North Road bars and top tube length etc.

[deejayen]

Is there anything to watch out for, geometry wise, when building up a bike with North Road bars? 

I'm considering buying a traditional touring bike frame (for drop bars) but am wondering if that would be a good match if I wanted to try North Road bars.  Would a different length of stem (longer?) sort things out, or would that negatively affect steering response?

I read someone (Andre?) mention that they tilted the grip section of North Road bars down thirty degrees from horizontal.  I'm not sure why, but this has made me keen to try them again.  I seem to remember once fitting them to an old Moulton, but didn't get on with them - perhaps due to a combination of reach and angle.

[JohnR]

In my experience stem length doesn't affect steering behaviour which is controlled by head tube angle and fork trail. Handlebar choice, however, can affect how easy it is to steer the bike. For example, wide bars need for hand movement but less force than narrow bars.

[PH]

Weight distribution effects handling, so if changing the bars has an impact on that, you will notice it.  it isn't necessarily a bad thing, and there's only one way to find out if you like it. 
I've swapped bars on several bikes, some have gone better than others, but there's been one bike where I really couldn't find an alternative to the original drops that I liked.

[Andre Jute]

I read someone (Andre?) mention that they tilted the grip section of North Road bars down thirty degrees from horizontal

Yes, that's me, and on this forum, so searchable. I will shortly have to go shower and change into a pink shirt and a blazer so I can take my wife to lunch, so I'll just give you the headlines.

The ergonomic purpose of handlebars, which you break at your own longterm risk of repetitive stress injury, is simply to hold your wrists straight under most dynamic operations. That's why experienced cyclists on drop bars often hold the upper straight section of the bars, not ideal but better than the unergonomic horizontal actual grips.

North Road bars fitted incompetently with the grips horizontal, i.e. parallel to the ground, will bend your wrist unnaturally unless they're about level with the fork crown. North Road Bars fitted upside down on short top tube bikes make excellent moustache bars and is another option to match your reach on an existing bike to your desire for straight wrists.

Essentially there are only two correct ways to fit North Road Bars. The first is the way I do it, with the handgrips turned downwards. The 30 degrees isn't set in marble. It depends on the top tube length, stem length and your desired back angle, so that when your wrists are straight with you in your desired riding position, you've finished adjusting.

Two more things are very important in your choice of North Road Bars. The handgrips should be for their entire length outside your shoulder width, and the length of the handgrips should be the maximum you can find because of the number of controls you want under your thumb on a modern bike. My preferred North Road Bar width is 620mm, but I'm a large guy who sits very upright on my bike, so most cyclists will probably be happy with something in the order of 600mm.

Good luck.

[deejayen]

Thanks very much!

I hope you had an anjoyable lunch, Andre.

I'll try to find the North Road bars I had, and see how wide they are in relation to my shoulders, and what length of grip they can accommodate outside of my shoulder width.  Perhaps I'll have to buy another set.  I'll also have to think about the frame/bike I'll install them on.

I know what you mean about the natural line of arm and wrist.  I've experimented with that on my recumbents, and it can be extremely comfortable if wrists aren't cocked.  I gave up riding normal bikes due to hand issues, so would be keen to try and find a handlebar and riding position which worked for me.

Perhaps stem length doesn't affect normal bikes too much, but some recumbents can end up being quite difficult to handle at slower speeds, but perhaps that's also due to geometry as well as steering/tiller length etc.

[Danneaux]

In my experience stem length doesn't affect steering behaviour which is controlled by head tube angle and fork trail. Handlebar choice, however, can affect how easy it is to steer the bike. For example, wide bars need for more hand movement but less force than narrow bars.

Yes! Nicely stated JohnR and in my experience spot-on and proven time and again for me as a hobbyist framebuilder. Proven also on my old fleet rental/now Enduro-Allroad bike...
https://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15149.msg114099#msg114099
...that has a choice of two Thorn Sherpa Mk2 forks, one providing 40mm of (relatively) low trail, the other 57mm of neutral trail, both replacing the original (super weighty and non-compliant MTB) fork that provided 68mm of (relatively) high trail, all with 2.0in tires. My favorite on this bike is the 40mm for general use.

Bike was originally fitted with a 110mm stem and 620mm straight handlebars, replaced with 50mm stem and 420mm shallow-drop/compact reach handlebars.

Weight distribution effects handling, so if changing the bars has an impact on that, you will notice it.

I've also found this true in my experience, Paul.

Best, Dan.