New wider bars & shorter stem !!
BigAirNig
Posts: 296
Arrived and attached this morning !
Easton Havoc Carbon Bars - 750mm Wide.
Easton Haven Stem 55mm
Looking forward to trying them out tomorrow - see how they change the feel. Hopefully give a bit more control & feel ..... should be fun !!
:-)
Easton Havoc Carbon Bars - 750mm Wide.
Easton Haven Stem 55mm
Looking forward to trying them out tomorrow - see how they change the feel. Hopefully give a bit more control & feel ..... should be fun !!
:-)
Rocky Mountain Altitude 50 (+ upgrades.....!)
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Comments
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These have given me more control of the front end on tricky stuff and surprisingly work well when climbing too .... allow the front wheel to be lifted more easily too, so handy when dropping off step-downs etc.
Stiff as a stiff thing too .... but absorb vibration well. Pretty darn happy then - YEP !
Rocky Mountain Altitude 50 (+ upgrades.....!)0 -
My god how wide are your shoulders dude...
Can i also make a guess that you're fairly new to mtb? (Sub 2 years ish).0 -
bennett_346 wrote:My god how wide are your shoulders dude...
Can i also make a guess that you're fairly new to mtb? (Sub 2 years ish).
Uber wide thats how wide. On a different note, why you asking if he's a new rider and what does it matter....if the bars are comfy then so what?
Love these Carbon bars, (and if fact the whole bike looks well done) they look perfect. However maybe a little too wide for XC, My Alu havens were at 711mm and they were a little too wide and I have very broad shoulders too. New bars are about 700mm, anymore and they'd be DH region. I also have the Haven Stem at 90mm length and it was extremely short for me...but each to their own me thinks....
But they sure look fantastic and if I could afford them I'd have the Haven Carbons without a second thought with a little off the edges..
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Why are you telling us what bars you have and why does it matter, if we like our combinations who cares what yours are?M_rift04 wrote:
On a different note, why you asking if he's a new rider and what does it matter....if the bars are comfy then so what?bennett_346 wrote:My god how wide are your shoulders dude...
Can i also make a guess that you're fairly new to mtb? (Sub 2 years ish).
Because it's an open forum and i'm genuinely curious.0 -
Well I'm just giving an opinion on length of bars and similar widths whereas your comment might be misconstrue as rude0
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Well Bennett .... I'm not quite sure why you would assume I'm new to MTB and how you get '2 years' from what I've posted is beyond me !!
If you must know I'm not at all new to MTB. I'm 42 now and my bike history goes back to when I got in to BMX when I was about 10 and raced BMX Nationally through my teens and progressed to MTB in my 20's
The need to try a different bar set-up comes from a rather specific problem. I had a motorbike accident just over 5 years back and shattered my right shoulder. After 3 operations, including a shoulder replacement, it could not be fixed suitably and has left me with about 30% active range of movement in the right arm/shoulder. It freely dislocates by sliding in & out [not 'clunking' out even, it just slides...]
I never thought I would ride a bike again, let alone MTB. After about 3 years out, I returned to cycling and have managed to do some XC - but my shoulder makes it a tricky affair and if my shoulder slides out of it's socket then I lose control and cannot steer, so it sends me off my bike.
I have tried wider bars to put my arm at an angle where the weight of my body pushes the upper arm IN towards the socket, to provide some stability that is not normally there. This was not happening with my 680 mm wide bars, which pushed the 'ball' of the joint out of the back of the shoulder socket ...... It improved with my 725mm Race Face SixC ones and 70mm stem, but this combo I have now appears to have done enough to let me ride a bit harder over things and feel more comfortable & confident doing so. I can still get taken by surprise and lose control if my shoulder comes out, but it's much better than previous set-ups.
So - you wanted to know - there you have it ! My shoulders are not uber-wide .... I have just been searching for a solution to a specific physical issue as a result of the past accident. I cannot do the big jumps and drops that I used to enjoy, but if I can progress my XC riding to include some AM duties then I'm happy to get to that point, from where I was. Better than having to give up.....
NigRocky Mountain Altitude 50 (+ upgrades.....!)0 -
Fair play! Was wondering if i was just reading about a common recent trend but i see not.
Good work for finding a combo that works then.0 -
O jeez, now you feel bad...
I understand where you're coming from, my brother has the same problem (no way as bad) and it puts him off playing sports that might involve it popping out again, its very annoying for him. Very interesting to read about your problem, i would have thought doctors would have solved the problem by now, is there anything you can do (surgery wise) to hold the ball in place?0 -
We have tried the options that were possible. Seems my rotator cuff is buggered and bits that came off in the accident would not stay put, despite reattachment. They even moved part of my pec muscle up & around the shoulder to try and tighten things up, but that didn't fully hold either.
Due to the metal-work an MRI doesn't show what's happened inside, but the specialists have suggested its not worth trying again as things didn't stay attached in the first 3 operations ....Rocky Mountain Altitude 50 (+ upgrades.....!)0 -
Does a compression top help? What about with some strapping over the top? Have you seen the tape they were all using at the Olympics, that was used to keep muscles that were over worked for specific sports from extending too much etc. Might help you a bit?
(please ignore if you have already tried this route)
Seems like you have to do a hell of a lot more than most to get out on a bike, so well played mate. Where's a thumbs up smiley when you need one.
