New bars

joel222

Hi, I ride cross country only for fun, nothing major just easy trails. I find that I'm stretching too much to the handlebars so was thinking of buying a new set with more of a rise. My current ones do have a rise but I'm thinking a bit more would help. Is this something that anybody else has experienced, and what is the largest rise that people would normally go for?

wilberforce

What bars and stem length do you currently have?
Are you also sure that the current bars are rotated correctly so that you are getting full value of sweep?

joel222

The length of my stem is approx 100mm and the bars have approx 30mm rise. I have them slightly tilted back over, thinking that it will shorten the reach slightly. When I ride on flat ground I tend to rest my finger tips on the grips rather than my palm for more comfort.

wilberforce

If reach is an issue I would think about going for shorter stem first.

robertpb

Your saddle could be too far back, but saying that a 100mm stem is pretty long in this day and age.

You could buy a cheap 50mm stem and see how you get on.

The Rookie

Sounds like you have the wrong size frame.

joel222

The exact measurement for the stem is 150mm overall, 100mm from the bolt in the centre where it fits the frame to the split in the centre of the handle bars. I've moved the seat forward which makes it feel a little better. The frame is 17 inch and I'm 5ft 6

LimitedGarry

A shorter stem for sure. 100mm is a lot by today's standards. Try out a 60-70mm stem. If it's too close, you can still move the seat back.

The Rookie

100mm may be long by today's standards, but the frame size will have been set for that length, bikes with shorter stems tend to have a longer ETT to give a similar cockpit length (allowing for the effective shortening created by wider bars).