How will swapping drop bars to butterfly bars affect bike fit?

Question

I recently bought a Dawes Super Galaxy from the late 80s or early 90s. When I was researching bike fit beforehand I was told that swapping drop bars to flat bars can affect the bike fit since drop bar bikes are designed bearing in mind that hand position is further forward.

The bike came with flat bars which the previous owner had fitted and they're not that comfortable. Since I want to try touring I'm looking to fit handlebars which provide multiple hand positions, but I'd also like to maintain a more upright posture for commuting.

Will fitting butterfly bars return the bike fit more to what the manufacturer intended with drop bars?

Answer 1

Not really. The rear position on butterfly bars is about like riding on the tops with drop bars (or riding on flat bars), and that seems to be the "default" position, as that's where the controls are mounted. The outboard position is a bit like the ramps on drop bars, although higher up and much wider--road bars are rarely more than 440 mm wide, butterfly bars are more like 580 mm wide--in order to have the same reach in this position, you might want a shorter stem. Drop bars don't really have an equivalent to the forward position.

There's nothing wrong with using trekking bars, but I think you need to evaluate them on their own merits, rather than as an approximation of drop bars.

Drop bars these days tend to have a much shallower drop than when that bike was built, and I'm guessing that bike has a quill stem, which means it's easy to raise and lower. You might be able to get a relatively upright position even with drop bars.