Here’s a photo of the cockpit of my Giant Yukon from the rider’s perspective. I had a lot of accessories loaded on the bike when this photo was taken.

Alan – When I’ve been riding my Batavus, I’ve always found moving from the stem area of the bars down and forward to the area where the brake levers are on the drop handlebars a MUCH more unnerving move than moving back from any position of the Trekking bars to where the brifters are. There have been a couple of times when I’ve missed hooking my thumb around the forward loop of the drop bars (because of a bump in the road or some other roadway variation) and almost banged my nose on the top of the stem. Some of this is, I know, because I simply do not ride the Batavus a lot, but it is REALLY hard to miss the brakes on the Trekking bars.

Nonotuck – I have heard that Trekking bars are almost considered “normal” handlebars for certain parts of Europe.

I found that comfort was not increased and, for city riding, the temptation to put my hands somewhere other than where on the brakes creates an accident waiting to happen. I’m still looking for a perfect handlebar but mountain-spec bars seem few and far between…

I too have a Brooks Flyer and, when ridden with cycling shorts, it’s a wonderful solution. Very, very nice. The springs are a cheap and simple suspension system and the only drawback I can imagine might be in very aggressive riding where the springs could launch you off the seat. Not likely, I suppose, and not an issue for me. It’s a great saddle.

I’m no bike fitter, so it is inappropriate for me to get into a discussion of the art of making the myriad of adjustments to the bike for the optimum performance of a particular individual.

I can, however, make subjective comments on how it has helped my personal comfort and performance. When my hands are on the flats, I am in an upright position almost as straight-up as on a beach cruiser. As I slide my hands around the outside of the bar towards the front loops, and stay seated, I gradually increase the reach distance and the forward angle of my body. I can “fine tune” the angle of my body and my reach for the exact configuration for feels most comfortable at that moment.

That is something which is IMPOSSIBLE to do with a flat bar or a riser bar.

I’m sure the techs at your local bike shop will be familiar with this.

A noteworthy aside is that the smaller frame on the Yukon made the regular riser handlebars just about right, maybe just a tad low when I had the seat height properly adjusted. When I originally tried the Trekking bars in the drop position they were way too low. I added a stem extension and now the Trekking bars in the drop position are absolutely perfect.

Speaking only for myself, around the time I became eligible for the senior discounts on breakfast at Denny’s, those core muscles you mention (especially the abdominal and lower back muscles) began to show signs of wanting to increase the speed of my entire body’s trek towards retirement.

As a result, when I am riding I have become more dependent on the strong, skeletal support structure created by the triangle between the hips, the shoulders and the hands on the handlebars.

Bluntly: those core muscles can’t do the job they once were able to do, so my shoulders and hands have had to take up the slack whenever I’m leaning even slightly forward in the saddle.

I say this only for myself, but I suspect that it applies to other, more … er … mature riders and that is one of the factors which lead us to gravitate towards recumbents.

That, and another thing that comes with age: Wisdom.