Thorn Cycles Forum
Technical => General Technical => Topic started by: Matt2matt2002 on June 17, 2014, 04:18:51 PM
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Very happy with the bars and positions they but the foam is quite thin. I use padded gloves but even so, its a harsh ride.
Any thoughts on alternative covering?
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Yes. Start at your tyres. Choose the widest that will fit, the lowest pressure tyres available, and the least tread that will do the job for the terrain. Wide, soft, slick should be your mantra if you're interested in real comfort. The reason is that what hurts isn't hardness, and can't be fixed with foam. It is microvibrations coming up from the interface between road and tyre, and must be fixed first.
BTW, I use grips that are absolutely rock hard, no perceptible give, under thin leather dress gloves with a thin, very worn lining, zero padding. I am incredibly sensitive to vibrations in my hands, but I feel no pain because I ride on (technically) underinflated Big Apples, with a very relaxed geometry on properly scaled fork tubes. The grips I use are by Brooks and consist of rings of saddle leather set on edge and very tighly clamped together between hefty cast aluminium ends, further held rigid by short bicycle spokes (I swear, see photos at http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=4723.0 ). I don't think they'd fit your flutterby bars, but for anyone with straight or North road bars, I recommend them very strongly.
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I would probably use leather handlebar tape on the bars like you would on drop bars. Possibly even keep the foam on and cover over the top with the tape to give a luxury feel to it. Though I am sure that Andre is also right in that the tyres make a huge difference to comfort.
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As André says, tyres make a difference.
But even with 2 inch Supremes, I still need handlebar padding for long rides - on one bike I have Grab-on close cell foam with handlebar tape over the top, on another Fizik gel pads and handlebar tape.
This is on drop bars, but should work the same on flat bars/bar-ends.
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Andre is definitely right about the increased comfort of wider softer tyres.
For flat/riser bars I find that ergon grips with the flat ‘wing’ platform plus unpadded mitts are by far the most comfortable solution for me.
Julian.
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Grab-on grips http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/grab-on-foam-maxi-handlebar-sleeves-for-drop-bars-black-prod422/?geoc=au (http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/grab-on-foam-maxi-handlebar-sleeves-for-drop-bars-black-prod422/?geoc=au) - I've used these for decades on both drop and butterfly bars and they're comfy, durable and don't 'bottom out' over the bumps like thinner foam.