The 13 Best Alt Bars For Bikepacking and Touring (Comfortable MTB Handlebars)

The best alt bars will not only take your comfort and control to the next level, but they’ll offer more hand positions and riding postures too.

If you aren’t familiar with alt bars, they’re a unique mountain bike handlebar type designed for long-distance riding. These comfortable handlebars offer a broad variety of hand positions, riding postures, and accessory mounting points. Most of these bars will provide some extra steering leverage for better control over your loaded bike too.

To properly understand upright riding positions, backsweep angles, backward reach, grip design, handlebar material and much more – start by reading my complete guide to finding the most comfortable alt bars HERE.

Right, let’s dive straight into the best alt bars currently available.

The Best Alt Bars For Bikepacking and Touring

The alt bars listed below are in order from largest to smallest backsweep.

• Best For Varied Hand Positions: Velo Orange Crazy Bars
• Best For Comfort and Speed: KOGA Denham Bars
• Best For Frames With A Short Reach: Surly Moloko
• Best For Maximum Control: Tumbleweed Persuader
• Best For High Rise: Ritchey Comp Buzzard
• Best For Value For Money: Ritchey Kyote
• Best For Most Mountain Bikers: Salsa Bend Deluxe
• Best For Shock Absorption: Passchier Gump 760
• Best For New Alt Bar Users: Soma Dream Lowdown
• Best For Lightweight Design: SQlab 311 FL-X Carbon
• Best For Aero Loop: Satori Falcon Aero
• Best For High Rise & Small Backsweep: Cannondale Cruise Control
• Best For Drop Bar Conversions: Curve Remlaw

Note: I may earn a commission when you purchase a handlebar through my links. This directly supports CYCLINGABOUT and allows me to continue to provide high-quality cycling information to you.

Velo Orange Crazy Bars V2

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The Velo Orange Crazy Bars use a 35-degree backsweep angle and a long backward reach. This means it will best suit the most upright of riding positions.

Velo Orange touts their second version of the Crazy Bars as “intended for touring on paved and unpaved roads, single and double track, gravel and crushed limestone, and everything in between”. As this handlebar is almost identical to the handlebar I designed myself (KOGA Denham Bars), I have to say – I agree with this assessment!

The 780mm width provides excellent control and leverage on rough surfaces, while the bullhorn section offers an aerodynamic position for smoother roads and headwinds.

If you don’t feel the need for the bullhorns, the Velo Orange Seine Bar is the same design, minus the bullhorns.

KOGA Denham Bars

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I designed the KOGA Denham Bars for world bicycle travellers. The shape was inspired by the Crazy Bars V1, and I suspect the KOGA Denham Bars then informed the later-released Crazy Bars V2.

The KOGA Denham Bars offer lots of control over a loaded bike; there are many hand positions for comfort, and the bullhorns allow you to be more aerodynamic in headwinds. The bullhorns essentially mimic the hoods of a drop bar, making them a nice spot to hold on faster rides.

A great thing about these bars is that they fit bikepacking bags, large handlebar bags, randonneur bags and baskets.

While this handlebar is certainly similar to the Crazy Bars, it features less rise, less width, shorter grip sections, and a slightly smaller backsweep angle. This makes it a bit better in urban areas. I typically recommend fitting these bars to bikes with the handlebars level with the stem (at a minimum).

While I use and love these handlebars, they are unfortunately the most difficult to purchase on this list due to the small-scale manufacturing and international shipping costs. Don’t worry, I won’t be offended if you choose the Velo Orange Crazy Bars instead!

You can read my in-depth article about the KOGA Denham Bars and their design HERE.

Surly Moloko

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The Surly Moloko might look similar to the above handlebars, but in terms of backward reach, it couldn’t be more different. This handlebar swoops a long way forward before starting its backsweep, resulting in almost no backward reach.

This design quirk makes the Moloko especially suitable for drop bar conversions, and for those who are seeking a large backsweep without making their ride position more upright. It also means you can ride mountain bike trails without risking your bars slipping.

The Moloko features a loop that gives you some more hand positions and additional space for mounting accessories. You can even get handlebar bags that nest perfectly inside the loop; I have a bunch listed in this resource. That said, when you install a bag you lose some hand positions and possibly even some accessory mounting points.

Tumbleweed Persuader 30

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The Tumbleweed Persuader is the widest alt bar featured in this resource, and this provides maximum control over your loaded bike. They have a lot of backward reach and slightly less backsweep than the previous bars we’ve seen. The 50mm rise should make the Persuador especially well-suited to low front-end bikes.

You can get these bars in aluminium or steel. I think the aluminium ones are the pick as they’re quite lightweight for a tough adventure bar, plus the 160mm wide, 31.8mm clamp area is a great space for bikepacking gadgets.

You can also get the Persuader with a 20-degree backsweep. This will be ideal if your bars are not super upright, or you’re not ready to commit to a large backsweep angle just yet.

Ritchey Comp Buzzard

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If you want a more upright ride position without the long backward reach of the Tumbleweed Persuader, you cannot beat the Ritchey Comp Buzzard. This bar is wide like the Persuader, but thanks to its short backward reach, it won’t make your bike feel any smaller.

This bar can turn old mountain bikes (with a low front end) into mile-munching touring or bikepacking machines.

The Ritchey Comp Buzzard has a nice, wide centre section to accommodate various bags and accessories. It’s built lightweight thanks to the double-butted aluminium, and it even comes in at a great price.

