Cheapest handlebars for an upright riding position?
May 30, 2021 11:53 AM   Subscribe

Former Type A cyclist coming back from a long hiatus due to back injuries. I bought a cheapish cruiser bike. The stock handlebars are still keeping me a bit too leaned-forward — I need the kind of posture you see in a British vicar tootling around the parish, totally upright. What are my options? Priority is cheapness since who knows if I will actually be able to sustain riding. Is there some kind of extender or grip mod, or do I need to replace the handlebars?
posted by sixswitch to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (10 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
"Stem riser" or "extender" might be a useful keyword. (To install one, there's a good chance you'll need to lengthen the cables, which takes some effort and specific tools or a bike shop and 50-100 USD, at least around here.)
posted by eotvos at 11:59 AM on May 30, 2021


You might look around your local bike shops, and see if they have anything in their spares they can sell you. Something that has been there a while, with some dust on it, will be a great deal.
posted by nickggully at 12:47 PM on May 30, 2021 [1 favorite]


Just a heads-up, back injuries is one reason why former type A (and B) cyclists switch to recumbent bikes.

For handlebars, check your local community bike shop.
posted by aniola at 12:53 PM on May 30, 2021 [1 favorite]


Can the bars be rotated toward you, or are they of a piece with the stem? I've never had a cruiser.
posted by humbug at 1:09 PM on May 30, 2021


You could try bar ends.
posted by yyz at 1:26 PM on May 30, 2021


Easiest thing labor-wise (and thus cheapest), I think, would be to replace the stem, if you can do it without removing the brakes/grips from the handlebars. I think that on a typical cruiser you wouldn't need to lengthen the cables, but it depends. A photo of the thing would help people give more specific advice.
posted by alexei at 1:35 PM on May 30, 2021


I might be tempted to splash out on a Jones H bar on the basis that they seem to keep their value pretty well on eBay if it didn't work out as hoped.
posted by FifteenShocks at 1:46 PM on May 30, 2021 [1 favorite]


Velo Orange stocks some nice swept-back bars like the Left Bank and the Porteur. I have a similar set that gives me the full vicar posture on a normal touring frame.
posted by migurski at 8:20 PM on May 30, 2021 [1 favorite]


First to your immediate question: This German company has a wide range of ergonomic bars and stems. I'm in South Africa so can't easily order, but I've corresponded with them and they are very helpful with advice. They also offer some budget bars, one very similar to the Jones bar. They have a summary of ergonomic bicycle design principles here.

Now my experience with the same question...

I have a problem neck and an occasionally problematic back (I used to be a viola & violin player which left me with a slight S curve in my spine). I got back into cycling about 7 years ago and at present commute about 200kms a week. I've been through a serious learning curve with bike setup, mostly trying to understand which of the conventional setup guidelines, mostly aimed at racing setup, make sense for a rider like me who needs to use his bike, but can't cram his body into conventional geometry.

What I'd suggest:

Get a good quality steerer tube extender: My initial break through was to remedy my too short steering tube with a stem riser. It solved 70% of the problem. Before no handlebar was comfortable enough. Having the riser meant that I could then experiment with a variety of conventional and unconventional handlebars and stem lengths.

My current solution uses conventional easy to get components
- steerer tube extender + short stem (70mm) + mountain bike straight bars (68cm & +/- 4cm rise)

And I've added bar ends angled upwards inside my grips. This is key to my setup. Why? No matter how much my neck prefers a more upright position, my back does not like that position when climbing or battling into a headwind. So I've found it important to have a more than one position.

So I essentially have two positions: more or less upright with my hands on the grips, which is great for riding on gravel and anything technical (mildly technical, I'm not an off road fiend) and great for my neck, and a more aerodynamic position on the bar ends, where I can stretch my back a little.

Here are a few key principles I've gotten to understand:
- Higher handlebars will give your neck relief
- A shorter stem will as well, but may result in hunching your back
- Wider handlebars will negate both of the above (the reason why there are so many short stems on the market, super wide mountain bike bars)
- Some bar grips curve forward before curving back. This is the case with the standard Jones bar. A more comfortable hand position but intentionally negating a closer setup.
- modern bike geometry appears to be primarily aimed at racing efficiency, not comfort (how many people have given up cycling because of sore necks and backs?).
posted by BrStekker at 7:02 AM on May 31, 2021 [2 favorites]


No details to offer, but "comfort" bikes are a thing. My local bike shop has Dutch design bikes.
posted by rochrobbb at 3:53 AM on June 1, 2021


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