Cheers _Dan.0 -
750mm bars aren't really considered wide anymore, I'm hardly broad shouldered and I wouldn't consider getting anything narrower than my havocs in future, I can cope with my 711mm kcnc's but if i were to buy a new set of bars i'd go for havoc alu bars probably or some cut down supertstars. It's all about what works for you, and I feel completely out of my comfort zone on bikes with steep angles and narrow bars, despite having ridden such bike for years and only having a much slacker and wider barred bike for only 18months. They just seem to exude confidence and encourage you to rip the shit outta the trails, don't knock it til you tried it.0
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A good call lawman .....
I'm not sure why people have to call things in to question in the way they do [they may tell us!] ...
I think there appears to be some people disliking the mags making such suggestions to go wider - maybe because it means that some people feel they 'have' to spend more money on wider bars etc when they would never have thought to do so until it was mentioned - I'm not sure.
There is an argument to say people should be happy with what they have and "just get out & ride" .... and there is also scope for development in the sport - so as bikes change, there are some aspects of the changes that are easy to try and see how they help/hinder your own riding style.
In my situation, I was glad to go from 685mm to 725mm and get a stiffer/wider bar with slightly shorter stem. If not for my shoulder issue I may likely have stopped there - but having done it, I do like what I now have. Difficult to know if I would have bothered trying it otherwise. I guess it comes down to people having the spare cash to try something and see if it works for them, or if things are a bit tighter on funds then don't risk wasting the dosh on something that may not give any noticeable change.
There seems to be enough evidence of a 710-750 bar adding control - from those I have spoken to whom have done it, regardless of magazine suggestions. A shorter stem often matches the wider bar and such a combo does make the bike have a more 'playful' and 'chuckable' feel, in my view. The new Havoc 35 combo is a bigger step at 800mm wide and I cannot see me needing to go that far - I did consider it this time around - but who knows how things will change in future !Rocky Mountain Altitude 50 (+ upgrades.....!)0 -
M-rift - you mentioned the rest of the bike, so here it is - finally got a few extra pics, a bit dim outside - but you get the idea!
My Rocky Mountain Altitude:-
Frame - Rocky Mountain Altitude [Fox RP23 Shock] 140mm travel
Forks - Fox Float RL 32 [140mm]
Headset - Chris King
Stem - Easton Haven - 55mm
Bars - Easton Havoc Carbon - 750mm
Grips - Lizzard Skins ODI lock-on
Seatpost - Thomson Masterpiece Setback
Saddle - Selle Italia Flite XC Gel Flow
Seat Clamp - Hope QR
Chainset - Race Face Next Carbon 175mm + Turbine rings
Bottom Bracket - Hope
Wheels - American Classic MTB26 Tubeless
Tyres - Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.25 - Front / Continental X-King RaceSport 2.2 - Rear
Brakes - Formula ORO-K24 Disc
Gear Shifters - XTR
Front Mech - XT
Rear Mech - XT
Rear Mech Jockey Wheels - Mount Zoom Speed Wheels (ceramic bearings)
Cassette - XT 9 speed
Chain - XT
Pedals - XTR CliplessRocky Mountain Altitude 50 (+ upgrades.....!)0 -
I had a bike of that kind for a year and hated it. My steep low stumpy with narrower bars feels much more playful and lively, and rewarding.lawman wrote:They just seem to exude confidence and encourage you to rip the shoot outta the trails, don't knock it til you tried it.0 -
Nice ride there buddy,
Used to own a 08/09 element 50 nice to ride aswell nice paintwork does yours have the Easton stamp on there.0 -
I've not noticed an Easton stamp .... ?!
It started life as a '50' but the only original bits are frame + fork + shock + rear mech! All else has been upgraded from what came on the stock 50 !!Rocky Mountain Altitude 50 (+ upgrades.....!)0 -
Looking through my old bike pics of the rocky will get sum pics up when photo bucket starts working.0
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BigAirNig wrote:I've not noticed an Easton stamp .... ?!
It started life as a '50' but the only original bits are frame + fork + shock + rear mech! All else has been upgraded from what came on the stock 50 !!
Mine Easton symbol stamp was located either on top tube or the rear stays0 -
Just fitted a smaller stem on my ride and it feels great with my 711mm Sunn bars. I had a 120mm :shock: FSA one on there (cheap from CRC
) and was forever making small corrections to my steering at slow speed..... More like rowing a canoe LMAO! The youngest boy just fitted a small 50mm "DH" jobbie on his XRay so i pinched his old KORE one (not measured it i guess about 90mm looking at the pair together).
It was like a different bike!! not "twitchy" at slow speed and also it has helped with the dead hands so it's win win imho. I fitted the old stem to the girlfriends bike (my old bike) and when i pinched it to go down the shops on the other day it just felt well wrong and strange
infact i don't know how i ever managed to be honest. Seems to be a bit of wide bar hate some times on here but i've over the years added wider and wider bars to my bike(s) and each time been rewarded with better handling.
went from:
22.5" flat bar with bar ends 115mm 0 degree rise stem.
26" riser 25mm 115mm 10 degree rise stem.
28" riser 50mm 120mm 5 degree rise stem.
28" riser 50mm 90mm (guess* 10 degree) rise stem.
And the last is without a doubt the best of them all. HOWEVER each to their own of course but for me i'm glad we got out of the 90's 130mm 0 degree stems with 22" flat bars and bar ends :shock:. My old back would never manage LMAO!
Thanks.0
