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I have my touring bike set up with drop bars, very similar to this:

Example of drop bars

However, after riding all day for a few days, I tend to miss additional position(s) to avoid minor annoyances such as "numb fingers" and sore back and neck

I tend to never use the drop bar racing position, but stick to the position where you hold top of the brakes and the position where you hold the straight part of the bar.

What I miss is an alternative (and probably more upright) position. Triathlon aero-bars is an obvious suggestion for additional positions, but not really what I'm looking for.

Therefore: what are creative ideas on how to add additional positions to a drop bar?

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Ah, my old apartment foyer. I remember fondly the bike rack I used to keep there before the landlord forced me to put it in the basement. – Neil Fein Mar 3 at 23:14
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You might consider a simple stem extension to raise the bars an inch or so. – Daniel R Hicks Mar 4 at 1:54

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Sheldon Brown has a page about adding a second set of handlebars above your first set. It looks terrible:

thorn two handlebars

Why not give that a shot? Sounds like it will fulfil your desires.

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Sure looks terrible, but what I asked for :). Daniel R Hicks' suggestion about a stem extension is probably where I'll start. – sorenkrabbe Mar 4 at 6:41
You could also use just the upper quill stem to get higher bars and use a clamp instead of the lower stem. See also sheldonbrown.com/handsup.html I have a second-hand tandem where the bars were too low, even with a stem angled up quite a way, and I'm using a very short old BMX stem holding a stub of handlebar for a light mount, and a quill stem with the bars moved up several inches. – armb Mar 5 at 14:31
up vote 3 down vote

My main bike (a tandem) is a bit small, and I need to get a taller stem, but in the meantime, I'm using some bar ends similar to this:

bar ends

The ones I've got are bent a bit more, closer to 90 degrees. I've mounted them sticking straight up, which gives me a hand position pretty much parallel to my bars, but a few inches higher. The only picture I've got right now isn't very clear, but you can sort-of see how the bar ends are positioned:

enter image description here

In your case, you'd have to do a lot more work to get the bar ends on, unless you can find a set with a clamp that's hinged and opens up completely.

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