Handlebars

A long time ago, I started noticing pain in my lower back from riding a long time on my bike.  I had the regular old school 10 speed racing handlebars.  I just loosened the nut and flipped them up instead of down.  That made me more upright and more comfortable.  It was good for awhile.

Later, I noticed that my forearms were sore on long rides.  I asked the guys at the bike shop about it.  They recommended handlebars that swooped back and out.  They said it was more ergonomic.  It also let me sit even more upright, which was even more comfortable, and put less pressure on my forearms.  No one racing a bicycle would do this, because it would lead to more wind resistance.  I imagine if you were doing century rides, you probably wouldn't want them like this.  I'm an old man who usually rides for 5 miles or less, so it's more comfortable and better for me.  This is what they look like:

Have you done anything different with your handlebars?
John S
PDX OR

I did exactly that to an old bicycle which is now long retired. The only step we added was at one point we tried to heat up the original aluminium handle bar to see if we could change the angles enough to be better ergonomically - not good enough to be worth the effort!

Eventually I replaced that bike with not only the upright posture, but with a lower cross beam so that it was safer if I needed to jump off in a hurry.

For me it was neck pain, rather than low back, but pain wasn't worth a little less wind resistance.

I don't ride a bike all that often, but when I ride around with the kids, I like the bike with the swept-back upright handle bars like yours, and a huge padded seat as well.  Also. walmart sells grips that have a little shelf on them, instead of just being round. I'm sure you can get them other places too, and probably in different lengths as needed. I find them to be much more comfortable, especially for such a simple little part.

Walmart bike grips

I think of that bike style as the "wicked witch" bike, because the mean ol' lady in the wizard of Oz rode hers with good upright posture.

Bicycling was a crazy, raging fad 130 years ago.  They didn't have the undercurled ram's horn handlebars.  It swept the nation. It even led to another fad: motorcycles.  They put a motor on it.  

I often think of the wicked witch image of bike riding. She wasn't racing or doing 100 mile rides.  Didn't really help marketing bikes when I was a kid. Maybe the cool young people like the image now?

John S
PDX OR

I had a bicycling partner when in the Marine Corps and we would take off day rides from Paris Island to Savanah's River Street to grab a beer and lunch or go to Hilton Head if it was during Spring Break and there were college girls on the beach. Forearm rest handlebars were new to me back then but really helped on those century rides and hand/wrist pain.

I was just watching a video about people cycling in the Netherlands, one of the places on Earth where people cycle the most.   Almost everyone I saw was upright on their bikes, using swooped back handlebars like mine.  It made me think that maybe more people in North America would bike if they knew about that option.

John S
PDX OR

Most of their bikes in the Netherlands looked more like this bike, my old one.  I"m remembering now that I went to one of these groovy, cheap bike shops that had old parts sitting around.  They had the right shape of handlebars that I was looking for but they were huge.  It created some problems with getting the bike in the car or pickup, and got in the way.  I called the shop to maybe swap them out.  In the coolest, DIY, hip way possible, they just said, "You know you can just cut them, right?"



It had never occurred to me.  I just got out the hacksaw and sawed off 3 inches or so on each side.  Now they are perfect.  Unfortunately, I can't just do that with the high bar, so now it's my "B" bike.  It's great as a backup.   Now I"m going to do that with my new to me bike, which also has the right shape handlebars that are huge and get in the way.

John S
PDX OR

Hi John. For the shorter rides with little hills, the dutch bike (or english 3 speed as it used to be) is perfect. Tough, comfortable and cheap to make fairly sustainably.

Personally I use bull horns because hills but around town the more relaxed style is great.

Bike are a great place for mechanical diy, much lower risk than faster or heavier vehicles.