V20 handlebar advice

lampinyo

Member
I'm building up my first V20 and wondering about handlebars. Anyone tried a set of normal drop road bike bars (eg 42cm c to c) instead of the 60cm wide CB bars? I've never ridden a CB so wondering if you need the extra width for turning or leg clearance or something else i'm missing. I've ridden roadie drop bars my whole life and the CB bars look just so huge and ungainly!
 
I have tried a lot of bars on mine, never 'standard' drop bars but a lot of other styles. Search this site and you will find a lot of posts about bars. The two I likes are the On one 'Midge' bar and the Origin 8 'Gary' bar with about 1" cut off the ends. I'm currently using the Gary
 

Frito Bandito

Zen MBB Master
I have not tried normal drop bars, but I have tried 2 different sets of TT bars as well as flared and chopped Nitto B135 390mm bars. I can't rotate them down very far because my legs hit my hands, but you might get away with 420mm bars if you don't have thunder thighs.
 
I have some 44cm flared drop bars (probably around 40cm wide at the tops). For reference, I prefer 40-42cm non flared bars on my road bike. I am not that wide, so the choice may be difference for someone wider in legs. I think you will need to go a little wider than what you would run on a DF bike since you need space for your knees to freely move within the drop bars. I have about 5-10mm clearance to each drop bar with my knees in my normal pedal cycle. Another thing to note is that short cranks will improve the clearance as it keeps knees lower at high point of pedal cycle. I run 155mm cranks.

My V20 44cm bars have about 5cm cut off the ends. I like this much better than the stock very wide bars. It is much better for going through narrow spaces (like bollards), and is more aero. It took a few rides to get used to as you have to put a little more arm effort in on hard sprints and in general for the same stability. Turning tight corners can be a challenge as the bottom of the bars digs into my hips on very short radius corners done at walking pace. But the rest of the time they are great, and I am very happy with the arm position while riding (I rid on the drops with my arms low) which is comfortable and aero.

There seems to be a split on here in terms of some V20 riders preferring higher arms with the arms parallel at shoulder height with a bull horn bar or on the hoods with drop bars, and some V20 riders preferring lower arms with forearm beside torso and elbows bent to a low hand position on the drops. I am the latter, but it seems both options give good speed. If you are like me, the narrower the bars, the less frontal area as you bring them inside your torso shadow (well the torso in the hands shadow!!).

I would recommend it, but not for a beginner. More as an upgrade once someone has mastered the V20 MBB.

This may give some idea of my position.... I don;t have many pics of me riding, so may not be the best photo:

zcH-obdkmgVTmB7FSPbAuSzhqkW2SPNCwgCfMjF-wc4-2048x1536.jpg
 

Beano

Well-Known Member
Yup, I think mine are 44cm wide. Set up so a slight bend in the elbow, these have not been cut but the angle of the bar is raised slightly more than what you would have on a DF along with the shifters. Allows a good grip on the bar and real easy changing gear using ETAP. Prefer this sort of bar to the flared one riding the V20.

If you do stick with flared option, make sure the set up on the bar is right so there is no bend in the wrist when riding along.. I found when riding with a flared bar and my wrists were slightly bent, on long rides changing gear and braking etc over time my wrist hurt for a couple of days after wards.
1655405339758.png


EDIT: The bend in the elbow that Adrian has in the pic above is pretty much spot on.
 
Last edited:

lampinyo

Member
I have tried a lot of bars on mine, never 'standard' drop bars but a lot of other styles. Search this site and you will find a lot of posts about bars. The two I likes are the On one 'Midge' bar and the Origin 8 'Gary' bar with about 1" cut off the ends. I'm currently using the Gary
Thanks for the info Andrew
 

lampinyo

Member
I have not tried normal drop bars, but I have tried 2 different sets of TT bars as well as flared and chopped Nitto B135 390mm bars. I can't rotate them down very far because my legs hit my hands, but you might get away with 420mm bars if you don't have thunder thighs.
Thanks Frito! No thunder thighs here! Once I get the hang of the MBB will start experimenting.
 

lampinyo

Member
I have some 44cm flared drop bars (probably around 40cm wide at the tops). For reference, I prefer 40-42cm non flared bars on my road bike. I am not that wide, so the choice may be difference for someone wider in legs. I think you will need to go a little wider than what you would run on a DF bike since you need space for your knees to freely move within the drop bars. I have about 5-10mm clearance to each drop bar with my knees in my normal pedal cycle. Another thing to note is that short cranks will improve the clearance as it keeps knees lower at high point of pedal cycle. I run 155mm cranks.

My V20 44cm bars have about 5cm cut off the ends. I like this much better than the stock very wide bars. It is much better for going through narrow spaces (like bollards), and is more aero. It took a few rides to get used to as you have to put a little more arm effort in on hard sprints and in general for the same stability. Turning tight corners can be a challenge as the bottom of the bars digs into my hips on very short radius corners done at walking pace. But the rest of the time they are great, and I am very happy with the arm position while riding (I rid on the drops with my arms low) which is comfortable and aero.

