Tag: Handlebars

Dropping Out and Looping In: Converting from Drop Bars to Jones Loop H-Bars

Post author By Ryan King
Post date January 8, 2015
42 Comments on Dropping Out and Looping In: Converting from Drop Bars to Jones Loop H-Bars

The wintertime (known to some among us as the “off-season”) is a great time to experiment with your bike setup and few components can transform the ride of a bike like handlebars. Unlike many so-called “performance” upgrades that claim to offer weight savings, greater precision or improved efficiency, different handlebars change the way your body relates to the bicycle in a fundamental and important way. The wrong handlebar can make the finest bicycle nearly unrideable. The right handlebar can enhance comfort, control and confidence. The Jones Loop H-Bar does just that. As many of the Surly bikes we sell (in addition to many other touring bikes) come with drop bars and bar-end shifters, I thought I’d share my experience converting my personal bike from drop bars to H-Bars. I’ll get more into the details and technicalities of the process – especially the fit aspect – in a future post, so stay tuned for that.

I built my dirt touring bike – the RandoGnar – around drop bars. I had the wide-open and reasonably smooth gravel roads of north-central Oregon in mind when drawing up the plans and laying out the cockpit. The position is very similar to what I’ve used on my cyclocross bike to provide a good balance of comfort, aerodynamics and pedaling efficiency for long, mixed-terrain rides and ‘cross racing. This setup performed admirably on the Oregon Outback in May, 2014 and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. However, on rough descents or technical singletracks, the hand and body positions offered by drop bars leave something to be desired. When riding in the drops – the preferred position for descending – my weight is shifted far forward over the front wheel which tends to generate a feeling of “oh-crap-I’m-about-to-get-pitched-over-the-bars”. This leads to tension throughout the my body, causing fatigue and a diminished ability to ride lightly over rough surfaces.

Open country and smooth gravel on the Oregon Outback

Upon moving to Idaho and sampling some of the unpaved roads and singletracks in the central part of the state, I found myself wishing for a different handlebar. Descending on a loaded bike through rough, rocky, loose terrain can be sketchy on any bike but I’ve had some harrowing moments on rutted, washed out mountain roads and trails down in the hooks of my deep drops.

snf — A section of steep, rocky road near Scott’s Mountain on the Smoke ‘n’ Fire 400

Anyone who has ridden a modern mountain bike can tell you that a short stem and wide, flat handlebars yield enhanced control in challenging terrain. It is easy to keep the front wheel light and approach steep terrain with confidence. So for mixed-terrain bikepacking and touring – where we ride long hours on loaded bikes in widely varying conditions – we need a middle ground. We like the range of hand and body positions offered by drop bars but miss the confidence and control lent by a flat bar with things get rough. The Loop H-Bar treads this fine line better than perhaps any other handlebar available.

Your list of necessary parts will vary, but here are the parts I needed to effect the conversion.

– Jones Loop H-Bar, 710mm

– Thomson X.4 Stem, 90mm x 0-deg

– Paul Thumbies for Shimano shifters, 22.2 clamp

– Shimano BL-R550 canti levers

P1160234 — The bits: Jones 710mm Loop-H bars, Thomson X4 90mm 0-degree stem, Paul Thumbies, Shimano canti levers.

I replaced my 100mm, -10 degree stem with a 90mm, 0 degree version to bring the handlebar clamp up closer to level with the saddle height for a nice, balanced riding position. I am now able to rotate my hips back slightly and rest my weight lightly on the saddle with most of my body supported by the pedals. The stance is upright and controlled but with enough forward reach possible to tuck under the wind. On the road, the forward extension offers a very similar perch to riding on the “ramps” of my drop bars. On singletrack, the extra width and rearward extension provides a very strong and confident stance to attack steep terrain with one finger tucked in the crook of the brake levers. The overall look is a little cruiser-y but the bike feels much more at home in singletrack.

