Handlebar options.

Handlebars define much of the riding experience. Many bikes on the market were not designed to be ridden for hours at a time, day after day. Riding for a long time in one position gets to be quite uncomfortable. Handlebars that allow for a fluid transition between postures are best for touring.

Handlebars with just one holding position, such as "flat” bars restrict your ability to adjust your posture. Adding bar-ends does address this to an extent. Whilst this set-up does work, it is better to have more positions so as to have more movement.

For these reasons we recommend you make the handlebar decision and afterwards choose gear-levers.

In theory, drop bars are more efficient. But you have to be comfortable so it is best to start with your focus on all-day comfort.Think about your own riding style and where you are comfortable.  

Drop bars offer four positions. The brake lever hoods are most popular one. This is a stretched out position. Not low. Trekking bars also offer a very similar stretched out position.

On drop bars, when a touring rider moves from the hoods or ramps to the "drops" they may be looking for just a change in position. But also, they may be getting out of a headwind. They may be going down hill, moving faster, taking corner and so wanting the added control from their body weight being lower. They may have traffic close on the side and want the extra control again from their weight being lower. They may be working their way up a long climb and be wanting to pull up against the handlebars drops.

If you have been riding on drop bars already you might prefer to choose them again. With the longer fork steerers on our 2013 bikes you can adjust the height of the bars on the fork to suit your touring posture.

Everyone knows what drop bars look like but trekking bars are uncommon outside of Europe. These are our 2013 model year trekking bars.

On the bike above the steerer tube is not yet cut down so the the whole stem/bar assembly may still be raise or lowered. When the rider is finally happy the shop will cut any excess steerer tube off.

On trekking bars, the most commonly held position is the one closest to the rider and alongside the shift and brake levers. So this is more upright than the most commonly used drop bar position (the hoods). The impetus for the drop bar user to change position was generally to be lower, more power, more body control, less wind. But the trekking bar rider can not get as low, so thinks less in terms of speed. The trekking bar rider is sitting up and is able to move around and always stay comfortable. He or she to an extent passes up the chance to zoom down a mountain and take the corners low and fast.

To some people, , a "touring bike" has drop bars by definition.  Indeed. on the bike highways of the world, a long distance tourer with drop bars is most likely British, American, Canadian, Australian or Kiwi. It was no irony that the German Rohloff company only made a gear lever for upright bars to go with the hub they made for the long-distance market.  There are actually two worlds and we cater for both. You can ride around the world on either.

If you have time, it is interesting to look at the various drop handlebar designs.

People thinking they don't like drop bars may be objecting to drop bars set at low positions such as on real racing bikes. On the VWR bikes, drop bars are typically set level with the seat or a bit below the seat level. This setting is variable.

Drop bars with barend shifter levers.

Barend gear/shift levers come out from the ends of the handlebars. We use the Nitto Randonneur style of drop bar with them. These bars have a slight upward sweep on either side of the stem and are very comfortable to ride. This curve fits into your hand palm. In the drop position, unlike on several drop bars, the holding position forward of the bar-end shifters is straight, long and comfortable to hold.These handlebars, in combination with bar-end levers, are great if you spend a lot of time riding.

Nitto Randonneur bars - style B135AA. Thanks to QBP in the US for this graphic.

Many positions on offer with barend levers and Nitto Randonneur bars.

Drop bars with STI shift levers.

With STI levers the gear levers are in the brake lever assembly.  When you are sitting up you often hold the brake hoods as you can both brake and change gears from there. Being able to move back to the corners offers an extra position. And on the drops there is also a rear and forward position. To suit STI we like Noodle bars.

Originally designed by the Rivendell Bicycle Works in the US for all-day riding, these are also made by Nitto in Japan. Instead of a completely straight top section these have a slight bend in the tops to provide a more comfortable upright position. It sounds odd but this subtle rearwards kink where your hands sit gives a more natural hand position and works great for city riding or just general use. Upright riding is especially comfortable, so the Noodle is a great choice for riding in traffic.

Nitto Noodle bars - style 177. Thanks to peterwhitecycles for the graphic.

With STI levers the gear cable casings may conflict with some handlebar bag designs. Nitto Noodle 177 bars avoid this by having the lever clamp position further apart than on Nitto Randonneur bars.

More about trekking bars.

The term “trekking” was first applied to bikes that originated in Germany in the 1980s.  In Germany it is quite normal for whole families to take their annual holidays on bikes. They prefer a wide range of hand positions for comfort on these rides that are longer than their normal commuting trips. If you are one of the thousands riding around the Bodensee in Southern Germany in the summer you will see this is the most typical handlebar. Somehow they have been left out of the bike offering in much of the world.  But the Germans are not wrong about these bars. They are great.

Our 2012 bikes we used the bars on the left. For 2013 bikes we found the bars on the right. Either way, you can move your back around easily as you will want to if riding for hours. And you have the option of sitting up quite high should you prefer to.

The German company Humbert came up with the design improvement in this bar type. By using a join (around where your little fingers sit), they are able to get the brake and gear levers mounted close to the handlebar stem. This sits the rider about 6cm forward of where they would have been on the earlier trekking bars. The new position is about where they would be if the same frame was set up as a drop-bar touring bike or a flat-bar hybrid. And there is a 12 degree sweep back on the bar, similat to what you have on mountain bikes or hybrids. It is still a sit up style but more open. If you want to come back a bit it is easy to shorten the stem but this set-up does feel good from the start. The shape of the end section is the same on the two different bars (2012 Kalloy and 2013 Humpert).

Some critics have argued that these bars might flex due to the distance of the hand position at the levers from the handlebar stem clamp. Obviously this is a non-issue on the Humpert bars. Critics have also suggested that flexing might be an issue on high speed descents. But that has not been borne out in our road testing. Also, some of the toughest endurance cyclists, often with big loads, select trekking bars. 

Two examples of people who have had to take both efficiency and comfort very seriously and still chose trekking bars.  On the right, Mark Beaumont in 2008. Mark used trekking bars in setting the round-the-world cycling record that year. On the left, Erden Eruc in Sydney. Eric is riding across all of the continents and rowing across the oceans.

So, there is no "right answer". Just go with your feeling. Trekking or Drop.