Retrobike Touring.

STIs are designed to fit the hand in a close- to- vertical position.
Flared bars tend to cause wrist issues in plenty of riders long distance.
It might depend how much you change gear, so landscape and personality come in to play yrt again.

A wide bar with a few degrees flare ought to work - if you want more steering leverage, your probably not on the drops anyway.
 
I won't be changing gear often as ill be laden with touring gear, keeping the bar end shifters for their simplicity and if things go wrong I can switch them to friction. Tried the bike with flat bars and loaded it wobbled too much.
 
bikeworkshop said:
STIs are designed to fit the hand in a close- to- vertical position.
Flared bars tend to cause wrist issues in plenty of riders long distance.
It might depend how much you change gear, so landscape and personality come in to play yrt again.

A wide bar with a few degrees flare ought to work - if you want more steering leverage, your probably not on the drops anyway.
Click to expand...
Agree, STI’s are awkward for anything more than a slight flare. I use downtube shifters on my LHT, same as my older tourers that run randonneur bars.

Jamie
 
I tried an 80's mtb with thumbies on a 3 days offroad tour for the first time and I'm impressed to say the least.
I never had a bike this comfortable yet this capable.
It is a low range model with p.g. tubeset and a deore groupset and still the only thing I sometimes missed were some more teeth on the biggest cog.
Screenshot_20250503-231628-033.webp Screenshot_20250503-231712-534.webp Screenshot_20250503-231743-057.webp
We tried to avoid asphalt wherever possible and did some pretty rough downhills but nothing on the bike itself came lose, snapped or broke.

Best thing was that I found the bike in the trash and only gave it some new tires, tubes, cables and grips.
IMG_20250202_152511.webp
The only thing I had to fix was a broken bottle cage...
IMG_20250503_152811.webp
...and the Topeak wishbone coming lose every now and then. IMG_20250501_121717.webp
But I think some loctite may solve the problem.
IMG_20250501_123807.webp IMG_20250503_150556.webp IMG_20250503_151001.webp IMG_20250503_151421.webp
I think they called them ATB for the right reason....
 
Last edited:
KayOs said:
I tried an 80's mtb with thumbies on a 3 days offroad tour for the first time and I'm impressed to say the least.
I never had a bike this comfortable yet this capable.
It is a low range model with p.g. tubeset and a deore groupset and still the only thing I sometimes missed were some more teeth on the biggest cog.
View attachment 957872View attachment 957873View attachment 957874
We tried to avoid asphalt wherever possible and did some pretty rough downhills but nothing on the bike itself came lose snapped or broke.

Best thing was that I found the bike in the trash and only gave it some new tires, tubes, cables and grips.
View attachment 957865
The only thing I had to fix was a broken bottle cage...
View attachment 957875
...and the Topeak wishbone coming lose every now and then.View attachment 957866
But I think some loctite may solve the problem.
View attachment 957867View attachment 957869View attachment 957870View attachment 957871
I think they called them ATB for the right reason....
Click to expand...
Good stuff 😎
 
widowmaker said:
Tried the bike with flat bars and loaded it wobbled too much.
Click to expand...

Most laden bikes will wobble at first until you get used to the new equilibrium point. But switching to a drop bar, which on average is 10-15cm narrower at least, won't improve that... Less leverage to correct imbalances...
 
Last edited:
Centre of gravity also affects balance.

Traditional tourers would put heavy items at the bottom of the panniers and mount the panniers low on the bike.
 
KayOs said:
I tried an 80's mtb with thumbies on a 3 days offroad tour for the first time and I'm impressed to say the least.
I never had a bike this comfortable yet this capable.
It is a low range model with p.g. tubeset and a deore groupset and still the only thing I sometimes missed were some more teeth on the biggest cog.
View attachment 957872View attachment 957873View attachment 957874
We tried to avoid asphalt wherever possible and did some pretty rough downhills but nothing on the bike itself came lose, snapped or broke.

Best thing was that I found the bike in the trash and only gave it some new tires, tubes, cables and grips.
View attachment 957865
The only thing I had to fix was a broken bottle cage...
View attachment 957875
...and the Topeak wishbone coming lose every now and then.View attachment 957866
But I think some loctite may solve the problem.
View attachment 957867View attachment 957869View attachment 957870View attachment 957871
I think they called them ATB for the right reason....
Click to expand...

@KayOs you managed to pack so much staff on the front end without using a rack! It's pretty amazing. What's your trick? Keep strapping things on top of each other? What about swaying left and right if you have a lot of load and no rack?

Sorry for the back to back questions but, packing the front is my prefered option. I like the rear end as empty as possible or carrying nothing actually. I think it give a bit better stability to the bike.
 
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