P1160271 — Rando-Gnar with Jones Loop-H Bars

These bars are now the widest I have on any bike. The extra leverage and control is remarkable.

ODI’s classic Longneck BMX grips pair well with the Jones bars. The extra length covers more of the handlebar section than a standard mountain bike grip. I prefer to trim the flanges off for additional shifter clearance. We also offer the ESI foam grips which are designed for the long grip section of the H-Bars.

Also, I found (in corroboration with Jeff Jones’ guidelines) that the ergonomics of this setup are much improved by adjusting the brake levers’ reach screws in slightly to bring the lever blades closer to the bars. Those with extra-long fingers may not need to make the adjustment but the levers are easy to reach with the first finger even when at the farthest rearward position on the bars. The BL-R550 levers deliver a very strong pull to my cantilever brakes and a comfortable lever shape for one or two fingers.

P1160277 — De-flanged BMX grips and brake levers with reach adjusted in slightly

The sweep and width of these bars has transformed the Rando-Gnar from a dirt road crusher into a singletrack slayer. I’m able to ride much faster and more confidently than I ever thought possible on a rigid bike. In addition to the range of hand positions, the 45-degree sweep of the bars offers excellent leverage for lifting either end of the bike over obstacles in the trail. This is especially helpful when the bike is loaded and requires more effort to maneuver.

Thomson’s X4 stem pairs perfectly with the Jones bars. Even the alignment marks align with the edges of the clamp jaws.

P1160283 — Alignment hashmarks placed perfectly for Thomson clamp

On the first few shakedown rides in the Boise foothills, I had to consciously keep my speed in check any time the trail pointed downhill. The riding position inspired so much confidence that I quickly outran the available traction from my close-knobbed tires in loose corners. With my weight shifted over the rear wheel and my hands out wide, I was able to leverage the bike around downhill corners with ease and maintain a comfortable, relaxed posture. When climbing, I could easily shift my hands forward to keep the front wheel down.

P1160319 — At the top of Scott’s Trail in the Boise Foothills

Overall, I’m quite happy with the comfort, control and multiple riding positions the Jones bars offer. On longer stretches of smoother terrain I find myself missing the aerodynamic position offered by the drop bars, but feel that the off-road confidence and control more than makes up for the slightly decreased efficiency on the pavement.

P1160321 — Rando-Gnar with Jones Loop-H bars in the wild

Overall, the Jones H-Bars are an excellent alternative to a drop bar for touring bikes that are regularly ridden in more technical and demanding situations. I’d recommend them to anyone who wants to blend the confidence and control of a flat bar with the comfort and hand positions of a drop bar. I’ll be taking a closer look at the setup process in a future post, so feel free to chime in with any questions you’d like to have answered or ideas you’d like to see explored. Thanks for reading!

Tags adventure touring, bike commuting, Bike Fit, Handlebars

Touring Bicycles

Black Schwinn Mixte Resurrection

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date September 27, 2012
2 Comments on Black Schwinn Mixte Resurrection

A customer found this bike, an old Schwinn mixte, on Craigslist and bought it for his significant other. After bringing it to me to check for any obvious damage or misalignment he took the frame to a local paint shop and had it powder coated gloss black. Then he brought it back to me and we outfitted it with new components. I don’t know too much about Schwinn bikes except that there is enough history with that company to fill more than one book, but I don’t think this was a particularly high-end bike. But with new parts it rides surprisingly well and will make a nice commuter/day tripper.

She decided the Brooks B68s saddle was a keeper right out of the box. A 9 speed rear cassette and double chainrings provide a practical range of gears. The original bike had 27 inch wheels. The new wheels are 700c, a slightly smaller diameter, but work fine with the medium reach brake calipers.

The stem is the Nitto Technomic Deluxe 225. We could have got the bars as high or higher with the Nitto Dirt Drop stem but this was the aesthetically preferred solution. That actually is a huge cassette.

