Differences in handlebar rise?

Hello All,

As usual I am searching for answers from the community: :?:

I crashed two weekends ago and bent my handlebars. In searching for new ones I am discovering that many of the bars I like come in different rises. Can someone explain the differences to me? The bars I bent seem to be a low to mid level rise of about 25mm and I liked them a lot. Most of the bars I am considering have 20mm, 30mm, or 40mm.

My goal is to get a set of bars that feels as much like my old ones as possible. If someone could explain the differences to me and offer thier advice, it would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

FP
:beer:

 

the lower the rise, the more hunched over you will be for the most part....same with stems. depending on what type of riding you do, you might want to go with a 20mm rise bar for a more xc feel, or if you want a more upright feel, go with the 30mm or 40mm.

 

bar "height" is a function of bar rise, stem length/rise, and spacers.....you can get to the same relative bar "height" from many permutations of these parameters so rise in bar not necessarily the only thing to worry about (eg, if very big rise in stem the rise in bar may put you up too high for your liking).

If going with carbon bars in particular, there are some sound arguments out there from the likes of Syntace who argue that you definitely dont want too much rise in the bars as that impacts the overall strength of the carbon bars

what bars did you bend?

 

but isn't the rise supposed to lend some level of comfort? i've heard/read the straight bars aren't as comfy as risers.

 

I bent the bontrager race lites that came on my bike. I have been looking at easton's, azonic, & race face. Any comments on those brands?

 

Your saddle height is a constant, since it's determined by your leg extension (should be about 90% I believe?). Your handlebar reach and height, however, can be changed depending on your style of riding and/or comfort.

Cross country guys like the bars lower than the saddle, for a more aerodynamic feel and downhill guys will have them higher than the saddle, for easier control on technical descents. I'm a trails guy, so I like it relatively level with the saddle. So in your case, it'll depend on how you ride and also how your stem is set up. I ride an Epic with three spacers under a Thomson stem, which has zero degree rise. My handlebar is a Race Face Deus with a 1" rise. This is almost exactly level with my saddle.

 

I'd say that an upright posture is definitely more comfy than a bent-over posture.

However, I got back on the (riser bar) bike I rode for nine months after riding with flat bars for four months, and it was spooky. Apparently, I feel more comfortable with the flats now. Like I have more control. It's probably in my head, but the flat bar bikes can definitely handle more stuff than the riser bar bike can, so I feel better with flats.

I think that whatever inspires confidence is the best choice. I only seem to crash when I am not "feeling it."

 

I'm quite comfy "bent over". Wait, did I write that down? Don't take that out of context.

Anyway, I had read somewhere when I was looking at bars a while back that there's something in the bend of bars that gives more comfort. Prolly based on a more natural hand position...

 

Here's the general rule for handle bars, stems, and ride as explained by Lee McCormack. I heard he knows a thing or two about this.

The shorter the stem, the higher the bars. The longer the stem, the lower the bars. Fine tune comfort with stack height. Give your fork plenty to play with so you can make adjustments to fit different trails.

Hope this helps!!

 

The higher your bars the more comfortable you can set your bike up.
But there are draw backs to that also.

With the higher bars the upper body momentum you get when going down steep hills and drops can cause you to go over the bars easier . This means your center of gravity is higher over your front axl.
This can cause you to go over the bars much more often.
(LAWS OF PHYSICS) The leverage and the head angle, stem and stack hight also play a large part in it.

I have been looking for a medium riding position for myself. Right now I have a Thompson 47.5 mm 1.5 steer tube shorty stem on my Uzzi with 2 inch rise bars. I am going to change to 1.1/2 rise 28 inch wide Easton Monkey lite DH carbon bars. That set up works great for my SOCOM. I thinks it will be really stable but I have to try climbing on it. I don't climb on the SOCOM. The bike climbed well with the 2 inch rise and the FSA 60mm stem. The only problem it sent me over the bars any time It got a chance. I had to change my riding style because it was harder to get the wheel up from a siting up right position.

