I'd like to change my handlebars on my bike. It's not because there's anything particularly "wrong" with the current bars, which are "KTM line flat 680" bars by the way, but because I tend to feel a bit "pulled forward" by them, so I was considering something with a bit of a sweep to relax my riding position a bit. I'm hoping this may also assist in reducing the interference between brake hoses and dry bags on the front.
I'm not too sure how "sweepy" to go, as apparently the increased sweep can, in effect, reduce the stem length. I've been looking at OnOne bars, simply because they seem like excellent value. I'm kinda torn between the Fleegle bars, and the Mary bars, which appear to be very similar to Jones bars.
Having said all this, I'm also a bit concerned that on steep ascents I do sometimes struggle to keep the front wheel on the ground due to pulling back on the bars, and I'm thinking swept bars may exacerbate this, but I guess only using them will really help me decide if this is a problem.

Anyone have any recommendations regarding the above? Are the benefits I've listed realistic, or will the bars not make much difference?

Also, is swapping a set of bars over nice and easy? I'm imagining it's simply a case of sliding the grips off, loosening shifters and brakes off, then swapping bars and reversing the process?

Thanks

I've a set of On-One Mary bars but not used them yet so can't help with how they handle.

Swapping bars: remove existing bar from stem and put new one on then remove grips etc from old bar and put on new bar. Doing it this way makes it obvious what goes where rather than ending up with all the shifters, levers hanging off their cables.

whitestone wrote:I've a set of On-One Mary bars but not used them yet so can't help with how they handle.

Swapping bars: remove existing bar from stem and put new one on then remove grips etc from old bar and put on new bar. Doing it this way makes it obvious what goes where rather than ending up with all the shifters, levers hanging off their cables.

Ahhh good thinking, hadn't considered that.

On one OG bars are my favourite so far, I have the carbon versions (£35 atm, bargain) which I run inverted so that they fall rather than rise. I really like them, light, comfortable and not massively overpriced

One more question, will the "sweep" vs "flat" bar make much of a difference to the overall positioning of the brake levers and shifters in relation to the frame? As in, will I need to extended hoses or cables, or will the differences be negligible?

Depends how wide your current bars are and how wide the swept bars are but it's likely to be negligible, in effect you are moving the brake and shifter mount points backwards in an arc which is all that you do when turning the bars.

whitestone wrote:Depends how wide your current bars are and how wide the swept bars are but it's likely to be negligible, in effect you are moving the brake and shifter mount points backwards in an arc which is all that you do when turning the bars.

Cheers, I guess my question now, is do I go a bit sweepy with the Fleegle bars, or mega sweepy with the Mary bars?

ootini wrote:Cheers, I guess my question now, is do I go a bit sweepy with the Fleegle bars, or mega sweepy with the Mary bars?

At their current prices (£5 & £15) it's hardly breaking the bank to get both

whitestone wrote:

ootini wrote:Cheers, I guess my question now, is do I go a bit sweepy with the Fleegle bars, or mega sweepy with the Mary bars?

At their current prices (£5 & £15) it's hardly breaking the bank to get both

Valid point, however it looks like OnOne just made the decision for me, the Fleegle are no longer available in 31.8mm, although they were about twenty minutes ago! Balls!

I usually ride on Jones full loop bars, IMO they're the most comfortable , multi position bars around and would have them on most bikes if I could afford them. So I'm used to the sweep. I tried Feegals and their not swept enough. I fitted Marys for bikepacking and they were close in postion to the Jones but less versatile. Titec H bars are cheaper (if they still make them.) You can fit Marys upside down which makes for a good alternative.

