Thorn Comfort bars ?

[bikerwaser]

Hi All

At the moment i have butterfly bars on my Sherpa.
I have these because i get problems with wrist pain but i'm thinking of changing them to the Thorn Comfort bars.
just wondered what people here thought of them ?
also wondered if anyone had put bar ends on them and if so , which one's ?

thanks in advance

BikerWaser

[IanW]

Hi

On an earlier bike I used a set of drop-bars that I inverted.
I sawed-off part of the drop-bar
to give me a pair of "straight-bars-with-bar-ends"

When I bought my Thorn RST and opted for comfort bars fitted with the Ergon GP1 grips.

However I found that on longer rides I started to get a little pain/cramp in both thumbs
principally because I wanted my wrists to be rotated with my thumbs further forward than behind the GP1 grips allowed

So I swapped the GP1 grips for Ergon's GP5 grips which include substantial bar-ends
(which clamp on really solidly at an infinitely variable rotational angle around the ends of the bar, if that makes any sense)

These bar ends are plenty sufficient for my 9cm palm-not-including-thumb width
(view hand and measure width of palm below your 4-fingers but above thumb-joint)

Out of traffic I choose to use the bar ends,
but in traffic I use the straight ends of the comfort bars,
because then I have my index+middle fingers covering the brake-levers at all times.

These (GP5) grips work well for me.

Regards
Ian

[Swislon]

Hi

I use Thorn Comfort bars on an RST with Ergon grips without bar ends. I used to use straights with Ergon grips and Canecreek bar ends.

I love the comfort bars and find I don't need bar ends. I move my hands on a regular basis sometimes even to the centre of the bars just for a change of position especially if going a bit quicker. All I can say is that for me they are comfortable and I wouldn't go back to straights for this bike. Mrs swislon also has a set on her RST http://www.flickr.com/photos/63482963@N03/7832856612/in/set-72157631180087852

Steve

[phopwood]

Hi,

I have some of them and I like them a lot.  I have a some no name ergo grips and some short stumpy bar ends, that are in front and behind the bars so your hands rest neatly on them, they are giant contact ergo.  I find this setup very comfortable but sometime they feel to wide. 

The contract points of a bike are such a personal thing, and when you find what's right, you should stick to it.  If you hold a pencil in each hand and then put your hands in the natural riding position look at the pencils, you will then see the relevant angles your bars should take.

Peter.

[StuntPilot]

Another vote for the Thorn Comfort Bars. I added the Ergon GP1 BioKork. The bike came with a pair of standard GP1s that ventured off into the World via eBay. The standard GP1 was a little 'tacky'. The BioKork version has a much better, less rubber-like feel.

As for the angle of adjustment, I spent some time making very slight adjustments, then doing an all day ride. Eventually the perfect position was found.

I considered bar ends but as yet have found them unnecessary. I would probably put bar ends on the Thorn Flat Track bars which would be fitted for off road tours with a suspension fork on the Raven Tour.

[Pavel]

I don't have comfort bars as I happened to get lucky and get a no-name brand of bars free, which are very close to the comfort bars specs (except that they are much heavier).  I like them ok but for my ideal level of comfort I think that I would like a set of bars that sweep back quite a bit more than the comfort bars.  The comfort bar specs don't have much as much of a backwards bend and I find that after a few hours it causes my elbows to hurt from the fact that they are not in a very natural state.  It is better than straight bars by a wide margin ... just not quite good enough imho.  So I've cancelled plans for comfort bars and am following the thread about North Road bars with interest.

I will say that after experiencing my comfort bars wanna-be's that I would not again go to straight bars again.  The difference only shows up for me after two hours or so, but is pronounced.  Comfort bars are great ... but like underwear, perhaps a few different models are needed?