A great starting point for any rider in my opinion would be a 70mm stem
with a 1.1/2 rise bar. This is assuming you have the right size bike and you want to do am/xc riding. For total xc guys they like 90-110 mm stems thats not for me. ( I like to look down from a sitting positions and have my axl lined up with my bars. )

That seems to me the most stable and comfortable for me.
Everyone is diferent. Try some bikes and see what feels good to you.
You might find your old set up wast the best.

 

"With the higher bars the upper body momentum you get when going down steep hills and drops can cause you to go over the bars easier . This means your center of gravity is higher over your front axl.
This can cause you to go over the bars much more often."



I disagree. It feels like the lower the bar the more you're forward on the bike and the easier it is to go over the bars. I like a little higher bar for downhill and drop the seat a little. Just my 2 cents.

 

To throw another wild card into the mix is the sweep of the bars. Different manufacturers use different sweeps. Some bars feel really strange to me (Easton) because of the sweep. If you like what you were riding why not just replace with the same thing?

 

I want to slowly phase out all of the botrager components on the bike except for the wheels.

 

Completely agree with you. That's exactly the reason why downhill guys have low seats and 2" riser bars. It's simple physics.

 

Burner, is that you logged in as el_d00der1n0?

 

Is there a correct way to determine the "correct" stem length?

 

This would depend on use and comfort in use. For instance, I race DS and 4X. Short stems are what you want-though Brian Lopes races with a 70mm, which is usually an AM stem length. First, decide what kind of riding your going to do then go from there.

What kind of riding are you doing?

 

As a matter of fact there is, you would of coarse start with getting the seat in the proper riding position for the riding style, then match up your reach of the bike Via the stem.

Most bikes made for the dirt this isnt a real big issue, but Road bikes are Critical. I wont go into trying to explain the fitting process, just too hard to do over an Inet Forum. But know that ther are ways of getting the proper fit.

For the most part though, the Mountain bikes its more comfort than anything else.

 

I thought so too.

It turns out that your steer tube is lot like like a breaker bar. And your axle is like the nut. The longer the breaker bar the higher the leverage is placed. This causes your balancing point to move up and forward. If you get someone with a 10 deg rise stem and a really tall fork say a totem suspension fork with a high crown hight and a 2 inch riser stem .
Then send him him down a hill where you have to almost touch your butt on the rear tire and take a side profile picture. You will see that Just the weight of your arms can be enough to sent you over.
The stack hight add so much leverage that it can be uncomfortable. I am more just saying it is easier to get you weight behind the axle when you don't have to reach up for the bars. If all you are doing is dirt jumping you might not have to deal with the unknown steep cliff like situations. You might notice notice a lot of really high bars on dirt jumpers.
If you have the chance to wheelie drop it you will be fine in most cases. Then you don't have to worry about getting behind the front axle.
You must remember you are trying to get behind the front axle not the handle bars. Sure its easy when they are high but that isn't going to keep you low and far back on the bike.

You also must keep in mind It is one only my opinion although I have done some studies and I practiced with many configurations to see and feel the difference.. Everyone has a different opinion of what setup works for what.

On my MX bike I like my bars high. But then again I never have to worry about getting to far behind the front axle. When I raced Baja I wanted to be as upright as possible for the long haul.

The XC guys like to get a whole different configurations going on. I see guys with 110 + stems I remember using those in 1989. Maybe I am just old but I am just not into that any more.

For me the 90 mm stem is as far as I can go.
And thats for XC and cross bikes only.

I mad a little drawing for you so you can see what I was talking about.
You will see the leverage over the front axle that you gain with a higher bar. It's not much but I feel it.

 

While riding the oaks today on my 5" bike, the head angle seemed to steep to do the drops I normally have no prob with.So I think use what feels right for the ride you are doing.On My Dh bike my bars are quite a bit higher than the seat, on my xc the are level and I dont feel comfortable doing sketchy drops, I feel I have no control and sit to far in front of the bike, it that makes sense.