How high do you run your handlebars?

Shaggy_Dog

I love messing about with my bike setup, seem to be running my bars lower as the years pass. Struggled to get them low enough on my latest bike as the headtube was very long. Recently converted my mate to the world of low and wide bars and he hasn't looked back

supersonic

With my Zaskar Carbon I am running a 625mm, 20mm rise bar with a 6 degree, 80mm stem, with about a 11cm headtube, very low stack height and 15mm of spacers with a 130mm Tora.

;-)

Seems about right for now, but lower than many people's set ups.

Stuy-b

580mm easton ea70 flat bars in a fliped 6 degree 110mm easton ea70 stem run as low as it will go with a low stack headset and took about 4/5mm off the head tube when i faced it up.

so ... erm... LOW

supersonic

Wow, someone with narrower bars than me!!!

Shaggy_Dog

Stuy-b wrote:

580mm easton ea70 flat bars in a fliped 6 degree 110mm easton ea70 stem run as low as it will go with a low stack headset and took about 4/5mm off the head tube when i faced it up.

so ... erm... LOW

Wicked! Please tell me you're using stubby bar ends!

Shaggy_Dog

supersonic wrote:

With my Zaskar Carbon I am running a 625mm, 20mm rise bar with a 6 degree, 80mm stem, with about a 11cm headtube, very low stack height and 15mm of spacers with a 130mm Tora.

;-)

Seems about right for now, but lower than many people's set ups.

Last year my Hifi Pro (alloy) was running 630mm Bonty Race XXX Lite 40mm risers with 5mm of spacers on a 130mm headtube with zero stack headset, 120mm fork, 70mm 7deg rise stem, this year I've got the carbon version which runs a traditional headset, so using the new 25mm rise bars which are 660mm width but running a 10mm longer stem to compensate for the added responsiveness of the wider bars. Don't think I'll go any wider, I used to run 690mm on everything but realised it wasn't necessary on steeper head angles bikes.

Stuy-b

Shaggy_Dog wrote:

Stuy-b wrote:

580mm easton ea70 flat bars in a fliped 6 degree 110mm easton ea70 stem run as low as it will go with a low stack headset and took about 4/5mm off the head tube when i faced it up.

so ... erm... LOW

Wicked! Please tell me you're using stubby bar ends!

canecreek ergos run almost flat (parallel to the ground)

Anonymous

I like mine high enough to need a stepladder to reach.

The Big Cheese

Marin: 580mm flat bars with 90mm stem, on a very short headtube, 100mm forks and 40mm spacers. very low, racer height.

Cannondale, 580mm bars, 110mm stem, on rigids, 20mm spacers, lower and more streched out than above, but its set up to be a road ride

Cotic: 50mm stem, 30mm riser bars, 40mm stack height and 160mm travel forks - HIGH!!!

Kiblams

Mine have been high for a long time, as it helped with keeping things in order before I fitted the suspension. I see no reason to change them as my chunky legs and fat belly stop me getting my chin to the bars on climbs as it is

blister pus

not too high not too low.

700mm lo rise bars on a 70mm / +20 deg rise stem. bout an inch and half of spacers beneath

weescott

I run all my bikes with short zero deg stems and 10mm or 20mm of spacers. Low rise bars.

High rise bars + plus riser stem is just wrong!

Anonymous

It does depend a lot on the bike's underlying geometry, and your preferred riding.

For example, on my old bike, the position evolved over the years to a tiny stem with a fair old rise, some spacers, a fairly high rise bar etc.
This gave me a much more upright and rearwards position than it came with stock.
I like to hit things full-tilt, and having the riding position like that means the bike is stable if I hit any drops or jumps unexpectedly - the worst that will happen is it will come up slightly at the front.
It is very different to the low front end, and long reach that the bike came stocked with, but my riding has changed over the years too.

What fascinated me when I tried the new Wolf Ridge, was that it came "off the shelf" with almost an identical riding position to my old one, so obviously, somebody at Marin were thinking the same kind of thing as me.

whyamihere

I run them at the height which puts my body in the correct position.

The Northern Monkey

A few spacers, and low + wide bars



I might end up chopping the bars down a few inches, but they feel really good atm!

Shaggy_Dog

In the 90's it was flat bars and bar ends mounted to a long stem, rigid fork. Getting back on those bikes now is a breath of fresh air after riding modern bikes with very high BB's and handlebars, can't point them down anything too mental but they just seem so low and fast!

