Billie Bar Hooks

[BobW]

I recently converted my Sam from drops to Billie Bars.  I do like the Billie Bars a lot, especially the multiple hand positions and upright posture they provide.

I do find myself riding in the "hooks" more often than the swept back portion of the bar though.  I wrapped the hooks with some cork tape, with Newbaums over that.  While this helps with grips and provides some cushion, wondering if there are any other "Billie Bar Hook" riders out there who have augmented the hook section of the bar for greater comfort?  Thanks!

[larson....@gmail.com]

I do the same-even moved my shifters around the bend toward the stem to get the cables out of the way. Probably ride the hooks 50% of the time, then area between grips and hooks, then grips. I moved the grips and brake levers about 1.5” up the bar so that main grip position is not all the way back. This is the setup I settled on in the second year of my Appaloosa/Billie combination. I do really like the bar and find it very comfortable. I like to change hand positions frequently.

Randy in WI

[Ed Carolipio]

Not me but other folks who ride the hooks on the Albatross flip the bar upside down so the hooks are higher than the grips, cafe racer style. In this configuration, your wrist rolls over and out rather than inward on that outer curve portion. The effect should be similar with the Billie.

You can also move your shifters so they're not on top of your brake lever. That opens up a hand position partially over but still in front of the brake lever. One option to do that with thumb shifters is to flip the left-and-right shifters so the shifters are inboard of the brake lever. (Riv has pictures that show that and other ways to move the shifters around here.) I did that recently and it makes friction shifting trivially easy. Of course, you can also move the shifters away from the handlebar completely which opens up even more real estate - see the photos from Riv for examples.

Bike Snob flipped his Choco bars and put his shifters inboard. https://bikesnobnyc.com/2022/09/20/flipping-out/

--Ed C.

[Eric Marth]

Hi Bob — I had Billie bars on my Appaloosa for a while and quite enjoyed them. They were wrapped with one layer of cotton Newbaum's tape. I rode the hooks a lot, too, great riding position. 

I never found the hooks uncomfortable but the tape helped with better grip when my hands were sweaty.