Compact bars - opinions

kingrollo

the advantage of compact bars over a shorter stem - is that the bars start in the same place - where as a shorter stem brings the bars forward. to shorter stem can leave you a little cramped. I ride on the hoods a lot - so compact bars helped me.

sandbag

redddraggon wrote:

Defo Giantsasquatch.

Compact - Bars that reach out to you.

redddraggon

sandbag wrote:

Do us a favour, change that awful avatar

Done. I hope you like.

sandbag

redddraggon wrote:

sandbag wrote:

Do us a favour, change that awful avatar

Done. I hope you like.

Thanks from me and everybody else i'm sure, it alittle less shocking but still not tasteful.

sandbag

kingrollo wrote:

the advantage of compact bars over a shorter stem - is that the bars start in the same place - where as a shorter stem brings the bars forward. to shorter stem can leave you a little cramped. I ride on the hoods a lot - so compact bars helped me.

I fitted a shorter stem and it's given it a more responsive and racing feel.

What is wrong for starters is you can't raise the stem to begin with, like you used to with the quill system. Ok you can change the stem length. Mainly stem design has gone backwards to suit the industry not the customer.

sandbag

Everybody that has tried compacts says there comfier. Anything that keeps you in the drops longer is a good thing. More benefit in races surely.

redddraggon

sandbag wrote:

Everybody that has tried compacts says there comfier.

Really?

hopper1

sandbag wrote:

kingrollo wrote:

the advantage of compact bars over a shorter stem - is that the bars start in the same place - where as a shorter stem brings the bars forward. to shorter stem can leave you a little cramped. I ride on the hoods a lot - so compact bars helped me.

I fitted a shorter stem and it's given it a more responsive and racing feel.

What is wrong for starters is you can't raise the stem to begin with, like you used to with the quill system. Ok you can change the stem length. Mainly stem design has gone backwards to suit the industry not the customer.

Erm.... You could flip your stem!!! :shock:

huuregeil

sandbag wrote:

Everybody that has tried compacts says there comfier. Anything that keeps you in the drops longer is a good thing. More benefit in races surely.

Not true. What compacts simply give you is: less variation in body position; greater tolerance to poor bar setup (e.g. anywhere along the curved drop is comfortable to hold); a lower drop to the hoods, alleviating poor fit issues (e.g. too short headtube/not enough spacers/reluctance to use a flipped stem).

Having had, and liked my compact bars (I still use them on one bike), I'm going back to classic shallow drops. The tricks to getting these comfy is to work out that the bar has to start higher up because the hoods sit quite a way down from the tops, and then also rotating the bars sufficiently such that the flat section of the drops are comfortable to hold, plus the hooks fall at a nice angle. True, holding these in the hooks requires a slightly flatter forearm angle, and this does bring your elbows, thus shoulder and back position a little lower. But that's the whole point - bring the bars up to start with and get a bike that fits! You then get much a greater possibility for variation in body position with shallow drops, and therein lies the additional comfort factor. From the hoods as a neutral position, the tops are a genuine high-and-back position, the hooks are forward and down, ,and the drops are a slightly less aggressive position for cruising.

redddraggon

sandbag wrote:

Compact handlebars have a 80mm reach and a 135mm drop. Some don't say they are.

3T Rotundo

# Drop: 139mm
# Reach: 82.6mm

Hardly any difference.

sandbag

redddraggon wrote:

sandbag wrote:

Compact handlebars have a 80mm reach and a 135mm drop. Some don't say they are.

3T Rotundo

# Drop: 139mm
# Reach: 82.6mm

Hardly any difference.

I was thinking the same thing of shallow and compact.

softlad

sandbag wrote:

If you use the drops alot, compacts will benefit you.

only if you prefer a shallower drop...

softlad

redddraggon wrote:

Defo Giantsasquatch.

Giantsandbag..?

sandbag

These have even less than the usual compact. 77cm reach and 123mm drop.

Ergonova Team - our 2010 sponsored pro teams are liking it



]

http://www.parker-international.co.uk/1 ... ebars.html

sandbag

hopper1 wrote:

sandbag wrote:

kingrollo wrote:

the advantage of compact bars over a shorter stem - is that the bars start in the same place - where as a shorter stem brings the bars forward. to shorter stem can leave you a little cramped. I ride on the hoods a lot - so compact bars helped me.

I fitted a shorter stem and it's given it a more responsive and racing feel.

What is wrong for starters is you can't raise the stem to begin with, like you used to with the quill system. Ok you can change the stem length. Mainly stem design has gone backwards to suit the industry not the customer.

Erm.... You could flip your stem!!! :shock:

Depends on how much angle you want. I needed alittle height. Pro bikes are more aggresive these days than they used to be. You can still raise it and still kept much aggresive. Most non racing riders don't want it that aggresive.

balthazar

sandbag wrote:

Depends on how much angle you want. I needed alittle height. Pro bikes are more aggresive these days than they used to be. You can still raise it and still kept much aggresive. Most non racing riders don't want it that aggresive.

Aggression is a obfuscating red herring. Racers have ridden in much the same position for decades, the bicycles' dimensions having been fixed by the UCI and human backs not having evolved in the last few years.

What you are talking about is bike fit, and that's supposedly determined at purchase by informed shop people, and by oneself over miles of experience. If you need to change where your hands fall to the handlebars, then that can be done any number of ways; a different frame, a change in stem height, a change of stem, or a change of bars. The threadless headset system is no obstacle to any of these.