Riser bars - why? - discuss!

[perry]

Try getting upsweep and backsweep separately on a flat bar . But I guess long and low on a mtb was such a handling revelation it never went away .

 

[suburbanreuben]

I took this old girl for aspin round a couple of laps of the last merida brass monkeys race.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16732514@N ... 904989938/

My neck ached for two weeks after.
When I've finished touching her up, she'll be sporting a 120mm stem with 2" carbon risers!

 

[mattbrown]

people asked me in early 1995 why i had bought cow horn bars for my Kona, cuz i is a trend setter!!!, similar people had asked what did a crud catcher do.

 

[DM]

Why big bars?
Because I'm still a BMX/ klunker/ Grifter kid at heart.
And because flat bars would look silly on it:....

TI Titecs on the Hei-Hei, of course. But it's backpain Hell these days.

 

[dyna-ti]

Im converted,but when fitting i noticed something interesting

The risers ive just put on are ritchey and modernish,they are 680mm wide.
I was intending to swop the straight kore bar i had on, for an nice original black kore riser from last century that i had in my spares basket
The old kore riser is 610mm
Could it be that as the years have went on, the bars have become wider and because of that look ugly and out of place? :?

As to why-
Normally i ride roads, bike paths,that type of surface,i run a straight bar thats about 530mm long.
First ride on the 680mm risers felt more comfortable and it gave the feeling of having more control.Roomy :?
The ache across my shoulders though from the change of style was a bit of a surprise

 

[ishaw]

It's a little bit bling, but the saddle to bar ratio is all retro on mt rts-1.

I agree with pickle on the risers - tried them, don't like them, they don't lok that great either (though I do have niggling back problem, go figure).

I don't get single speeds either, but there you go.

 

[longun]

interesting thread,im well on the fence here

risers are comfy but flats for me look ace,again using a steeper stem gives the same geometry as a riser etc but i think its all down to personal taste,looks or comfort,

however bar ends on risers are just wrong lol

 

[Tallpaul]

I am tired of seeing lovely retro bikes being ruined by this horrible need to put a motorbike handlebar set up on it! Whats wrong with you people :shock:

There is a period in the history of mountain biking when 'long and low' was the favoured setup. But, as LGF has demonstrated with some beautiful examples, there are mountain bikes which pre-date this. Similarly, things have moved on.

If what you mean is that you don't like old frames being 'modernised' with long travel forks, short stems and risers then I agree. I like period correctness. But whatever someone chooses to do to the bike they ride is up to them, just don't expect complimentary remarks if you choose to show it off on a forum dedicated to old-school bikes.

Here's my most arse-up bike, it really isn't particularly comfortable.

 

[Scrat]

Also on the fence on this one;

LGF has a valid point - the first MTBs ALL had wide risers

I've always been into wide bars, and bitd that meant risers, notice though there has been a big swing back to 0 rise bars to counter ever increasing fork lengths

Also depends on the terrain you ride, and Boy'o Boy will back me up here, super low bars would be a DH deathtrap here :shock:

Risers have their place, but NOT with bar ends!!!!! NEVER with bar ends

 

[perry]

People who use riser bars don't seem to need bar ends ; maybe the people with flat bars don't like using flat bars either