The Ahearne/Map handlebars have a slight rise and a nice ergonomic sweep and they look sportier than Albatross bars.

Dimension cork blend grips. The Tektro FL-750 levers are very clean and add a nice vintage look. The IRD XC-Pro 9 speed indexed top mount thumb shifters are a top of the line, modern version of a tried and true design.
Not counting what he paid for the bike, with parts and my labor, this build ran about $1275.00. Not cheap, in fact a new Long Haul Trucker can be had for the same price. But the end result is a unique, sporty, classic looking bike. It was fun to put together and the new owner loves it.

Tags bike commuting, Handlebars, Steel Bikes

Cockpit Shifters and Derailleurs

Top mount thumb shifters

So I had a Bridgestone MB-1 circa 1992, I think….might have been ’93. A poor fellow, down on his luck, or perhaps his brain addled from meth or crack cocaine, determined that he was deserving of such a bike. And so he took it. The Bike Hermit is always happy to help those less fortunate than himself. I hope the buzz that person received via my bike made his efforts worthwhile. That bike had Shimano XT top mount thumb shifters which remain my favorite gear shifting solution for straight or swept back handlebars. The shape was perfect. They could as well be called knuckle shifters because the cable tension releasing motion was just a twist of the hand with the index finger knuckle against the lever. Simple, intuitive and unobtrusive.

Even though the great and powerful Shimano decided to make those shifters obsolete others have stepped in to fill the void. Paul Component Engineering makes the Thumbies which are made to be used with the levers cannibalized from Shimano or Sram bar-end shifters.
These are great as long as you have some bar-end shifters. Otherwise it’s sort of an expensive option.

IRD or Interloc Racing Design (Racing. I know, right? But they make a lot of cool stuff) makes two versions of top-mount shifters- one version is friction only and will work with almost any rear cluster. The other version uses indexing for the rear derailleur shifter and only works with 9 speed cassettes.

The IRD Power Ratchet thumb shifters are friction only…no indexing. So they are compatible with almost any rear cog setup.

I’ve also been fascinated with the idea of mounting these on drop bars. On the tops and near the stem where they will be out of the way but easy to use. I had a Long Haul Trucker to put together last week and decided to try the IRD XC-Pro 9 speed shifters. The fixtures clamped to the 26.0 mm section of the handlebar without using the included shims (made for clamping to a thinner, mountain bike style bar). Offsetting the two levers slightly kept the cable housings from interfering with each other. Even so, the cable routing was a little wonky but I don’t think it looked too bad. With a little judicious trimming the cable housing could be made to fit close enough to the head tube of the bike that even a front rando bag such as a Gilles Berthoud would fit.

IRD XC-Pro top mount thumb shifters — A slight offset allows for unusual but effective cable housing routing.

I took the bike out for a ride and I have to say I was excited by how well the setup worked. The downtube shifters on my touring bike are the ultimate in simplicity but there have been times when taking one hand off the bars to shift did not seem like the most prudent thing to do. Top mount shifters on drop bars instead of bar end shifters would even preclude the need to move one’s hand to the end of the drops to shift. The more I think about it the more sense it makes. One downside could be the room these take up on the bars. Especially if a person wants to mount a computer and/or a headlight there. But the great thing about being in the bike industry is that this means there is a market thus created for handlebar extensions on which to mount those things. Actually, maybe one of those bar extensions would work for mounting top mount shifters. Hmmmmm…more experimenting and blog posting forthcoming.
Something along these lines perhaps:

Tags Handlebars, shifters

Cockpit Handlebars and Stems Touring Bike Components

New Cockpit- Shiny Bits, Plus Leather

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date March 24, 2012
1 Comment on New Cockpit- Shiny Bits, Plus Leather

