[Closed] Drop Bars vs 'Comfort' Bars: Educate Me

I've used flats, drops and jones / other swept bars a fair bit. For me it comes down to whether I want suspension - as soon as I have that I want the control of wider flat bars.
On a rigid bike I ride a bit differently off-road and much prefer the H-bars, some might say they're a bit narrow but the way they position me on the bike tbh I've never wanted them to be wider. I like the compact feel, they're natural enough for road touring or bikepacking and still gives me plenty of control off-road. But on a bike with sus forks they felt wrong or limiting - YMMV etc.
Drops are great for road bikes and rides/bikes that are road biased but imo feel too compromised off-road, fun in moderate doses. By the time I set a bike up to position me for MTB off-road stuff using a flare drop bar it was effectively just a too-narrow H-bar.

I have a (vaguely) drop bar cx/tourer/old school bike, with normal drop bars, conservative geometry, and it’s, you know, fine.
Some people really don’t get on with drop bars, so be prepared to experiment to get your position fine tuned for comfort.
Also, you tend to spend more time in one position, so small adjustments can make a surprising difference.
Many people like flared drops, but I haven’t tried em.
Edited to add: I’ve tried the on one geoff bars, didn’t get on with those at all. Other people love em though.

On a rigid bike I ride a bit differently off-road and much prefer the H-bars, some might say they’re a bit narrow but the way they position me on the bike tbh I’ve never wanted them to be wider. I like the compact feel, they’re natural enough for road touring or bikepacking and still gives me plenty of control off-road. But on a bike with sus forks they felt wrong or limiting – YMMV etc.

I could have written this. I had Jones Loops on my first fatbike for 8 years and loved them. I built up a Plus bike for bikepacking and also fitted loops.

Over time, I've come to the conclusion that I prefer flat bars if I'm using suspension forks, and since my new fatbike came with Blutos, it's had flat bars on. I'm about to retro-fit flats onto my Plus bike too as it's currently wearing Rebas.

An everything else bike is fairly pointless, they're just not that great for a lot of stuff. It makes absolutely no sense to spend big money on a Ti frame that is compromised in the ride and handling department because it's fitted with rigid forks and drop bars.

I'd also wonder how often you'd actually bother swapping the forks/bars/stem/shifters/brakes and everything else over?

Better to get a full sus that's suitable for your local/most often ridden trails, and then get a more specific drop bar bike if that's what you want? Something like a Jameso Pinnacle Arkose would be ideal.

@forked - I was planning to just keep suspension on the hardtail and swap the bars only to be completely honest; so drop bars are probably out now I think about it.

You're right - chances are a gravel/adventure bike (Bombtrack Hook ADV+ anyone?) or something like that would be better suited, and just not have a winter hardtail and ride the full suss for all mountain stuff.

Really I was after opinion on drops vs Jones bars as it does decide on the type of bike I'd get - Hardtail with Jones vs Gravel with Drop.

Its all just a thought exercise for fun anyway 😀

Ah, I see. Well, unless you're doing a fair amount of road miles, I wouldn't bother with drop bars at all.

Sticking to mainly one bike these days (29er) I seem to change bars like I change socks, hence all my cables are kept loooong 🤣

I miss the (slightly flared drops) I had on the monstercross, they were (for me) just the most comfortable place to be (80% of the time on the hoods) unless it got hairy offroad then the necessary position in the drops was only comfortable for short sections. On the road or any kind of surfaced trail including gravel then drop-bars for me win hands-down.

‘Comfort bars’ can cover a few bases in a jack-of-all-trades kind of way. Also see them referred to as ‘alt-bars’.

I began switching my flat and riser bars by experimenting about 15 years with North Rounder style bars. These were chosen for touring on a rigid MTB, along with some On One Mary bars on the hardtail. The North Rounder are higher and had more back-sweep than the Marys. Very comfortable but a bit rubbish offroad, like steering a boat. Also nrequired a more upright-friendly saddle as they put most of your weight on your seat. I find this is true of most alt bars to one degree or another. ymmv depending on build. Mary bars were great. I see they now also do ‘Mike’ bars (with a straight section), which would be handy for mounting accessories.

At the moment I’ve settled on 2 options that I can switch quickly deoending on what type of riding

1. ‘Geoff’ bars (Jones loop bar copies) for all-purpose touring, bikepacking and long-distance MTB

Also find that they help with giving the bike some half-decent ‘aero-tuck’ effect when holding the loop. I tape the loop for this reason, leaving a 40mm-ish section untaped for mounting light, etc.

