I feel like such an outsider...

EmmCeeBee

If you scan all the touring forums, you'll find that a good portion of touring bikes (I'd estimate 30%-40%) are set up with flat bars. That's hardly non-conformist

But (here's my personal opinion) if you checked with long-distance tourers -- the ones who spend a month or more on the road ("road" is key here) -- more than 90% will be using drop bars. And tourers, in general, are not elitist or purists; what I mean is, they do it for efficiency and comfort, not cuz it's a gang color or sumthin.

Try cycling across Montana into a headwind some day (and the next day, and the next, and the next). Or searching for a fifth hand position after the first four have left your fingers tingling. I can go for 1- or 2-day rides with my mtn bike, but loaded up and headed for the next state, I'll be on drop bars instead. Your long bar ends give a lot of this flexibility, too, but not quite all.

Lots of people have flat-bar tourers, especially for cost considerations (if it means buying a new bike/components), if they're touring partially off-road, or if it's not l-o-n-g distance. There's no bar test (or distance test) to post in the touring forums Nope, you're not an outsider. Maybe "touring/trekking" is the purist form of the sport, since people seem to gravitate here from either end of the spectrum -- mtn bikes or light road bikes.

There's something to be said for choosing what's comfortable. If you like your ride, ride what ya got!

-- Mark