Stem, Handlebars & Grips for Trail Riding

jerryfudd

Hi,

Doing a bit of work to my bike and just wondered what there is to gain from changing up the stem and handlebars and if there were any recommendations? likewise with grips also.... nothing particularly wrong with my setup but then also don't know what I'm missing either as my friends mtb came with wider 740mm bars and says its feels like an advantage.

Currently the only info on what I currently have is 3D forged alloy, 7 degree rise, 31.8mm clamp stem & Butted alloy riserbar, 25mm rise, 8 degree back sweep, 6 degree up for the handlebars and Specialized BG contour grips.

thanks,

Dan

cooldad

How long is your stem, and how wide are your bars?

Have a ride on your friends bike and see what it feels like. Although as the bikes are different there will be more to it than just bars.

jerryfudd

cooldad wrote:

How long is your stem, and how wide are your bars?

Have a ride on your friends bike and see what it feels like. Although as the bikes are different there will be more to it than just bars.

Stem is 90mm from centre to centre and bars are 640mm wide.

Had a go and felt a lot more leverage but haven't ridden it so much to see if I preferred it so just wondered what some opinions on it were.

rockmonkeysc

Bar, stem, grip set up is a very personal thing. One persons perfect set up can be awful to another person.
Personally I like low, wide bars and a short stem and minimal spacers under the stem.

jerryfudd

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Bar, stem, grip set up is a very personal thing. One persons perfect set up can be awful to another person

Yeah, I get that but gives me a more worldly view and a bit more knowledge..... been looking through forums and allot of people seem to like Odi grips? never even heard of them before but next time I'm in Evans i'll try a few sets and see if I'm missing anything cool lol

I guess i should have just asked what stem, bar and grip setup people are using for trail riding.

rockmonkeysc

I like Raceface Atlas 780mm bars with 20mm rise and Atlas 50mm stem with ODI Ruffian grips.
My main reason for using ODI grips is that they are quite hard wearing.
I like it low, wide and short.

jerryfudd

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I like Raceface Atlas 780mm bars with 20mm rise and Atlas 50mm stem with ODI Ruffian grips.
My main reason for using ODI grips is that they are quite hard wearing.
I like it low, wide and short.

those are some huuuuge bars lol

rockmonkeysc

I like having a similar set up on my trail and downhill bikes, I don't want to have two different riding styles. The combination of wide bars and short stem give a direct feel to the steering and good leverage but also help with stability and put you in a low riding position when out of the saddle attacking a descent. The can be a problem in tight wooded trails where they catch trees. I might take off 10mm from each side.
Wide bars are a marmite thing, you love them or hate them.

jerryfudd

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I like having a similar set up on my trail and downhill bikes, I don't want to have two different riding styles. The combination of wide bars and short stem give a direct feel to the steering and good leverage but also help with stability and put you in a low riding position when out of the saddle attacking a descent. The can be a problem in tight wooded trails where they catch trees. I might take off 10mm from each side.
Wide bars are a marmite thing, you love them or hate them.

do you have quite broad shoulders though?

lawman

I'm a big Easton fan, they make some superb kit, I've both Havoc carbon and Alu bars and both are superb!

Merlin have them for a great price atm as well - http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/m ... r-bar.html

The haven stem is suburb as well.
http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/m ... -stem.html

Grip wise I've just got a pair ESI chunkys and they're great, very light, very comfy and great if you ride with you hands on the end of the bars because there's no lock-on clamp to dig in. ODI Troy Lee's are also very good if you prefer a lock on grip.

rockmonkeysc

jerryfudd wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I like having a similar set up on my trail and downhill bikes, I don't want to have two different riding styles. The combination of wide bars and short stem give a direct feel to the steering and good leverage but also help with stability and put you in a low riding position when out of the saddle attacking a descent. The can be a problem in tight wooded trails where they catch trees. I might take off 10mm from each side.
Wide bars are a marmite thing, you love them or hate them.

do you have quite broad shoulders though?

Yes. I'm over 6 foot and quite broad.

coulddobetter

I certainly found shortening stem from 100 to 80 made a difference and interestingly reviews of my bike said the same. Got easton carbon riser too and love the feel but would say it's not really an area where it's possible to offer recommendations when set up is so individual

jerryfudd

coulddobetter wrote:

I certainly found shortening stem from 100 to 80 made a difference and interestingly reviews of my bike said the same. Got easton carbon riser too and love the feel but would say it's not really an area where it's possible to offer recommendations when set up is so individual

thanks, just looking for ideas really I couldn't really tell the advantages of from one brand to another at the moment.

Cqc

I used to have a 640mm bar and I moved up to 720mm feels like a big jump and ideally I would probably prefer 710mm, but does feel like an improvement. I also have a 50mm stem, but that is only so a size L frame will fit me. Whilst odi grips are popular IMO they are over priced - try the nukeproof, uberbike or superstar ones instead (half the price)

jerryfudd

still not sure what to do on buying a stem as i can see its a personal choice but also unless there is an obvious problem don't people just get used to what came with the bike and unless you are going to try loads in all manner of sizes isn't a little bit of pot luck to see if its made the setup better or worse?

I'm quite sure i want to go shorter say 50/60mm but not sure what to do about the angle... was thinking about still staying at 7deg and looking at the Odi Flight Control?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/odi/flight-control-stem-ec038487

or maybe 10deg Race Face Respond?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/race-face/respond-stem-ec055141

Any opinions?

poah

no idea of your budget but I'd recommend these. I own the stem (in 55mm size) and I have currently have Easton monkey bars (685mm) but want the haven carbons

http://www.merlincycles.com/easton-have ... 61047.html

and

http://www.merlincycles.com/easton-have ... 52355.html

jerryfudd

POAH wrote:

no idea of your budget but I'd recommend these. I own the stem (in 55mm size) and I have currently have Easton monkey bars (685mm) but want the haven carbons

ideally around £30-£50, not really so concerned about weight either.

The Northern Monkey

Super wide bars suck. Even for DH.
You lose a lot of maneuverability, especially on tight tracks... imo.

I like to be able to chuck the front end around so run 711 bars and a 45 mm stem on the Canyon.
But I use a 65 mm stem and 680 mm bars on the spesh.

Wider bars do give stability over really rough terrain though.
If you shortern the stem, you should consider wider bars otherwise steering can become very twitchy and unstable.

jerryfudd

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Wider bars do give stability over really rough terrain though.
If you shortern the stem, you should consider wider bars otherwise steering can become very twitchy and unstable.

that's the plan - although bars will have to wait for the moment..... just grips and stem for now.

Dan

cooldad

Look on http://www.carboncycles.cc

Fancy stems make very little difference, just get a cheap one to see how it feels.
Decent bars on there too.

cooldad

Really cheap grips as well. Lots of people swear by the foam ones. Worth a punt for a fiver.

paul.skibum

I went from 100mm stem to 60 without initially widening the bars and it was a great change to make - front end wanders a little more on steep climbs but the fun factor increased manifold. I recently went to 730 Havens and they are great too - change less pronounced but gave me more control.