Expert opinions needed, commuter bike

[stackie]

So, I'm getting sick of lugging all my junk to work in my messenger bag. I am about to pull trigger on a commuter bike. I am thinking something more low key than my Vanilla road and fixed bikes. My current plan is to go with the newish Shimano Alfine group (8spd internal hub, disk brakes, and generator lights). Will probably use the Full Wood fenders and build a custom wooden crate for gear that will mount to a rear rack.

My commute is currently about 35 minutes which includes climbing from sea level to 750 ft. The return commute includes the obvious descent, but with some definitely twisty roads. It's really a fun commute.

My dilemma is which bars to use. I love my drop bars. MTB bars are OK. Obviously have them on my MTB. I am thinking of moustache style bars, but I am worried that they will not offer the best climbing positions. It seems as if the positions is different enough that I will not be able to easily switch back to drops without a frame redesign (not very easy), if I am unhappy with the moustaches.

Please offer comments on bar recommendations, or if you feel I am just being totally stupid going with the Alfine internal geared hub for this type of commuting. Should I just get a real road bike with derailleurs, fenders, and mount a seatpost rack on it?

Thanks,

Jon

[seanw]

as far as bars, moustache bars are certainly a consideration. but check out the bars on <bikesonsnow.com>. the FloWing bar.
i have a pair on my singlespeed mtn bike that i commute on and love them.
awesome for climbing, plus offer the quickness of a riser bar for cornering. very comfy and natural feeling.

my commute is about 15-25 minutes depending on how energetic i am.

sean

[palincss]

If you love drop bars, why not use them? You can use internal hub gearing with drop bars. The biggest challenge is mounting the shifter, and here's one solution: http://www.hubbub.com/store/products.asp?id=32 the HubBub adapter. For in-town riding, where a "heads up" position helps in traffic, one solution is a handlebar level with the saddle and in-line auxiliary 'cross brake levers.

[Kevan]

I really love the looks of 'stache bars, but I would question their functionality. I used my bike for a difficult ride and found that the bars were seriously lacking, particularly during difficult climbs. One friend commented, "Why do you think road style bars have been around for so long?"

The fact is... the stem is shorter for 'stache bars and to get proper leverage during tough climbs your hands will likely be near the bar ends, further back, not out front near the brake position where the hands are closer together. The combination of short stem and climbing position make it somewhat difficult to keep the frontend planted during steep ascents. But this might just be me and the conditions I was riding in. Anyway, as to my way of thinking, moustache bars would be fine for short, low elevation, rides but stay with conventional bar if the bike is ever to be used for long, harder, rides.

I just ordered a pair of Nitto noodles as a replacement and a longer stem.

[old_school]

Mike Flanigan at AlternativeNeedsTransportation (http://www.antbikemike.com) might be a good resource for you. Commuter/work bikes with custom baskets and racks are his niche, and as I recall, he was a finalist in Shimano's Alfine build off competition last year. Bars are personal, like saddles; I never could feel the love for mustache bars. Take a look also at the Rohloff hub: it is on the expensive side but works beautifully and is extremely durable.

[markie]

Moustache bars are fine for climbing for me. Well with some it is hard to get into a nice seated lemond clibing position. But I ride fixed on the the road and stand for proper climbs. A nice wide pair of moustache bars is great for this. I like the nitto albatross bars (rivendell) which appear to be the nitto north road bars upside down. They flair out at the ends which I find much more comfortable thann bars that end parallel to each other.


Personally I would go fixed. That Shimano group looks heavy.

[Ken Robb]

I've ridden a couple of bikes w/'stache bars and they were fine for climbing but------both bikes were big bikes--62-65cm Rivendells with long chainstays (45cm). As you know, I'm only 6'1. I think these bars would not work well if installed on a bike with race geos and fitting.

RE: the rack/box combo. That might put too much weight up high for easy handling. I've got a Blackburn rack that I use with panniers and/or a trunk rack on my MB3. On my Allrounder I have a Riv Hoss saddle bag. It's huge and I use it for grocery-getting so sometimes I have 30 lbs +/- in it. On my easy ride home it's ok but I really have to have a good grip on the bars when I lean the bike over to mount because the leverage of having all that weight up high is surprisingly large.

I can haul that much and more in the rear panniers and almost forget it's there. Less weight in the tail trunk feels like more because the CG is so high.

My advice would be to get the rack and panniers for the heavy stuff and use the tail trunk for lighter items that you want to be able to get to easily.

My BikeFriday has 7spd Sachs internal hub that works well with twist-grip shifters on H-bars. You might see what you can find in H-bars for this project or try to find a sample to ride for evaluation. Come on down to SD and ride the Friday.

[markie]

I have a couple of racier bikes with moustache bars and both work fine for me. On of them is a size bigger than I normally ride.....

For getting stuff to fork I just use a messenger bag, or if I need my shirts extra-tidy, I drive to work with 10 of them and then ride the next two weeks.

[stackie]

Thanks for all of the good thoughts. Most of it is pretty much in line with my thinking.

I've done the route often enough on the fixie to know that it's not going to be good for my knees to continue this long term. Maybe on occasion. I'm going to have to pay the weight penalty.

I had not thought of the shifter issue on drops since I had not been thinking drops. That may be a big decider for me since the Alfine has a very nice trigger style shifter. If I went drops, I would want to go STI. Maybe STI would work with the Alfine hub? I'll talk to the builder.

Thanks,

Jon