Hello all - Seeking some guidance on a mountain bike bar that offers more hand positions than a standard mountain bike bar. The issue is I like to ride gravel on my mountain bike from time to time, but I battle hand numbness and soreness frequently. I have tried multiple types of grips and moved the bars around with no luck. Not interested in going to a drop bar, and swapping out shifters and brake levers. Any ideas?
I'd ask how much of a mountain biker you are??? Do you pump, rail and get some flight? Is it a modern bike? Getting away from a modern handling setup will hurt performance and confidence so some I know get modern bar ends.
The Surly Corner bars might be worth looking at and they have another alt bar that keeps more of a MTB position.
I'm pretty happy with Coefficient's THEWAVE drop bar to add a 4th position in the mix to allay hand soreness and balance thumb base pressure. The Australian one is a near clone as well.
Besides the ones already listed, Surly has two you should consider. The Surly Moloko bar, and the new Surly Corner bar. Surly makes heavy bars, but they are unique. I have the Molokos and they offer a ton of positions. Here's a review of the Corner bar, which offers drop bar qualities without having to change out components as you mentioned: https://bikepacking.com/gear/surly-corner-bar-review/
You can also compare unique bars at this web site. Select 2 or more from the list on the left: https://whatbars.com/
The various models of Jones bars are interesting but many have an issue with the extreme 45 degree sweep from what I read online. They can be used on any bike of course, but the unique geometry is designed to work best with a Jones bike. Still, some absolutely love them.
Salsa Bend Bars 2 - 23 degrees w) bar ends placed inner these are specialized over endz Neds I used and EESI chunky foam grips. I get no hand numbness ( 60 years old ). The key is bars with more sweep and pretty wide bars with inner bar ends placed about where hoods would be on a drop bar. You may consider the velo orange crazy bar 2 also. Hope that helps.