Ben98 wrote:On one OG bars are my favourite so far, I have the carbon versions (£35 atm, bargain) which I run inverted so that they fall rather than rise. I really like them, light, comfortable and not massively overpriced

I've a set of these on one bike and jones loops on the other. The OGs are not as swept back. Maybe 25 rather thsn 45 degrees. Do like them both

Another, potentially daft question, I understand that the sweep back designs tend to be preferable for bikepacking, for a few reasons. Are they detrimental in any way to the handling of the bike for day to day trail riding? I only have the one bike and it needs to be a jack of all trades, I need a flexible setup for both fun day rides around the trails and also the multiday long distance backpacking trips.

When I got my Jones bars because they are so huge and weird looking things I placed them over the Whammybar they were replacing.
With the part gripped by the stem in the right place the Jones crossed the Whammy half way through the grips which was quite a surprise.
The net effect of changing over using the same stem was a change of grip angle and position because of sweep effect plus lots more hand positions.

I have tried - Mary's, too narrow and the backsweep too much causing the end of the bar to hit your leg on real tight corners. Fleegles, nice width but so little sweep as to be almost unnoticed. On One OG, wide enough and a good backsweep, I really like them. Alloy £20, carbon £35 bargain.

Ray Young wrote:I have tried - Mary's, too narrow and the backsweep too much causing the end of the bar to hit your leg on real tight corners. Fleegles, nice width but so little sweep as to be almost unnoticed. On One OG, wide enough and a good backsweep, I really like them. Alloy £20, carbon £35 bargain.

Hadn't seen the OGs, they do look nice. Apart from the weight saving, are there any real benefits of carbon over ally?

ootini wrote:Hadn't seen the OGs, they do look nice. Apart from the weight saving, are there any real benefits of carbon over ally?

They will reduce some trail buzz but you may have to buy a new stem if your current one is not compatible with carbon bars plus you will have to protect them from the bar harness.

Depends on what you ride..... wouldn't necessarily fit Jones bars to a 8" travel DH bike , but they feel good for me in all scenarios.

Slide your saddle forward or roll the bars back a touch?

It could be more bike fit than bars. TBH, unless I wanted the "different" angles of swept bars I'd try a shorter stem to compensate for a "too far forward" feeling. Try small-ish changes to one thing at a time and you might find you can solve it.

Then again if you want to splurge on bars go for it

Cheeky Monkey wrote:Slide your saddle forward or roll the bars back a touch?

It could be more bike fit than bars. TBH, unless I wanted the "different" angles of swept bars I'd try a shorter stem to compensate for a "too far forward" feeling. Try small-ish changes to one thing at a time and you might find you can solve it.

Then again if you want to splurge on bars go for it

I don't think rolling the bars would work as they appear to be as flat as a very flat thing. Sliding the saddle forward may help, I'll give it a go. However one other benefit I'm hoping to gain from sweepy bars is making a dry bag easier to fit upfront, less fouling of hoses etc.

ootini wrote:Hadn't seen the OGs, they do look nice. Apart from the weight saving, are there any real benefits of carbon over ally?

Yes, at temps below, say, minus 10, you won't feel the cold of the alloy through your grips...

Edit: supplementary point - they give you a bit more comfort if you ride rigid.

ootini wrote:

Cheeky Monkey wrote:Slide your saddle forward or roll the bars back a touch?

It could be more bike fit than bars. TBH, unless I wanted the "different" angles of swept bars I'd try a shorter stem to compensate for a "too far forward" feeling. Try small-ish changes to one thing at a time and you might find you can solve it.

Then again if you want to splurge on bars go for it

I don't think rolling the bars would work as they appear to be as flat as a very flat thing. Sliding the saddle forward may help, I'll give it a go. However one other benefit I'm hoping to gain from sweepy bars is making a dry bag easier to fit upfront, less fouling of hoses etc.

Personally, I'd only touch the saddle of you have problems with your legs* etc Of you feel like your getting pulled forward, then a shorter stem may help (even reducing it by 10mm can help)


*disclaimer, I've solved the same problem by moving my saddle forwards! More 'do as I say' then what I do

I also thought a shorter stem might be a solution but was suggesting the cheap / free things first