The backsweep on the Geoffs is quite pronounced, moreso on account of the length. I bought Ergon grips specifically designed for backswept bars. They’re great, v comfortable but ‘prescriptive’, so sometimes I miss the freedom of long, round grips, ie ESI or cork-taped lock-ons. It’s easy to switch grips though.

I feel like I want to cut them down 20mm each side as they are knee-stroke territory in tight-turns, even with an 80mm stem. It’s fun experimenting with the bar-angle and find quite a steep angle (over 30 deg) is best, with the loop of the bar raised

2. Flat bars with bar-ends. For faster road work, gravel and workouts

I use flat 680mm-ish bars with Ergon GP2 (2 finger) bar-ends.
The bar-ends give an alternative position and also rotate the wrists which employs more muscle-groups when climbing/powering. I would really like some GP3 bar-ends for a better grip. I like Ergon GP grips especially for the ‘flange’ that supports the heel of yr palm. Game-changing and numb-free.

Other bars I’ve looked at:

- Koga Denham (little bullhorns to mimic where the hoods on drops would be) - I’d get a better hood-position back but would lose the loop. Choices! £75 tho... 😬

- On One Mickey (keeps a loop but no knee-interface)

- On One Mike. More a ‘comfort’ bar with no alt grip-positions offered.

The bike I am currently putting together sort of (ish) fits your description.

853 Niner Sir9 mk1 that has an appointment with a brazing hearth very shortly.
Rohloff gears
Choice of a rigid fork or 100mm suspension up front to switch as I feel like it.

It'll be an easy off road (Gravel bike+ territory I guess), off road bikepacking, on road pannier n' guards 'world traveller' beast of burden.

I've gone of a pair of these bars..... https://www.cyclingabout.com/koga-denham-bars/

No idea how they will work but I'm quietly confident. Their big downside - they only come in 25.4mm. Fortunately I have an old skool Thomson stem ready for the job.

It's difficult to swop bars between flat and drops as drops require brifters for the hood position. Road brakes and shifters are expensive especially if you go hydraulic. If you want drops, just stick with them but experiment with wider or flared. For me, they don't work off road.

@Malvern Rider set up is the way to experiment with different bars, remember to keep your cables long!

Put a wanted add up for bars, I'm sure one of us have a set of px copies for sale. A lot of people got excited on the psa and probably never fitted them! 🤣

I've tried salsa woodchippers (which I need to sell) and some Jones bars. I loved the idea of both of these but in reality you can't beat a riser bar and bar ends.

I can't find a better picture but this one kind of shows my set up. My j bend bar ends have a slot at the end for the straps to go through. I used to put my dry bag under the bad ends but I like it above now with a waterproof map book strapped to it. I use the j bar ends a lot when I'm on the road.

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Oops

and find quite a steep angle (over 30 deg) ( around 20 deg) is best, with the loop of the bar raised

Over thirty would be silly.

Very much a personal thing and based on the type of riding you will do.

If we're talking mainly off-road, I personally have never found drop bars greatly suitable. They're great on the road of course, even the natural relaxed positions put you more efficiently aero than a flat bar. They're perfectly adequate on gravel, smooth trails, etc. Anything else, then a flat bar, or 'comfort' bar begins to feel more secure.

A 'comfort' bar as you call it, as has been stated, doesn't feel quite as secure as a wide flat bar, but it does give you a nice compromise. I always shift round hand positions whatever bike I'm on, even with a straight flat bar I'm often in the centre. And for me, it's the ability stretch out in a more aero position. With swept bars, comfort hasn't been so much a thing for me. The ability to switch positions yes. Having tried a couple of different ones I'm still on the fence about the actual ergonomics.

For me now, I'd go drop bar, but because I know that bike would spend most of its life either on the road, or very straight forward gravel tracks, with a very small amount of technical stuff thrown in.

I'm actually considering a flat bar bike with aero extensions for off-road, because they cater for the 2 positions I gravitate towards, and is what I end up mimicking on a comfort bar.

I couldn't get on with the Jones bars. While holding the grips, I needed to turn my wrists outwards, resulting in too much pressure in the wrong part of my hands.

Got some On One OG bars, but they were almost the same sweep, despite being 25 degrees

Now using a set of SQ Labs bars with 17 degree sweep, and find it much more natural position for my hands

I find Stooge Moto bars suite me. 800mm wide, 17 degrees sweep, 38mm rise. Usually with Ergon grips. I might try some stubby bar ends on them some time. This is for off road use, road doesn't appeal to me.