I recently changed handlebars on my A. Homer Hilsen. Going from the 48cm Dirt Drop bars to the same model in the 52cm width will hopefully provide a more natural position for my arms and give better stability for the loaded bike. The clamp bolt on one of the brake levers was somehow stripped or cross-threaded and seized in the clamp, necessitating the use of the handy Dremel tool to cut off the clamp.

old brake lever and new — The old, broken lever is on the left. In the foreground is the clamp which slips over the handlebar and is held in place with the bolt through the lever shown on the right

I decided to replace both brake levers with Tektro’s new TRP levers. Aesthetically, these might not be everybody’s cup of tea, especially this drilled out version. The levers themselves have a somewhat tortured looking shape and the hoods have the almost obscene protrusion of STI style brake hoods. But using these levers, it quickly becomes clear that this is a case of form following function. The long, flat hoods provide a comfortable platform for the hands and the shape of the levers fits the fingers naturally. Somehow the design even manages to provide more mechanical advantage – my side-pull brakes seem smoother, more responsive and more powerful. The flared out lower part of the levers are easy to grab either from the hoods or the drops.

TRP brake levers — This optional plastic shim rotates the top of the lever for a flatter hood position. (I used it)

While I was at it, I decided to try to clean up the Brooks leather bar tape which had turned almost black from accrued hours of contact with my grubby mitts. I filled the sink with warm water and a little bit of dish detergent and lightly scrubbed the tape with a dish washing brush, rinsed it off and immediately installed it. Wrapping the bars with wet Brooks tape does a couple of things: it lets the tape stretch so that it wraps smoothly and when it dries out it conforms like a skin to the handlebars. A light coating of Brooks Proofide after the tape has dried completely adds back moisture and effulgence. This is the second or third time I have removed and re-applied this wrap, wetting it each time first, so, even though the Brooks leather tape is more expensive than other materials it is extremely durable.

Brooks honey colored bar tape — This tape started life as "honey" colored. This is after washing the tape and re-applying it.

Brooks bar tape — Washed and treated - Lustrous!

Tags Brooks Handlebar Wrap, Brooks saddles, Handlebars

Cockpit Handlebars and Stems Touring Bike Components

Nitto Dirt Drop Handlebars

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date July 10, 2011
5 Comments on Nitto Dirt Drop Handlebars

The Bike Touring News store stocks two different versions of the Nitto Dirt Drop handlebar. The main difference between the two, or so I thought, is the diameter of the bar at the stem clamp sleeve. The RM-013 is 26.0mm and the RM-014 is 31.8 mm. I recently did a side by side comparison and was surprised to see just how different these bars are, not only in the clamp diameter but in the overall shape.

Nitto RM-013 Dirt Drop compared to the RM-014 Dirt Drop — Nitto Rm-013 Dirt Drop bar (top) and the Nitto RM-014 Dirt Drop

The bars in the above photo are both 52’s. That means it is 52 cm from the center of the end of the tube on one side to the center of the end of the tube on the opposite side. Even though both bars are the same width at their widest, or the bottom of the flair, the top, flat part of the RM-014 begins curving to the drop much closer to the center of the handlebar, resulting in a narrower top section and a wider flare.

Rm-014 and Rm-013 from the side — The Nitto RM-014 on the left, the RM-013 on the right

From the side the differences are not as pronounced. The bottom flared portion of the RM-014 on the left may be a slight bit longer and the bend a little bit sharper.

For a bike that will be ridden mainly off-road, the Rm-014 might be a good choice with the ramps at a little more of an angle (like in the last photo) and the brake levers mounted a little lower to make riding in the drops more comfortable.

But this picture I find to be the most interesting:

The 52 cm RM-013 is very similar to the 48 cm Nitto Noodle bar, it just flares out a little more and doesn’t have the slight return bend on the tops. A Google search revealed why. Grant Petersen from Rivendell designed both bars. The Dirt Drop was original equipment on the 1987 Bridgestone MB-1 and the Noodle was a replacement, with a few tweaks, for the Dirt Drop when Nitto stopped making them due to lack of a market. Now they are making the Dirt Drop again, in two versions. I personally like the extra flare on the RM-013 and I use them on my touring bike.

