The Comfort Zone

As you expect, track bikes are not comfortable enough to be used as daily means of transportation, with its riding position and all. Some might find this as an excuse not to ride their track/fixed gear bikes anymore. If comfort was the issue, why not convert your track bike into something with more comfort?

Recently we just received a shipment of a Velo Orange Tourist handlebar. You might recognized it as something that comes stock with old Dutch/Chinese city bike. They basically shared the same design, but the Tourist was made from aluminium to give you less weight and peace of mind against rust. So one night after the shop closed we thought, why not putting them into the Charge Plug Grinder and see how it looks?

Installation was snap on since Plug Grinder is using split stem clamp and hinged-clamp brakelevers that removes easily. The brake cables have to be replaced since the stock ones are too short. As the result, riding position immediately changed. Since the grips are now positioned further back and upwards, the back pain commonly felt while using track or even riser bar somehow vanished. You might find people mocking you for not building your track bike the way they used to be, but since you don’t ride it on the track anyway, why not? Your track bike now become a commuter, and since it’s comfortable enough you’ll end up riding it even more!

The grips are now even more level in relation to the saddle.

Interested in building something like this? You can do it the cheap or expensive way. The cheap way is to go to your nearest old bike shop and ask them for Dutch/Chinese city bike steel handlebar. They shouldn’t cost you much. The other way is to order the Velo Orange Tourist bar from us, so contact us for more details!

By the way, you might want to add a front brake for your brakeless fixed gear steed since this setup would render your extra mad skidstop skillz useless. Or maybe not, because with this setup you’ll end up enjoying your ride even slower!