Ritchey Kyote

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Ritchey also has other great comfort MTB handlebars, such as this one – the Ritchey Kyote. This alt bar is essentially a low-rise version of the Comp Buzzard, so it offers a short backward reach too.

The Kyote is perfect for those who are looking to maintain a lower ride position and will be great for drop bar bike conversions too. The best bit is that it’s only US $44.

Whisky Scully

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If you’re a bit of a gram counter, but still want some backsweep, you’ll love the Whisky Scully. This handlebar is one-third of the weight of the Surly Moloko, thanks to its carbon construction.

It’s still ISO tested for bumpy terrain and would be a great upgrade for paved commutes and whatever off-road riding you’re into — gravel, XC, singletrack, and beyond.

The 23-degree backsweep is now getting closer to the common shape of a city bike handlebar. It has a moderate backward reach and a moderate rise too.

Passchier Gump 760

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Bamboo offers greater natural flex than traditional handlebar materials. These are the most flexible handlebars I’ve ever ridden. They flex so much up and down that you can actually see them moving underneath you (check out this video).

This flex isolates your upper body from shock and vibration coming up from the road or trail and helps your eyeballs to rattle a bit less in your skull. The great thing is that despite all this flex, they still pass ISO fatigue and strength testing.

The Passchiers are made from laminated bamboo with a carbon fibre sleeve in the middle for the stem clamp. You can get them in two different widths, and they offer a modest 22-degree backsweep angle.

Soma Dream Lowdown

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The Soma Dream Lowdown is an alt bar with less backsweep and backward reach than most. As this bar has moderate dimensions all around, I think it’s a really good starting point for those who are alt bar curious!

The bar is still quite wide, giving you a whole lot of control over your loaded bike. And the 25mm rise makes it suitable for those chasing a slightly higher bar height than what they currently have.

These aluminium alt bars are lightweight for a tough adventure bar, plus the wide section at the front of the bar provides ample space for lights, smartphones, and GPS devices.

Salsa Bend Deluxe

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The Salsa Bend Deluxe is an MTB-specific flat bar that’s available with a moderate 17 or 23-degree backsweep angle. They’re tough, strong and durable, and great for long days of bikepacking, touring, or shredding singletrack.

The Bend Deluxe offers a very short backward reach to preserve your stem length, meaning that when you fit these comfortable MTB handlebars to your bike, the reach to the bars will likely end up in the right ballpark.

Go for the 17-degree model if your bars are lower than your saddle, or you want to give alt bars a try without committing to a large backsweep. Try the 23-degree model if your bars sit a bit taller.

SQlab 311 FL-X Carbon

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SQlab has built its name on comfort. Their research suggests that a cyclist’s wrists are overstretched on any flat bar with less than a 9-degree backsweep angle…

That’s why the SQlab 311 FL-X handlebars offer a generous 12 or 16-degree backsweep angle, and with a longer backward reach than most bars in the MTB category, they provide a more upright riding position too.

The 311 FL-X bars have been designed to flex more than most handlebars, and this will result in a super comfortable ride on both rough roads and trails.

And at under 200 grams, the SQlab 311 FL-X handlebars are also the lightest on this list.

Satori Falcon Aero

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The Satori Falcon Aero combines the loop design of other alt bars with one of the more conservative backsweep angles on this list. As a result, it shouldn’t feel too different from a standard mountain bike bar. While it doesn’t have any rise, there are ample hand positions for comfort.

The loop adds space for luggage storage, and accessories (phone, GPS, lights etc), as well as an aero hand position. The loop is a similar size to other alt handlebars, allowing it to fit bags made for Jones and Surly bars.

Cannondale Cruise Control

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If you’re after a whole bunch of rise with a more familiar backsweep angle, you’ll be best off with handlebars that feature a reinforcing crossbar. The Cannondale Cruise Control is a retro-inspired cruiser bar, trail bar, comfort bar, and BMX bar all rolled into one!

The best bit about the Cannondale Cruise Control is that it’s lightweight aluminium (rather than steel) and uses a regular 31.8mm stem clamp, unlike many handlebars of this moto design.

Curve Remlaw

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The Remlaw Bar is the only handlebar here with a forward reach design!

Curve essentially wanted to create a flat bar that could be used in place of a drop bar, yet still have comparable reach without compromising handling.

When converting from a drop bar to the Remlaw Bar, the same length stem can be used, as it puts your hands in a very similar position in space.

Best Alt Bars Summary

	Width	Rise	Backsweep	Weight	Link
Velo Orange Crazy Bars	780	40	35°	532g	HERE
KOGA Denham Bars	711	0	34°	400g	HERE
Surly Moloko	735	0	34°	709g	HERE
Tumbleweed Persuader 30	840	50	31°	424g	HERE
Ritchey Kyote	800	35	27.5°	355g	HERE
Ritchey Comp Buzzard	820	70	27.5°	367g	HERE
Whisky Scully	820	20	23°	237g	HERE
Passchier Gump 760	760	0	22°	330g	HERE
Soma Dream Lowdown	780	25	20°	425g	HERE
Salsa Bend Deluxe	740	0	17/23°	309g	HERE
Cannondale Cruise Control	740	100	15°	433g	HERE
SQlab 311 FL-X	780	15/30/45	12/16°	235g	HERE
Satori Falcon Aero	760	0	15°	500g	HERE
Curve Remlaw	800	0	12°	400g	HERE