# Mustache or Bullhorn



## BeastRider (Oct 20, 2011)

I am thinking of changing the handlebars out to be able to have a little more shifting around room while riding. Has anyone been using these and, if so, what are the advantages/disadvantages between them. Also, I am open to suggestions for a different style besides the ones mentioned here......


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## lightjunction (May 17, 2011)

I've used both for around-town riding. The bullhorn bars look cooler, in my opinion and are preferable for stunt riding/bar crawls. The mustache bars offer a more comfortable, upright riding position with elbows in for riding longer distances. Just my preference.


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## Kev-Bot (Jun 7, 2010)

Jones H-bar in any variant, or the Titec versions!


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## kdc1956 (Feb 5, 2010)

Good luck with the bar it took me a while to get my BD setup so I could ride it with no problem.
My first bar look good but it was not for me no matter how hard I tryed to make it work.


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## BeastRider (Oct 20, 2011)

kdc1956 said:


> Good luck with the bar it took me a while to get my BD setup so I could ride it with no problem.
> My first bar look good but it was not for me no matter how hard I tryed to make it work.


Which one did you try that didn't work? And what sort of issues were there?


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## kdc1956 (Feb 5, 2010)

The handle bar look a lot like the mustache bars but it was not it was the B352 I think thats the name of it.My knees hit them all the time in a turn so off thet came go back and look at some of my pics of the BD I think I tryed ever stem they made and none of them work out right.


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## gumby_kevbo (Dec 24, 2011)

I have trekking bars ( AKA butterfly bars) on a couple of my bikes. They offer several comfy hand positions, and good shock absorption in the rear position. The side position is good for off saddle hammering, and the front is good for fighting headwinds. Nashbar sells them pretty cheap when they are in stock.


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## obkook (Feb 21, 2012)

I really like the look of the mustache bars with Brooks spring saddle on a BD. Very retro motorcycle look to it. Think I read a post about it being hard to make the mustache bars work well for riding on this set up though.

What about Nitto Albatross instead?


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## gumby_kevbo (Dec 24, 2011)

Harry, consider your brake lever options. Mustache bars are usually used with road levers meant for drop bars, but mounted horizontally on the forward curve. These would not have correct travel for your current brakes, so you would need travel agents, which add complication and friction. Of course you could use MTB levers on the rear straight part.

Bullhorns are really meant to be used with no brakes at all. You could probably fit some sort of aerobar levers to the ends. 

Pay attention to bar diameters...MTB and road bars use different standards.

Then you have to consider the issue of shifters. Trigger shifters may be hard to operate depending on the angle of the bar where they are mounted. Both these bars are meant to have a long area taped giving lots of hand position choices, but shifters and brake levers will take some of those options away, and only hooded road levers or bar-end mounted levers are designed to look and work good with taped bars.


The bullhorns also don't really have a relaxed upright hand position unless you somehow mounted them way high and back, but then you would have no aero/hammer position. I would avoid these on a cargo bik, as they offer only one hand position, and that meant for an aero tuck.


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## GravyBones (Jan 8, 2012)

*Albatross*

On my big dummy I have nitto's albatross bars. Nice and comfy for the beach lifestyle.


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## Johnsgotapugsley (Jan 5, 2012)

MTB Bar is 25.4 And a road bar is 26.0 or 31.8 clamp at the stem. 
I thank a sweep back like the Groovy Luv Handles is more comfortable. The bar gives a little sweep forward then sweeps back at 21 degrees back. I like longer about 26 to 28". Bontrager has a similar bar the capital. the black version is 31.8 clamp and about 25" long, and a silver one that is 25.4 clamp that is on the short side about 23" long. Read through the forums and you will hind a lot more options then most LBS have.


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## bikeolounger (Jun 7, 2012)

When I assembled my Big Dummy, I installed a Surly Open Bar. This bar can be mounted as a mustache bar or more like a wider version of the North Road bar on my old 3-speed--simply invert it from whichever position to the other. 

I like the width of this bar, and the hand position. I need to work on the stem length a bit, though, to get the control gain where I want it for one-hand riding (useful when signalling turns and whatnot).


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## PretendGentleman (May 24, 2011)

brake lever and shifter choice should be an important consideration in this decision. clamp diameters don't really matter much as you can always switch your stem. What does matter is diameter at the grip. road is 15/16" and mountain is 7/8". a 1/16" seems small, but I've not seen any successful adapations of parts except the cheapest shifters or with an ugly shim (but usually you're trying to fit mtb parts on road bars, so you've got to open 'em up and that just ain't easy.

Soma sparrow bars are one to look at, as they have 7/8" diameter at the grips.

just be sure to know what you're getting into before you start buying.

I like my titec H-bars, but they don't play too well with rapid fire shifters. I've learned to accomodate the wierd reach around required to run rapid fire on the upper handle. You could run rapid fire on the lower portion of the H-bar, but you're losing a lot of grip space and you'll hold the levers close to the pivot for minimum braking power.


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