Butterfly Bars

AndyOgy
AndyOgy Posts: 579
edited March 2011 in Tour & expedition
Does anybody here use these?

I'm strongly tempted by a set but it is a completely unknown area for me.

It seems like there is a lot of distance/bends between the stem and the ends of the bars. Does this mean that there's lots of flex?

I have also noticed that there are a variety of places to put the brake and gear levers. I'd be really interested to see photos of any butterfly bar arrangements that you have, and to hear how you find it.

Comments

  • Underscore
    Underscore Posts: 730
    I'm running a set on my commuter and find them less comfortable than drops but much more comfortable than flats. They aren't too flexy - perhaps just enough to reduce the road buzz a bit. They're also a cost effective way of improving the comfort of a flat bar bike as you just need the bars - everything else can be reused, unlike a drop bar conversion - but be aware that the back of the bars will be closer to the saddle than the flat bar so, depending on the geometry of your bike, you may need a longer stem. I got away without one.

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  • bianchimoon
    bianchimoon Posts: 3,942
    AndyOgy wrote:
    Does anybody here use these?

    I'm strongly tempted by a set but it is a completely unknown area for me.

    It seems like there is a lot of distance/bends between the stem and the ends of the bars. Does this mean that there's lots of flex?

    I have also noticed that there are a variety of places to put the brake and gear levers. I'd be really interested to see photos of any butterfly bar arrangements that you have, and to hear how you find it.
    I used a set for a while, on a couple of C2C's on a hybrid, found them very comfortable, can't say the flex was an issue. a bit quirky looking on a bike tho" nit sure if i have any pics. I'll post if i find any.
    All lies and jest..still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....
  • andymiller
    andymiller Posts: 2,856
    Underscore wrote:
    but be aware that the back of the bars will be closer to the saddle than the flat bar so, depending on the geometry of your bike, you may need a longer stem. I got away without one.

    But won't the front of the bars be a fair bit further forward? So maybe you'd need a shorter stem? (depending of course on the angle you have the bars, and your starting point)
    Italy Cycling Guide
  • AndyOgy
    AndyOgy Posts: 579
    andymiller wrote:
    Underscore wrote:
    but be aware that the back of the bars will be closer to the saddle than the flat bar so, depending on the geometry of your bike, you may need a longer stem. I got away without one.

    But won't the front of the bars be a fair bit further forward? So maybe you'd need a shorter stem? (depending of course on the angle you have the bars, and your starting point)

    See, this is the kind of advice that I'm after. The closer of the positions would appear to be the default (but not exclusive) location for gears and brakes. I'm just wondering if anybody has tried any other positions? I did a google search and have seen that someone has mounted their butterfly bars round the other way, with the gap in the bars being at the front.

    The bike in question is a steel hybrid. I use it for work, where I need to be able to carry a lot of gear, and sometimes a trailer, over varying distances. I also plan to do some touring on it during the summer.
  • Underscore
    Underscore Posts: 730
    andymiller wrote:
    Underscore wrote:
    but be aware that the back of the bars will be closer to the saddle than the flat bar so, depending on the geometry of your bike, you may need a longer stem. I got away without one.

    But won't the front of the bars be a fair bit further forward? So maybe you'd need a shorter stem? (depending of course on the angle you have the bars, and your starting point)

    Well, yes, possibly but I find that the front of the bars is comfortable as a more stretched out position than the bike had with flat bars (and the one that I use when I'm on the open road) whereas the back of the bars are fine when you need to cover the brakes or have better control for manoeuvring. However, if I get out of the saddle, my knees do occasionally brush the back of the bars. Hence my advice, but I accept that some may find it the other way around, depending on the individual and the bike.

    Regarding which way to fit the bars, I've only got experience of BBB (a.k.a. cheap) bars and I've only tried them the one way round but the fronts are angled outward and the backs are straight. Swap them so the opening is at the front and the fronts would be straight and the backs would be angled in, which wouldn't seem likely to be that comfortable to me. Of course, different people find different things comfortable...

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