don't inhibit steering.
March 12, 20206 yr The swept back bars might look odd esp when most bikes utilise straight or drops but these don't give a natural hand position. When sitting down /resting look at your wrist/hand position and the angle they sit at, then the logic of swept makes more sense.
March 12, 20206 yr Author I eventually went for these. "Unisex's"??? from Amazon £15.49 https://tinyurl.com/wabscna Ten minutes later I took a photo of the bike and noticed there was still a load of adjustment I could try. Still, too late now. I've still not got around to using cable ties to tidy up the wiring, despite having a few hundred in the workshop. I think everything seems to be in its place and I'll commit to using some this weekend. The seat is usually a bit higher than that.
March 12, 20206 yr Author How could you lean a bike against a car If you knew me you'd know why, I just don't care about my bike. It's a Passat Estate, and you should see the hammering the car gets when I stuff the bike into the back. My kids always claim my old cars anyhow, so let them take care of the blemishes if it bothers them.
March 13, 20206 yr Author Agree, any way probably not his car . That part belongs to the finance company. Now, how about some comments about why I should have just made the appropriate adjustments before spending fifteen and a half quid on new bars. If I want to be abused I can go to my local pub (covid 19 permitting).
March 13, 20206 yr Just think of all the jobs you can do with the little bits of aluminium you cut off the bar ends when you cut to the right width, think of the little brackets you can make out of the rest of the tubing if they don’t fit, there’s always a Silverlining.
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