Either bar will accept bar end shifters and road style brake levers. The RM-014 is a few grams heavier in any given size and it comes in 50 amd 52 cm widths. The RM-013 comes in 46, 48 and 52 cm widths.

Tags dirt drop stems and handlebars, handlebar measuring, Handlebars, nitto handlebars, touring bike handlebars

Rivendell Bicycles

Chapter One- A Rookie Mistake

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date July 1, 2011

Now that I have all the parts, it’s time to start bolting them onto the bike. And the first part out of the box is this piece of jewelry:

photo of IRD crankset — This is the IRD Defiant touring triple crankset

Interloc Racing Design is a small company that has been around since 1984 and the moniker seems a little dated since they now make a lot of parts for touring and utility bikes. I need to confess that I didn’t consider the crankset/bottom bracket interface when I ordered the crank, and the bottom bracket that came with this frame has a spindle that is too short to use with this particular crankset.

photo of Sugino on left and IRD on right — The Sugino XD-2 on the left- IRD Defiant on the right

Since the interface is recessed on the IRD crankset, compared to the Sugino XD-2 I need either a 127.5 or 122 mm bottom bracket spindle, rather than the 107…so I ordered both and I will use the one that gives the best chainline. This is what I’m talkin’ about:

photo of crankset on too-short bottom bracket — The chainrings hit the bike with the too-short bottom bracket spindle

Meanwhile, here’s a taste of what the bike’s going to look like!

Photo of Nitto handle bar and stem — The Nitto Grand Randonneur handlebar and Technomic Deluxe stem

photo of partially completed bike — Sweet studio shot!

Tags brake levers, Handlebars, nitto handlebars, Touring Bikes

Cockpit Handlebars and Stems Touring Bike Components

A Conversion: Drop Bar to Albatross Handlebar

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date June 29, 2011
4 Comments on A Conversion: Drop Bar to Albatross Handlebar

Switching from drop style handlebars to an upright, swept back handlebar can change the functionality and personality of a bicycle. And sometimes a change can be good, maybe turning an unused bike, or one that may duplicate another bike in one’s stable of bikes, into the go to, everyday machine.
From This:

To This:

One such handlebar, the Nitto Albatross is popular in both the alloy and chrome-moly versions. Soma Fabrications makes the Oxford bar which is almost identical in size and shape to the alloy Albatross Nitto makes. This 6061 polished aluminum handlebar will take bar end shifters, and has a 25.4mm clamp diameter making it versatile for use with most stems.Making the switch takes a little bit of planning and thought:
– First of all, the brake levers that fit on a drop bar will not fit on the new bar so new “mountain bike” style brake levers with a 22.2mm clamp diameter, like the Shimano BL-R550 – are a requirement. The brake levers come with new cable and housing which will come in handy because the old cable and housing is probably too short.
– If the drop handlebar setup used bar end shifters these can be transferred to the Albatross or Oxford bar. If downtube shifters, then, no worries. If the drop bars had “brifters”, or those brake levers with the shifters built in, then new shift levers are in order. Either the bar end style or a top mount shifter or I suppose even the mountain bike standard trigger shifters could be used.
– The hand grip areas can be wrapped with regular bar tape or a slide on grip can be used with the caveat that the cable and housing for bar end shifters will not clear most standard grips, and the more or less conventional solution is to use cork grips with grooves filed into them for the cable.

