Handlebars come in a variety of types designed for particular types of riding.
Drop Typical drop handlebars feature a straight central section attached to the stem, with each end curving first forwards and down, and then back towards the rider at a lower position. These are a very popular type of handlebar, and their exact shape and purpose leads them to be further categorised as follows. ;Standard These classic racing handlebars, as used on
road or
track bicycles. The bars are designed with three basic parameters; reach, drop and width. They can be further classified into three categories:
classic, typically having a long reach and a deep drop,
compact, featuring shorter reach and a shallow drop, and
ergo or
anatomic, described below. Drop bars may have one or two longitudinal indentations so that the brake and shift cables protrude less when they are wrapped under the bar tape. They may also have a flattened top section. ;Track Track drop bars are a variation of bars designed for the typical riding positions of track bicycle racers. Track drops are characterized by large, sweeping ramps, effectively precluding the top and brake hood hand positions, but promoting the rider's use of the ends, or "hooks". Track bars are designed for use without brake levers, but recently experienced a surge in popularity on use with fixed gear bikes, and as such have been adapted to fit levers and hand positions. ;Ergo or anatomic The shape of the drop may be a simple, traditional curve, or it can have a flat spot (straight section) which some riders find to be more comfortable for their hands. These bars may be described as
ergo or
anatomic. Some manufacturers have relegated the term
anatomic to this curvature shape, while adopting the term
ergo to instead describe non-cylindrical tubing cross-sections on the upper flat portion of the bar, intended to be more comfortable when riding in the upright position. ;Randonneur Drop bars that rise slightly from the center in a shallow U, and the drop portion of the bars is set wider than the curve at the top. Designed to be slightly more comfortable than a straight drop bar for bicycles used in
Audax riding. However the popularity of these bars has plummeted over the last 20 years as more and more cycle-tourists, brought up on mountainbikes, choose to use one of the 'flat' bar variations either using bar-ends or 'butterfly' bars for their holidays. However the popularity of 'gravel' bikes has seen them make a come-back. ;Drop-in At one time, manufactures and racers experimented with
drop-in bars that had an additional extension in toward the
head tube at the rear end of the drops. This was intended to offer an even more aerodynamic position, due to low and narrow placement of the hands, than just the drops, while still remaining legal for mass-start races. Their popularity has since waned. ;Dirt drop Primarily for riding off-road or on dirt, these handlebars are flared out at the ends of the handlebar. This style was used in the 1980s during the early period of
mountain biking. Initially the flared portion in these handlebars was bent by hand, but now are available from manufacturers such as
Salsa Cycles and
SOMA Fabrications.
Bullhorn Bullhorn (or
pursuit) handlebars, curve up and forward. They are often paired with dedicated clip-on triathlon bars when used on the road (see above), and are also popular by themselves on
track,
single-speed, and
fixed-gear bicycles. This style of handlebar is named after the discipline of
track racing where it was originally used, and has the common nickname of "bullhorn bars" for their appearance, especially when the rider's body position is fully extended to lean forward and maintain control of the bicycle. Improvised bullhorn bars may be constructed simply by cutting the drops off drop bars and then mounting them upside down so that the remaining start of the drop provides a slight upward hook for resting the hands, although this does not provide as much forward extension (reach) or lowering (if desired, normally for time-trial based use) as purpose made bullhorns. These are sometimes called "flopped and chopped" or "flipped and clipped" bars, and if this is to be done, care should be taken to properly remove the sharp edges from the cuts, and to properly tape and plug the bar ends for safety purposes.
Bullmoose The
bullmoose style was common on early mountain bikes. The stem and bars are a single unit and where the single top section of the stem would be, there are instead 2 bars joined at the quill to the rear and connected to the conventional handlebar section in the front, at two off-center locations, forming a triangle. Triathlon bars are commonly used in
triathlons and time trial events on road and track. However, they are illegal in most mass-start road races or any other event where
drafting is permitted because, while aerodynamically advantageous, they tend to draw the hands away from
brakes, make the rider slightly more unstable on the bike, and can be dangerous in the event of an accident. Further, they are not useful in sprints or shorter climbs where power is of greater importance than aerodynamics. Specialized shift levers (known as bar-end shifters) do exist that can be installed on some triathlon bars so that they can be reached without moving the hands from the aerodynamic position. The complementary brake levers in this handlebar configuration are placed in the ends of the accompanying
pursuit bars. Aero bars are a recent addition to road racing time trials, with
Greg LeMond first using them in the
1989 Tour de France. In a controversial
time trial on the final day, LeMond used them to beat yellow jersey wearer
Laurent Fignon by 58 seconds, changing a 50-second deficit into an 8-second lead. Fignon protested at the use of these bars but was unsuccessful.
BMX -style bars with cross brace
BMX style handlebars, as used on
BMX bicycles, have more rise than straight bars and usually have a cross brace to provide rigidity and strength.
Upright or North Road One of the oldest type of handlebars, and perhaps the most ubiquitous for town bikes, this type of bar was named after the North Road Cycling Club in
London and then used on three-speed and single speed
Raleighs,
Schwinns, and other three-speed bikes well into the 1980s, as well as various European
utility bikes and
roadsters. They are also known as "townie", or "tourist" bars. North Road bars are more or less swept back toward the rider; in extreme cases each grip ends nearly parallel to the other and the bike's frame. They have recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity on some
hybrid bicycles,
city bikes, and
comfort models. North Road bars can easily be inverted to give an approximate ≈4 inch amount of drop when a more aggressive riding posture or a
sporty look is desired.
Porteur Porteur bars are designed to accommodate front-mounted racks or baskets in order to haul cargo and are usually found on dedicated
porteur bicycles. The curve is usually almost flat in the center portion, then sweeps backwards towards the rider with different shapes, and with a slight drop in some cases.
Cruiser Cruiser handlebars, as used on
cruiser bicycles, tend to be long and slope towards the rear of the bicycle so that the rider can sit upright.
Condorino The
condorino bar is bent slightly less than 90° onward, and then 90° outward with a sharp angle. It has no rise and it's much narrower than normal town bikes' bars. It was diffused mostly in Italy from the 1950s onwards, and was marketed to customers wanting a
sporty looking bicycle that could still be used for general purpose (going to work, etc.) in years in which a specialized racing bicycle was not affordable by most people. It progressively lost popularity when road racing bikes became common, and by the early 1980s it was out of production.
Whatton Whatton bars loop behind the legs of
penny-farthing riders so that they can still keep their feet on the pedals and also be able to leap feet-first forward off the machine. under the
Federal Hazardous Substances Act limited the maximum height of manufacturer-installed handlebars to 16 inches (40.64 cm) above the lowest seat setting; European Union safety regulations use a similar limit of 40cm. Various U.S. states have regulations that vary from 15 to 30 inches above seat height, or shoulder or eye height; some have no restrictions. Ostensibly these regulations are for safety, though some commentators believe these laws are to allow police to have an excuse to pull over motorcyclists suspected to be part of an illegal gang. The ape hanger style remained common in the US through the mid-1980s, and is still frequently seen on
lowrider bicycles.
Recumbent Recumbent bicycles, due to their wide variety, are often equipped with handlebars seen nowhere else. These include handlebars with a very far reach, similar to ape hangers (see above) but mounted less vertically, and handlebars designed for under-seat steering, called
Whatton bars. ==Design==