Thanks for all the input - really handy.

Something like the Denham bars seem like a great compromise. Never sure if I'd get on with the drops themselves but the hoods always seem like a good idea!

I think your two-bike setup is ideal.

I have an XC FS for nifty singletrack and off-road speed, and a rigid bike. The rigid bike is designed to be a 'Valleys' bike where you need to ride road to get out to the trails, but they are often steep and rocky so you need more rubber than most gravel bikes. So for that reason it has:

1. Rigid fork - this is much more positive feeling when standing up than a sus fork, even locked out
2. Steep angles (70.5 HA). This makes it feel better on road, I really don't know why but it does.
3. Stretched out cockpit with low front end
4. Narrow (660mm) bars with 15 degree sweep and Ergon grips. This is a truly amazing combo, and incredibly comfortable. The whole package would not be anywhere near as good with a traditional riser or flat. It's brilliant for getting the miles in on or off road and climbing is just better with your hands closer together.

Points 2, 3 and 4 only work so well because of 1. There's no fork dive, so you can lean on the front much more when going down hill, which you do because of 2 and 3.

A gravel bike with big enough rubber would probably work, but due to points 2 and 3 it's no slouch on road. And to handle the rocks I have 2.3s on and not many gravel bikes can do that. Also, there are a lot of steep bastard hills here so gravel bike gearing would not work for me.

I still ride it on the local singletrack anyway, cos it's just brilliant. I am strongly considering a dropper post too because when exploring the Valleys there are often steep nadgery singletrack bits to negotiate and a dropper would help there.

Oh and you may not get the same frame to work well with both flats and drops, because drops increase the cockpit length a lot.

There's always the inboard bar end set up, that's what the Denham bar looks to be based on. The advantage of fitting bar-ends onto flat bars is you get the bar and extension combo you want and can adjust the angles. Before I got into road bikes I used that set on a slick-tyred MTB to tour on road for a week, felt good. You can feather the brake from there with your little and ring fingers if it's all set up right.

I've Jones Loops on two of my MTBs and Velo Orange Crazy Bars on the other so I definitely like the swept back feel. I'll swap between the VO bars and riser bars on occasion but the latter now feel weird and restrictive. The main thing with Jones Bars is the number of hand positions: on the swept part for general riding; at the join for climbing; out on the front loop for road "TT" riding (I've not tried his ridiculously expensive Narwarl TT bar).

It's all very personal though plus what works on one bike might not work on another.

@Malvern rider - 30deg backslope? I think Jeff Jones recommends setting them so they point at the rear axle which is 15-20deg, mine are at 10deg or so.

Went out on the road yesterday on my Bird Zero (so many more cars now 🙁 ) and my wrists are killing me. MTB geo really doesnt do well for stretched out arms; its been an interesting process how different your body reacts - road riding is so much more static and so the comfort compromises trail bikes can get away with on rough terrain really don't work...definitely thinking of some bar experimentation now if lockdown continues in this way for much longer.

Might start with inboard bar ends as @Jameso suggests; I really like the look of the Denham/Crazy Bars but would prefer a slightly less aggressive backsweep to start...

I'm wondering how the long/low/slack geo on my bike is going to handle these sorts of bars. Will need a new stem as it is, but will need to keep it short I think to prevent too much stretching

If you stretch the cockpit you need narrower bars.

@Malvern rider – 30deg backslope?

Yep, massive overestimation! I corrected self, upthread ^^^ (after rough measurement)

And my flat bars are exactly 620mm not ‘680mm-ish’ (although could do with then being a tad wider)

Someone said that risers with bar-ends are the be-all and end-all? Have tried such a combo while commuting in mad hilly country (Devon/Cornwall) and it worked a treat for climbing and negotiating rocky farm tracks, though wouldn’t want them for everyday use with a lot of road or surfaced paths. I think something Koga Denham or Surly Moloko better for all-road touring or bikepacking. Wide risers with bar ends also tend to be the most snaggy option when it gets tight and bushy.

It’s personal though. Even then, it’s often worth trying something ‘new? Recently bagged an old road-tourer complete with 1950s grandad-style narrow sport-touring bars. I set off on a multi-surface errand thinking it would be just horrible - but then rattled off 35k with a big grin. Swift on tarmac, gravel and field. So it turned out great for short rides, and perfect around town. (Pic taken before I behaved myself and slapped some rando drops back on there)

Pretty sure I‘m a candidate for cable-splitters (having two bikes and four sets of bars) but have not looked into it much.