There seems to be a split on here in terms of some V20 riders preferring higher arms with the arms parallel at shoulder height with a bull horn bar or on the hoods with drop bars, and some V20 riders preferring lower arms with forearm beside torso and elbows bent to a low hand position on the drops. I am the latter, but it seems both options give good speed. If you are like me, the narrower the bars, the less frontal area as you bring them inside your torso shadow (well the torso in the hands shadow!!).

I would recommend it, but not for a beginner. More as an upgrade once someone has mastered the V20 MBB.

This may give some idea of my position.... I don;t have many pics of me riding, so may not be the best photo:

zcH-obdkmgVTmB7FSPbAuSzhqkW2SPNCwgCfMjF-wc4-2048x1536.jpg
Nice pic Vosadrian! Thanks for the extended response.
Your position looks great, nice and aero and comfortable too. As mentioned i'm just in the process of building my V20 and never ridden a MBB so expecting will stick to the standard bars to learn on and then do some experimenting.
Hopefully I can get dialled in to something like yours.
Where was pic taken?
 

lampinyo

Member
Yup, I think mine are 44cm wide. Set up so a slight bend in the elbow, these have not been cut but the angle of the bar is raised slightly more than what you would have on a DF along with the shifters. Allows a good grip on the bar and real easy changing gear using ETAP. Prefer this sort of bar to the flared one riding the V20.

If you do stick with flared option, make sure the set up on the bar is right so there is no bend in the wrist when riding along.. I found when riding with a flared bar and my wrists were slightly bent, on long rides changing gear and braking etc over time my wrist hurt for a couple of days after wards.
View attachment 13294


EDIT: The bend in the elbow that Adrian has in the pic above is pretty much spot on.
 

lampinyo

Member
Yup, I think mine are 44cm wide. Set up so a slight bend in the elbow, these have not been cut but the angle of the bar is raised slightly more than what you would have on a DF along with the shifters. Allows a good grip on the bar and real easy changing gear using ETAP. Prefer this sort of bar to the flared one riding the V20.

If you do stick with flared option, make sure the set up on the bar is right so there is no bend in the wrist when riding along.. I found when riding with a flared bar and my wrists were slightly bent, on long rides changing gear and braking etc over time my wrist hurt for a couple of days after wards.
View attachment 13294


EDIT: The bend in the elbow that Adrian has in the pic above is pretty much spot on.
Looks great Beano. That's gotta be way more aero than the huge flared standard CB bars.
 
Nice pic Vosadrian! Thanks for the extended response.
Your position looks great, nice and aero and comfortable too. As mentioned i'm just in the process of building my V20 and never ridden a MBB so expecting will stick to the standard bars to learn on and then do some experimenting.
Hopefully I can get dialled in to something like yours.
Where was pic taken?

Yeah, I have ridden up to 100 mile with that setup, and no comfort issues. I could go further if the legs kept turning! The setup is quick too. Quickest I have done on a flat course is 50km in just over an hour at 45kph (28mph) on an outdoor velodrome.

I live in Sydney, and that pic is taken at Sydney Motorsport Park which is the local race track. We had a cycling event there that was effectively a 50 mile team time trial. Pic taken in warm up for the event by another rider on my team. The track is quite hilly, so over 4000 feet elevation in a 50 mile course. There were 3 bents (two Vendettas) in a paceline rolling turns (against other teams of four DFs). I think we were 3rd team in at an average speed of 38kph (just under 24mph). I think a 4th team member and a bit more experience would could compete for the win in this!! The advantage of a bent is still there in a 4 rider pace line, but much reduced, as the DFs can draft each other, so riders not on front do no more effort than bents not on the front.

You can see exactly where it is here! :)

 

lampinyo

Member
Yeah, I have ridden up to 100 mile with that setup, and no comfort issues. I could go further if the legs kept turning! The setup is quick too. Quickest I have done on a flat course is 50km in just over an hour at 45kph (28mph) on an outdoor velodrome.

I live in Sydney, and that pic is taken at Sydney Motorsport Park which is the local race track. We had a cycling event there that was effectively a 50 mile team time trial. Pic taken in warm up for the event by another rider on my team. The track is quite hilly, so over 4000 feet elevation in a 50 mile course. There were 3 bents (two Vendettas) in a paceline rolling turns (against other teams of four DFs). I think we were 3rd team in at an average speed of 38kph (just under 24mph). I think a 4th team member and a bit more experience would could compete for the win in this!! The advantage of a bent is still there in a 4 rider pace line, but much reduced, as the DFs can draft each other, so riders not on front do no more effort than bents not on the front.

You can see exactly where it is here! :)

Hey Adrian, I'm in Sydney too! That event looks great, are you looking to do it again later this year? I've had 10 years off the bike but if you're looking for someone that isn't fit and hasn't even ridden their new V20 then I'm your 4th man!
 
Hey Adrian, I'm in Sydney too! That event looks great, are you looking to do it again later this year? I've had 10 years off the bike but if you're looking for someone that isn't fit and hasn't even ridden their new V20 then I'm your 4th man!

@lampinyo, I'm not the organiser, but I am sure you would be welcome. We struggle to get numbers for bent events, and all are welcome. But you better start training so you can keep up with the team! :)
 
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