Titec H-bar top - Jeff Jone Loop H-Bar bottom...
I love my Titec H-bars. I own three. Right now my Surly Big Dummy and Surly Pugsley are rocking H-bars. I’m considering swapping in my 3rd H-bar [freed up when I sold my Thorn Nomad] to my Surly 1×1. The one issue with H-bars is that they have a limited amount of space below the crossbar of the “H” to mount a shifter and grip. This means you end up with your brake lever above the crossbar and some compromises to your control setup.
Grip portion of Loop H-bar is nice and long...
I’ve figured out a couple setups that work for me through trial and error, but they are not ideal. Jeff Jones [designer of the H-bar that Titec builds under license] makes a variety of sweet bar options that would be perfect for me, but they cost $400+ and for that kind of $$$ I’m okay with what I have. So I was pretty stoked to see this Loop H-bar option on Jeff’s website fabricated out of aluminum for $120 – about twice what I paid for my Titec H-bars, but within the realm of sanity for me. Stock was limited so I ordered up one.
Grip area comparison...
The photos in this post show the main differences between the Titec H-bar and the Jones Loop H-bar:
- grip area below the crossbar is much longer on the Loop H-Bar
- overall grip is a bit narrower on the Loop H-bar
- minimal rise on the Loop H-bar
- crossbar on Loop H-bar curves away from rider significantly
- Loop area allows mounting accessories up front and adds aero grip area, but no controls can be mounted forward of crossbar now
Loop H-bar is a bit narrower...
So what does this all mean? Well I should be able to mount my Rohloff shifter, brake lever and a full Ergon Grip on the Loop H-bar without having to hack away at the Ergon Grip. This should be better from a comfort perspective and allow easier reach to the brakes which will allow for more control in a technical downhill section. Of course it is really hard to evaluate the rest of the more subtle differences that exist between these bars. I’ll have to mount the Loop H-bars up and see what I think after a few months. I would have waited until I had more info and had some test kms under my belt, but I was too stoked to wait…plus I figured somebody out there might want a head’s up so they can get in on the last few bars left from this production run.
Thanks Jeff Jones for making some lower cost bars – that rocks!…=-)
The Lazy Rando Blog... 
These look VERY interesting indeed………given the enormous TT length I delt myself….HMMMMMM.Thanks Vik
I heart Jeff Jones. This new Al’ option is the bomb diggity. Thanks for posting, Vik.
Cane Creek makes some v-brake compatible cyclocross/interrupter levers for $25, that have hinged clamps and come to fit various bar sizes. Try that.
Nice! After spending some time with the Jones/Titec J-Bar I wanted a bar that had longer ends on it and here it is. I do wonder a bit about the junction between the cross bar and the sides since I do like to ride with my thumb in front of or behind that joint most of the time and my riding position would be moved forward a bit with this bar. Only one way to find out I suppose.
Hey did you ever put some shifters on that Jones H Bar? Would love to see them.
Cheers.
@onestew – the Jones H Loop bar remains unused due to laziness…I’ll get on it when I’m back in March.
Any updates on the loop bars? I curious to see an ergon / Rohloff combination.
@Snoogly – I haven’t got on that yet…sorry…I’m working on my LHT at the moment and will tackle those bars in the next month or so. Sorry for the delay.
Yeah I’m also interested in ur op of the newer loop bars. I’m trying to find a true allrounder bar for my atlantis. To be used for both upright commuting as well as stretched out touring and longer rides too. Looking forward to ur assessment.
so any updates?
Hey, thinking about putting one of these on my crosscheck loaded touring rig. I tried Titec’s riser version but I could not make peace with my shifter/brake positions. Has the loop bar been any better in this regard? Thanks!
There are some other options to play with for this setup. If you have hydraulic brake levers with an open clamp design they can go in the loop. You can also get V-brake levers that have an open hinged clamp, manufactured by Clarks and sold through Halfords in the UK for about £18/$25.
I’m still experimenting with my Loop bars, the only definite so far is I like them dropping, not rising, as it makes the cross bar far comfier for me. The rohloff shifter is the bugbear as it interferes with that hand position where your thumb is looped over the crossbar. It would be wonderful if the new trigger shifters had an open clamp, but I haven’t seen them yet.
One I haven’t tried yet is to mount the rohloff twist shifter in reverse, so that it is at the heel end of your hand. Place the brake lever about 2 inches into the loop, wrap the crossbar and on round to the lever. Put a full grip, or wrap, on the back part of the bars and then put the rohloff shifter on back to front. It should work very well with just the potential ugliness of the cabling being the downside. but the big plus would be the bulky gear indicator section of the shifter wouldn’t be interfering with your grip at all. You can customise how much grip you want as well, you don’t have to put the shifter right at the end of the Loop bars. In fact you may even want to cut them down a bit for this setup. It would work a bit like a barend shifter but much easier to operate without taking your hand off the grip.
I tried the upside down rohloff approach I think you are describing and didn’t feel like i could positively shift all the time using my ring and pinky fingers to grip the shifter. I ended up using a handlebar extension by hubbub and enjoy that setup. I have to move my hand to shift but I can maintain contact with the bar the whole time.
Interesting, I must get down to the garage to try it for feel, though just sat here I can sort of imagine the lack of power in my grip at that point.
How was the cabling? did it interfere if out of the saddle?
There’s no need for a Hubbub for this as the Loop bar has plenty of rearward extension. The shifter could go on the normal way round and you just have your grip area in front of the shifter. By the way, anyone interested in a Hubbub adaptor but not so keen on the price. I made my own from an old bit of MTB bar, donated by LBS. Cut to length, a plastic hose connector from a Carp supply shop. Tight enough that I had to use a club hammer to knock it into the bit of bar. Then split the other end and used an expansion bolt through the middle. Total cost about £5 or $8.
I must admit that if the new Mittelmeyer trigger shifter has an open clamp then that would be my ideal solution. Fit brakes and shifter in the loop and then trim, or not, the rearward bar extension to suit.
Yeah I have titec made J-bar so the bar is not as long, the shifter would fit, but I wanted to use he full lncth of the grip for my hand and didn’t want my wrist bumping against or resting on the giant shifter wart that it creates. Cabling is fine it runs down and forward at ~30 degrees, but it swoops out from the bar quite a bit and some might consider it too unsightly/snag prone.
Avid match makers work well with the H loop bar
If you have avid brakes and shifters the clamps are about $20.
@Tom – I use Alfine or Rohloff IGHs on my bikes with H-Bars hence the problem of real estate on the grip section of the bars.
Where can buy the Titec H-bar
Hi Rodger…this post is from 2010. You can’t buy Titec H-Bars any more from Titec. You might find NOS or a decent used bar on EBay or some other resale site.