I’ve recently started commuting via bike on a Trek FX-3 Disc. I just found out that it has a handlebar with some stupid proprietary “IsoZone” technology which makes it incompatible with a lot of stuff due to crimped bar ends. I want to replace it with a different handlebar. I just use the bike for commuting, other close-by travel needs and just riding for fun sometimes.
Anyone have any recommendations for which handlebar I should get?
Thanks
I really like narrow bullhorns bc I ride like a jackass. I would recommend going to a used bike store and buying some cheapo straight bars that have the same diameter as the one you already have.
Also I have always wanted to try Butterfly Bars but never seen them nowhere. If you’re not going too far and don’t have too many hills, you won’t benefit from that many hand positions so it probably ain’t worth the cost. At most, some of them bar ends for a grip you can pull against with some cheap straight bars will do you good.
That said, I will never begrudge no one pimping out their bike. It’s fun and helps you build a better relationship to your machine. Since I hurt my leg over the summer, I can’t really ride more than 6-8 miles at a time so I’m not really one to talk no more lol.
My commute is very short and easy (20 minute ride). However, I have started riding longer distances (20-30 miles) just for fun. The primary reason I wanted to get different bars was because I wanted the 45nrth Cobrafist pogies for the coming winter and they don’t fit on these handlebars because of that bent bar end.
I wasn’t exactly looking for more hand positions but maybe I should because my right wrist hurts on the radial side (I feel like it’s related to the way I shift gears?) after longer rides. I started riding in late August so I’m pretty new to biking… and I don’t know much. I’ll check out some used bike stores and see if they have bars that work for me, thanks for your advice!
In my experience wrist pain is almost always related to posture. Poor posture and not engaging your abdominal muscles to hold you up leads to too much strain on the wrist. I highly recommend Sheldon Brown’s blog on all things bikes https://www.sheldonbrown.com/
Of course! Congratulations on getting on a bike, it’s really life changing.
If it’s just on one side of your body, I would also double-triple-quadruple check if your seat is off-center of tilted at all. I had an imbalance pain in one knee and one arm for a while and I realized it was because I was compensating for a crooked seat lmao. Also it’s good to get in the habit of really engaging your core and trying to ‘hold’ weight there if that makes any sense? Especially when shifting when having that weight through your hand while also doing a fine movement like shifting can cause tension.
The bar ends are really crimped? I thought “IsoZone” meant they put a chunk of rubber inside the bars and concealed it with a normal bar-end plug, like this. Though I wouldn’t put it past Trek to do something dumb like crimp the end of the bars shut.
Back to your question: flat bars are mostly all the same, IMO. Just get one with the right clamp diameter to match your stem. If you want a specific make and model, I can vouch for the Titec Hell Bent XC bar that I’m still riding after many years.
If you want to get weird, the bikepacking folks seem to like Jones H-Bars and the like. They allow more hand positions and tons of mounting room for lights/bags/bells/whatever.
The bar ends aren’t exactly crimped shut. The top of the bar has the foam and to keep the bar circular despite having the foam on there, they kind of squish the bar down so the entrance is no longer round. This is how it looks without the bar end plug:
The white stuff you see is the foam, the bent looking thing is the bar and around that is the grip…
I can’t find the Titec bar you mentioned anywhere on sale… I guess it’s no longer produced. I did consider the Jones bar… But I don’t think I’d wanna get it without trying it. For now I think I just want something that has a similar profile and dimensions of my current bar.
Geez, that’s ridiculous. Bike companies do silly stuff sometimes. If you don’t mind narrower bars you could just trim that portion off with a hacksaw. Otherwise I think your idea of hitting up the used bike shop is the way to go. If they don’t have anything and you’re in the US, Nashbar has plenty of options under $40, too.