I remember when Genesis geometry came along with riser bars and it just gave you so much confidence, my first front suspension bike was a GF Kaitai in 1999, it had risers and a short (90mm) stem with a whopping 80mm travel, that was a hardcore hardtail back in the day, way ahead of it's time when most bikes had 50mm or 63mm if you were lucky.

When I got back into riding 5 years ago I was all about taking it further, shorter stems, higher bars, I considered getting a steerer tube extender, thinking having the handlebars higher meant I wouldn't go over the bars. Looking back on it now I feel like a bit of a knob, what I've realised now is that when you go over the bars you don't go over the bars, the bike goes over the front axle and you go with it. So if the bars are higher your pushing the bars forward with more leverage, inducing an "over the bars"

I like the feel of being at one with the bike when the bars are low, the front wheel digs in and finds more grip and you feel more connected with the terrain. As Mazda describe it with the MX-5 with Jinba Ittai - Only when horse and rider are in perfect harmony can the arrow hit the bull’s-eye. Having the bars too high disconnects me from the front wheel

I seem to be riding much faster these days and crashing a lot less, usually the learning curve flattens off as you get more experienced and I found myself at a plateau the winter before last. Based on conversations I'd had with industry insiders and checking out the pro's bikes, both downhillers and XC racers alike seemed to have the bars as low as possible, I gave it a go and blow me down, I was motoring after the initial "ooh, this is weird, don't like this!" period.

Anonymous

Shaggy_Dog wrote:

my first front suspension bike was a GF Kaitai in 1999, it had risers and a short (90mm) stem with a whopping 80mm travel, that was a hardcore hardtail back in the day, way ahead of it's time when most bikes had 50mm or 63mm if you were lucky.

My old bike (in sig) is from 1998, is still going fine, and had around 120mm forks if I remember correctly (could have been 100mm), when new. They were Manitou X-vert Es. Terrible things, but we were way past 80mm back then. Of course, it is entirely questionable whether the Manitous could use all their advertised travel.
It also came with a riser bar, but still had the 90s long stem, which I almost immediately swapped out for a 50mm one.

The reason for the higher bars back then was to shift the rider's weight more rearwards, making the bike less prone to nosediving, but it did also help to stop going over the bars on the really steep stuff. It was the rearwards shift that was important, not the upwards.
Nowadays, the reason DH riders are trying to get as low a front end as possible is because modern DH forks are just SOOOOO tall. Far far taller than they were when "high front ends" were all the rage.

Shaggy_Dog

I've got a pair of carbon Supernova single crowns, they were practically downhill forks at the time, the damping is still better than a modern Fox IMO. Shame about Manitou losing touch, they were soooo good.

Anonymous

Manitou were terrible. Absolute pants. I really think you might be suffering a hint of the "rose tinted glasses" there.
Marzocchi's open bath SSV damping was awesome though, and is still great. So tuneable just by changing washer thickness

Shaggy_Dog

I dunno man, the TPC is bloody good, still got 'em running on my mates Planet-X Easton RAD

robertpb

On my Meta 5.5 I have 690mm bars with a 76mm rise on a 40mm stem at the top of the stack.

Joe_Pineapples

760mm x 20mm Nuke Proof Warheads on a 50mm zero rise direct mount stem.
There's a 5mm spacer on top of the zero stack headset.
I like it wide and low.

Anonymous

TPC was nowhere to be seen on Manitou forks back then. What they did have was a semi-elastomer system, and a propensity for leaking oil everywhere.

Shaggy_Dog

2001/2002? They've got a sticker with TPC+ on the fork. And before you say it was stuck on after, they're integrated into the forks graphics

Anonymous

Shaggy_Dog wrote:

2001/2002? They've got a sticker with TPC+ on the fork. And before you say it was stuck on after, they're integrated into the forks graphics

You keep going forwards in time!
I don't count 2001/2002 as all that long ago!

Shaggy_Dog

it's only 2 or 3 years after my kaitai

NatoED

100mm stem with 10deg rise . low rise bars 26inch 25mm of washers. on a merida frame with 100mm magura odur forks. and a damn high saddle. bit like a road bike:)

captainfly

I'm currently liking a mid rise, wide bars and short stem, but can always go for a bit more rise. Wide bar with minimal rake and short stem makes for lovely control and stability imo.