Now it’s a simple matter of disconnecting all the brake and shift cables, un-wrapping the handlebars and taking off the brake and shift levers. The old handlebar comes off and the new one goes on. New shift levers (or the old bar end shifters), brake levers and grips go on, the new cable and housing is fit and tightened and adjusted and that’s it except for possibly adjusting the height or angle of the handlebars to the rider’s preference. A threadless stem with a removable face plate makes removing and installing handlebars pretty simple.

bare oxford handlebars installed — The new bars clamped into place

Sun Race shift lever — This top mount shifter is inexpensive but it works great. It is a single lever meant to be used with a rear derailleur, single chainring and no front derailleur. Who needs more than 5 or 8 gears anyway?

silver bar end shifter — Bar end shift levers work too. See how close to the bar the cable is? This calls for a grooved grip….or just a tape wrap.

Another option might be the IRD brand top mount shifters, indexed for use with a 9 speed rear cassette.

Tags Handlebars, shifters

Cockpit Handlebars and Stems Touring Bike Components

Quill Stems

Quill stemsinsert into the threaded steer tube on a bicycle fork and are held in place by means of a bolt which tightens a wedge inside the tube. The other type of stem commonly used is a so-called threadless stem which clamps to a threadless steer tube. Quill stems and threaded steer tubes are less common nowadays, but the Nitto company in Japan still makes a wide range. Here is a side by side photo of most of the stems they make. Each stem in the photo is placed so that the minimum insertion mark on the stem aligns with the top of the ruler. This gives a basic visual cue as to how high the various stems can extend above the top of the tube. Notice that the stems are placed at an angle meant to replicate the 70 some degree angle of the head tube on most bikes.
NEWS FLASH! 09/26/2012
We now stock the 225 Technomic Deluxe stems. These have a long quill like the Technomic but are cold forged and have the same finish as the Deluxe. 25.4 or 26.0 clamp sizes.

Photo of 4 models of quill stem — From Left to right: Nitto Dirt Drop 100, Nitto Dirt Drop 80, Nitto Technomic, Nitto Technomic Deluxe and Nitto Dynamic

The Dynamic stems only come with a 26.0 mm clamp size, and the Dirt Drop, Technomic and Deluxe stems come with either 25.4mm or 26.0 mm clamps. A 25.4 stem will not work with a handlebar that has a diameter at the center clamping point of 26.0. However a 26.0 stem will work with a 25.4 handlebar as long as a shim, specially made for this purpose is used between the stem and the bar. The Dirt Drop stems are only made in 80 mm and 100mm versions (the extension from the vertical-ish riser part or quill part of the stem). The other models come with extensions generally from 80 mm to 100mm in 10 mm increments. Got it?

Hopefully, this is a useful comparison for the bicycle traveler who might be thinking about changing the position of their handlebars or about getting different handlebars.

Tags Handlebars, Nitto, Stems

Cockpit Touring Bike Components

Drop Handlebars/Brake Levers

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date June 2, 2011
1 Comment on Drop Handlebars/Brake Levers

So, the question came up about which brake lever to use on a Nitto Grand Randonneur handlebar. That’s sort of a two part question. In order to answer it we need to delve into brake calipers. Some common brake calipers are:
Cantilever

photo of a cantilever brake caliper — Cantilever Brake Caliper

Sidepull

Center Pull

Linear Pull a.k.a V-Brake

photo of a v-brake caliper — The V-brake, sometimes called a linear pull brake.

Stupid v-brake. It throws a monkey wrench into the whole works. Even though they work great and have fantastic stopping power, they use a different leverage than the others to work properly. So whatever lever is used with these calipers, it needs to be v-brake compatible.

“Drop” or “road” style handlebars are of a standard diameter at the point the brakes are meant to clamp to the bar. So any lever that looks like this will work:

photo of Cane Creek brake lever — The Cane Creeek SCR-5 sports a wide, cushy grip- plus it has lizards!

These are also called “aero” brake levers because, rather than exiting the top of the lever and looping over the handlebars, the cable and housing exit under the hood and run along the handlebar, under the wrap, for a nice clean look.

aero brake levers on a drop bar — Shimano brake levers.... clean look! Make the tops of the bars level with a smooth transition to the brake hoods, dangit.

