Riser bar or riser stem?

[mk one]

Plenty of people ran 2.5 and 3" rise bars back in the 90's, usually Azonic but plenty of others with similar rise from that era. I run X-Lite risers on some of my bikes, don't look out of place if you use a slightly shorter stem.

Pic of my Brodie below with risers.

 

[benjabbi]

Riser stem, this puts the bar in roughly the same position as a 70mm 0° stem and a 2" rise bar. I can't decide which looks better/worse?

 

[highlandsflyer]

Riser stem, this puts the bar in roughly the same position as a 70mm 0° stem and a 2" rise bar. I can't decide which looks better/worse?
View attachment 865671

Looks like a very light front end.

 

[Dface]

I’m all for flat bars but I’m trying a riser on this one. Stem has a little rise and not so longer either. I think it should be fun.

 

[PhillB]

Some of mine just have a good rise on the Stem..

 

[CassidyAce]

The brutal truth is that the most 'aesthetically pleasant' solution to the drop-to-the-handlebar problem would be, not stem rise or riser bars, but being able to stick our younger selves back on the bikes. Admittedly, that's not exactly an easy fix, so I'd go for a combination of stem rise and riser bars if I had to (or, more likely, a different bike).

 

[Tootyred]

Buy a bigger frame.....?

If not try a brand with a longer headtube.

Failing that...I do both above and have a riser stem and riser bars...

 

[The History Man]

You have options………

 

[Black_puma]

At the end of 2022 I sold my car and from the money I got I bought two bikes, one was a 24" wheeled BMX and the other was a hybrid as I still needed a bike with gear for general cycling and need to get up the hills with relative ease.
I liked both bikes at the time but not enough to keep them.

I got an opportunity to buy the GT Tequesta (first photo) from the money I got after selling the 24" wheeled BMX and put a BMX handlebar and stem on it which helped me with my back at the time. I had bought a really cheap GT BMX mostly for some of parts including the tyres and handlebars which were worth more than what I paid for it. The BMX bars and stem came in handy. I ended up buying the GT Tempest frame and built that up to what what is now (second photo).

And as time went on I got the Zaskar cheap and put riser bars on that too. I have found that over the last year my back has gotten better at tolerating different riding positions and I can now even ride my GT Pantera AL with stem only raised by an inch or so.
If you do have the opportunity and have more than one bike then ride them all to help your back take to different riding positions as it did help me get riding more.

This is my solution to my back problem as I have arthritis in my upper spine due to age (56 year old female) and bad working environment from my last job.

 

[Suprachrgd82]

Answer makes an Alumilite Classic 2” riser bar for a reasonable price; 25.4mm clamp, 685mm width. It has the retro look with a slightly modern (read comfortable) width & height. And fits older stems.

https://hayesbicycle.com/products/answer-alumilite-classic-2-rise-bar-black-25-4mm