Riser bars... Why all the hate?

[pw_pw_la]

Something I've noticed on here, is how infrequently people choose riser bars on a build, and when they do, how many people hate that choice!

So I'm curious...

Why?

Is this based on aesthetic preference? Performance?

Did I miss something in my 20-odd years off a bike, or was this hatred always floating about?

When I was a kid riding what I could get my hands on, in the post Dirt/JMC era, I loved riser bars; how they looked and how they felt. But I was young; impressionable; wanted to be cool.

I also hate barends.

Admittedly, I wasn't racing, just bombing around the trails and hills and woods near my house. I wasn't thinking too much about ratios and angles and maximum gain from the components I chose; I just wanted things I thought looked good on my bike!

And now it seems like risers are big no-no in the retro building community.

So I'm interested in hearing peoples reasoning and opinions as to why...

It won't change my mind (I like risers, and will continue to use them if I think they work on a particular build) but I do love getting a history lesson from my elders...

 

[TreaderSteve]

Re:

I have no hate for them - these bad boys will be going on my BoTE project. My 45 yr old frame will appreciate them! https://www.mtbshed.com/product/dimensi ... 4258-1.htm

 

[Rank_21]

Depends on the frame. Early 90's frames, the general geometry is fairly square, rigid with thin tubes, making a curved bar look out of place. On fatter tubes such as my cannondale in aluminiam, a riser looks ok as the fatter tubes project another form. For everyday usage, they obviously give you a more upright position

 

[dirttorpedo]

Re:

I think risers aren't popular because they didn't really start becoming commonly used until towards the end of the retrobike period. I think I got my first risers in 97 or 98 and they were an upgrade on the bike. Anyhow a lot of people like to restore their bikes to period correct which typically means flat bars.

I like bar ends, they were a great addition to my old flat bar bikes. I even put them on bikes with risers even though they look stupid because they are still super functional.

 

[mk one]

Plenty people use them, just don't put bar ends on them

If im building a bike and it has a long low stem then i tend to use flat for aesthetics, if i decide to put risers on it then i usually change the stem for slightly shorter.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Depends on the frame. Early 90's frames, the general geometry is fairly square, rigid with thin tubes, making a curved bar look out of place. On fatter tubes such as my cannondale in aluminiam, a riser looks ok as the fatter tubes project another form. For everyday usage, they obviously give you a more upright position

Simple, but I think that makes a lot of sense aesthetically. I like this answer a lot!

I think risers aren't popular because they didn't really start becoming commonly used until towards the end of the retrobike period. I think I got my first risers in 97 or 98 and they were an upgrade on the bike. Anyhow a lot of people like to restore their bikes to period correct which typically means flat bars.

I like bar ends, they were a great addition to my old flat bar bikes. I even put them on bikes with risers even though they look stupid because they are still super functional.

Less so this one, to be honest!

(And I'm not even going to touch the bar ends on risers comment!)

While they certainly came into their own post 97, surely they were already doing the rounds by 94/95? Which is one of the reasons why I asked. Round my way, it wasn't uncommon to see people adding Go Fasts or Azonics to preexisting setups around this time. I think the McRoy bike(s) in Dirt had a lot to do with this in the UK, but maybe that's just me personally!

Peak-era Mint Sauce was already making fun of risers in 96...

Or at least that's how I remember reading into that strip at the time!

 

[pw_pw_la]

Plenty people use them, just don't put bar ends on them

If im building a bike and it has a long low stem then i tend to use flat for aesthetics, if i decide to put risers on it then i usually change the stem for slightly shorter.

Yeah, I feel like this is the general/golden rule.

Risers do look awful on a longer stem.

Short and stubby = risers.

 

[legrandefromage]

Its not aesthetics, its physics Jim!

Early 90's mtb was 'arse up in the air head down' fast XC. As 'freeride' and DH and all manner of derivatives came into the scene bars got wider and stems got shorter.

The geometry of early 90's MTBs was less suspension corrected too. As forks came in, up went the front end with less weight on the wrists, bikes were more playful and as the scene progressed, the road bike style of the earlier bikes disappeared (only to resurface a few decades later as 'gravel bikes').

The far earlier 80's MTB was so much different, it was a copy of a copy of a copy of a 'Mountain Bike', bars were wide, bars were risers but again it was a very brief time, the XC orientated bikes started popping up as early as 1986 and the race scene influenced design very quickly

Risers on that short lived 'arse up head down' era frame isnt automatically a winner, but on certain frames it can work really well, you have to find something that fits.

So there's no hate, its just some suit it some dont

 

[legrandefromage]

These a Schwinn Klunker style bikes! Not even riser bars! :mrgreen:

https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articl ... in-biking/

 

[legrandefromage]

This bike is so different to what the 'klunker' started out as, its designed to go 'up' and along whereas the klunkers mostly just went 'down'

It is almost the perfect iteration of the 'Mountain Bike' - lightweight, strong and easy to manoeuvre

But...

Look what the 1996 Downhill scene had already done to the 'mountain bike'!!!

1996 Intense - with your 'risers'!