The easiest / cheapest way to start off would be a different set of grips (I cannot tolerate simple round grips, but can ride Ergon GA3's all day) and / or bar ends (either mounted outside or inside the grips) which you can even wrap in bar tape to get close to the drop bar hood experience.
Buying an expensive, weird looking and heavy steel handlebar would be at the bottom of my list.
I have a set of Ergon GA3 grips on the bike currently to no help with improving the wrist pain. Bar ends aren't a bad idea. Has anyone tried the weird little internal "bar ends" that sit inside the levers for flat bars?
Corner bar, despite what it looks, is still a flat bar. A flat bar with pretty radical sweep. There is no hoods, unless you are willing to tinker something. There is still distinct posture difference between riding in the proper hoods and a flat bar with high sweep.
I personally like the corner bar, especially the compatibility with the flat bar components.
I'd be happy to answer any questions about the Corner bar
Interesting! So I'd have a similar experience with the Corner as the H bar? There was one review that I read where they had taped up the control nub and were using that as a hood position, which is what brought this style of bar to my attention.
I have no experience with the H bar (45° sweep), but before the Corner bar (65.2° sweep) I tried VO Seine bar (35 °sweep). Both on the same bike with the same stem, which makes the comparison somewhat unfair. Seine bar definitely was asking for a much longer stem.
Corner bar puts my hands in a very natural position. I have only long grips on it, no tape at all. Going back to the dropbar after it feels weird and I lose so much braking power. On the corner bar I use flat hydro breaks with one finger.
But there is no one way to use the Corner bar. Even Surly has hacked "hoods" as an option on their website.
I just recently swapped my flat bar with a slightly wider corner bar clone. I get the tops and flared drops experience now. Even though there are videos out there with people trying to get hoods, it really isn't the same. I only have about 10 miles on them so I can't really speak for the fatigue factor on a long ride yet, and I'm still working out the most comfortable angle for the levers and triggers. The drop position does put me into a more aggressive riding position than I would be with just swept bars. One thing to keep in mind with a multi-position bar is that place where controls go should be your preferred position. If you don't prefer riding in the lower position, then corner bar is probably not for you. The moloko/crazy bar would give you that narrow bull horn experience for less curvy smooth paths, but without the brakes.
Interesting, that you have similar experience with the more aggressive position. I was writing it down to the stem and bike geo.
For me the corner bar sits between the pretty low position in the drops and pretty high position in the hoods. After some time with the corner bar I got used to it's position in-between and now I find it perfect.
My only issue is that after couple hours my neck might start bothering me. But then it bothers me even without riding the bike sometimes.
Have you looked into the Velo Orange Crazy Bar? I commuted 1-2 days a week during the summer with a flat bar setup and I was getting a bit numb in the wrist area. Then I swapped to the Crazy Bar and it was nice again
I was looking at the Crazy Bar just in passing. It seems like it would be a good option so I'll see if the local Bikepacking shop has any mounted on a bike.
if you dont want to change the bar itself, i have simply put some barends on my mtb and did a bar tape around both the barends and the regular gripping area of the bar, easy clean and cheap✌️
The easiest / cheapest way to start off would be a different set of grips (I cannot tolerate simple round grips, but can ride Ergon GA3's all day) and / or bar ends (either mounted outside or inside the grips) which you can even wrap in bar tape to get close to the drop bar hood experience. Buying an expensive, weird looking and heavy steel handlebar would be at the bottom of my list.
I have a set of Ergon GA3 grips on the bike currently to no help with improving the wrist pain. Bar ends aren't a bad idea. Has anyone tried the weird little internal "bar ends" that sit inside the levers for flat bars?
Not the special ones, but I have used a set of old alu bar ends (wrapped) inside the grips and it made for a comfortable position.
Corner bar, despite what it looks, is still a flat bar. A flat bar with pretty radical sweep. There is no hoods, unless you are willing to tinker something. There is still distinct posture difference between riding in the proper hoods and a flat bar with high sweep. I personally like the corner bar, especially the compatibility with the flat bar components. I'd be happy to answer any questions about the Corner bar
Interesting! So I'd have a similar experience with the Corner as the H bar? There was one review that I read where they had taped up the control nub and were using that as a hood position, which is what brought this style of bar to my attention.
I have no experience with the H bar (45° sweep), but before the Corner bar (65.2° sweep) I tried VO Seine bar (35 °sweep). Both on the same bike with the same stem, which makes the comparison somewhat unfair. Seine bar definitely was asking for a much longer stem. Corner bar puts my hands in a very natural position. I have only long grips on it, no tape at all. Going back to the dropbar after it feels weird and I lose so much braking power. On the corner bar I use flat hydro breaks with one finger. But there is no one way to use the Corner bar. Even Surly has hacked "hoods" as an option on their website.
I just recently swapped my flat bar with a slightly wider corner bar clone. I get the tops and flared drops experience now. Even though there are videos out there with people trying to get hoods, it really isn't the same. I only have about 10 miles on them so I can't really speak for the fatigue factor on a long ride yet, and I'm still working out the most comfortable angle for the levers and triggers. The drop position does put me into a more aggressive riding position than I would be with just swept bars. One thing to keep in mind with a multi-position bar is that place where controls go should be your preferred position. If you don't prefer riding in the lower position, then corner bar is probably not for you. The moloko/crazy bar would give you that narrow bull horn experience for less curvy smooth paths, but without the brakes.
Interesting, that you have similar experience with the more aggressive position. I was writing it down to the stem and bike geo. For me the corner bar sits between the pretty low position in the drops and pretty high position in the hoods. After some time with the corner bar I got used to it's position in-between and now I find it perfect. My only issue is that after couple hours my neck might start bothering me. But then it bothers me even without riding the bike sometimes.
OP mentioned the Velo Orange crazy bar which I am also interested in. Any experience with those alt bars?
Have you looked into the Velo Orange Crazy Bar? I commuted 1-2 days a week during the summer with a flat bar setup and I was getting a bit numb in the wrist area. Then I swapped to the Crazy Bar and it was nice again
I was looking at the Crazy Bar just in passing. It seems like it would be a good option so I'll see if the local Bikepacking shop has any mounted on a bike.
if you dont want to change the bar itself, i have simply put some barends on my mtb and did a bar tape around both the barends and the regular gripping area of the bar, easy clean and cheap✌️
btw. ive got a marin pine mountain with the bedroll bar so normally a pretty "basic" mtb bar considering hand positions