The Cane Creek and Tektro levers have a feature known as the Campy style quick release which is a button that releases the cable tension allowing the brake calipers to spread out to clear the tire when the wheel needs to be removed. It’s called Campy style because Campagnolo (Campy) brake calipers do not have quick releases.
Shimano aero brake levers don’t have quite as wide a hood which results in a more classic look. And they don’t have the quick release feature on the brake lever, again maybe not a problem since most brake calipers will have a quick release.
The drop bar brake levers we sell will fit on any of the drop bars we sell. and they will work on the not-so-ironic moustache bars too. Just be sure, if you have v-brakes to get the Tektro RL520 v-brake version. The other standard levers will work with cantilever, side pull or center pull brakes. And finally if you’re replacing a handlebar or just the brake levers you might want to get a cable and housing kit to replace the old set.

Tags Bike Gear, brake levers, brakes, Handlebars

Cockpit Handlebars and Stems Touring Bike Components

4 Handlebars

Wherein the bike hermit compares and contrasts 4 different drop style handlebars for the touring bike. Finding the perfect handlebar for his touring bike has him in a bit of a bother.

Last season I installed the Nitto Dirt Drop bars on Chief. I like the way the drops flair out.

The bars actually have a very slight rise from the clamp area to the ramps. These are the medium width version. There is a version that is narrower and one that is wider. These feel a little too narrow for me when I’m riding on the hoods. Dang, should have got the wider ones. But I like the angled-in aspect of the brakes on the flair of these bars. It feels natural.

The other nice thing about the drops being wider than the tops ….my wrists don’t hit the tops of the bars when “in the drops”.

On Norm, my everyday bike, I have the On One Midge handlebar. Perhaps my favorite bar of all time.

This handlebar might look a little crazy…. in fact I have been labeled “crazy bar guy” on group rides…but the ergonomics are fantastic. These have a super wide, flat top section so there are multiple positions available on the top of the bars alone. As the top of the bar bends to begin the drop portion it also flairs out at a dramatic angle.

The other thing that happens when the bend from the tops is so gradual is that the brake levers get mounted at an even more extreme angle. But if I raise my arms out in front of my body, in a relaxed way, my fingers do not naturally line up perpendicular to the ground. They are more like 30 to 40 degrees from vertical. An angle very similar to the angle of the the brake levers on the Midge bar:

I like to install these handlebars with the ramps level. This provides a great platform and plenty of support for the hands.

On One Midge handlebars — Another position I use a lot with the Midge bars.

Sky King has the Nitto Grand Randonneur on her Rivendell Bleriot.

The most notable thing in this view is the distance the ends of the bars extend toward the rider. This should allow for riding comfortably in the drops without reaching. The picture below shows the rise from the center up to the ramp portion.

The handlebar I am itching to try on my touring bike is the Nitto Noodle.

These bars intrigue me because of the slight rearward bend of the top portion. Again, if I examine the shape of my palm, curled into a gripping shape, I find that it is at a slight angle, from inside to outside. Corresponding to the shape of the Noodle bar.
They don’t have any flair to the drops though. The ramps are basically parallel to the drops. These would be really cool if they had the backward bend plus a flair like the Midge bars! Then they would be the Pretzel bar.

Nitto Noodle — No flair to the drops and subsequently.... to the brake levers

So, there you have four options for drop style handlebars for touring. If you are thinking about changing handlebars keep in mind that there are three standard diameters for handlebars where they clamp to the stem: 25.4 mm, 26mm, and 31.8mm. Stems are made for all those diameters too. A stem with a clamp for 25.4 will not work with a 26 or 31.8 handlebar, but a smaller diameter handlebar can be made to work with a larger clamp diameter stem by means of handy dandy shims made for that purpose!
After looking at these pictures I think I need to write a post about handlebar tape and how to change it.

Tags Bike Fit, bike position, Bike Touring, hand comfort, Handlebars, nitto handlebars, Touring Bikes