I Tried the STRANGEST Handlebar For Cycling | Surly Moloko Bar

If you're on the fence about the Surly Moloko Bar, I'm going to share my experience with you. It's primarily designed as a touring handlebar, but it can also be used for commuting. Or can't it?

Ergon Bar End Grips:

[RealtorRoadCyclist]

Love the concept of that bar! Thank you for sharing!

[kornelcseri]

Thanks for a quality review! I will get this Moloko handlebars for my touring e-bike when I ride to Norway. Must be super strong since it is built from cro-molibden and can support 10+ kg without breaking. It will have enough room even for my Garmin 67i GPS.

[markdennis]

I have been using these bars for commuting (five years). I actually love them. I have them on my Trek Supercommuter. As a bigger rider the sweep of the bars.

[quijadriss]

I use mine as a commuter. I'm a big guy so my bikes are big steel bikes, so the weight isn't really an issue for me. I use the wider grips when I am in tighter traffic and the risers when caught in the wind. I've got a lot of gadgets attached along with a bag. I found wrapping the "horns" to be immensely useful.

[PariahSojourner]

I had a Moloko Bar on my 2002 Santa Cruz Chameleon turned tourer/commuter. It was pretty good bar for the most part. I think the one thing I liked the best was "cradle" that the bars had, which made it easy to carry my old Camelback backpack. That said, Imho, there was a little too much sweep on the bars. Sadly, that bike was stolen last April (2023), and I've since gotten another bike, an REI Co-op ADV 1.1, which I will eventually use for touring, but is now my commuter. I'm currently in the process of ditching the drop bars that came with it and putting a SOMA Dream Bar on. That handlebar has a lot less sweep than the Molokos.

[organicchunkysalsa]

Thanks for this review. I was looking for a review just for this purpose.

[franknobody]

Have you ever tried inner Bar Ends. They are so great! Similar riding position to hoods on a drop bar!

[guiteo]

I have the Moloko on my Surly Disc Trucker, and the Jones H-bar (loop) on my Surly 1x1. Both are pretty wide. The bags are interchangeable between the handlebars. Both use an upright position (with long stem risers) and help to make riding much more comfortable for us older riders. Great for cruising the rail trails.

[stevebismarck]

One thing you didn’t mention was the ride quality. Some say that the difference between wide aluminum bars and wide cro-moly bars is similar to the difference between an aluminum frame and a cro-moly frame: steel provides more lively feedback and is better able to absorb road chatter, making it less fatiguing to ride on over extended periods of time. Any thoughts?

[hapn]

I use vacuum belt and wrap it around the hand brake and it works great when parking my bike against the wall. Cheers

[justdude]

you have to wrap the horns and it is a good idea to buy internal handlebar bag. I have one on my Jones H-Bar and it's awesome, it's custom made with plenty of space and with an elastic cord on top which allows me to tie my jacket/shirt on top of bars when it's too warm.

[CTBN]

Was almost going for Moloko, but that extra bar I thought was a bit much so went for the new Crazy bar with 35 degrees from VO which suited my riding style.

[barriewylde]

I USE SONOMA DREAM BAR 780 m I cut it down 760 for now. love your reviews Thanks

[rptempmail]

since you find the handlebar too wide, according Surly's website:"It comes in a standard width of 735mm but if 685mm is more your style, don’t you worry. We added cut marks so you can easily make it so." Thus, so why don't you cut & shorten it and get the best of both worlds?!

[toddsymborski]

I have them and love them. The bars are also marked to cut them shorter if needed, which was not mentioned in your video. Also with any handle bar that has more than one hand position, your hands are not near the shifters or he brakes...just sayin

[barrybarry]

A weird handlebar?... it's about the most complete handlebar that iv'e ever seen!!!

[Biking]

I've got these on my Sury ECR and find them very comfortable. They are the 735mm bars :)

[Pepin-LB]

I plan to buy this handlebar, good looking and versatile, but for me I want build with a less sloop stem than your, about 7° to 13° max

[jeromeGrzelak]

They must come out every year with a new item

[markstevens]

I have commuted for over 12 months with these bars on my Sirius x…I’ve just switched back to my original bars for one reason, i can’t balance the bike easily against a wall or when it’s locked. I do love the realestate though.