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Tall VS. Low & Width (bars)

demo 9

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Ok, so i have a simple 26er with 3 inch rise bars and an 90mm fork. (slammed Z1 by nemesis) I cannot Tabletop or hit quarters with this setup. However, evert time i get on a bike with low bars. (65mm fork with 1.5 rise and 4 inch fork with 1 rise) i can tabletop 70-80 degrees no problem and ride quarters.
What are the Pros and Cons of each setup, and no, not that your friend who has 6 inch rise bars can flipwhip and not that your friend with flat bars can 1080. Are there any advantages to each setup. i like the feel of the 3 inch rise, but i ride better (in those regards) with lower bars.
 
Z

Zenkis14

Monkey
Sep 20, 2009
145
0
I was kinda wondering too, I seemed to ride better with 50mm rise bars (as opposed to 30mm rise), but thats me.

Are the guys that are now all riding flat bars just doing it for steezy style points? Or is there some benefit to low-flat bars?
 
sittingduck

sittingduck

Turbo Monkey
Jun 22, 2007
1,958
2
Oregon
Trends come and go... That's all it is.
A rider will ride just as well or just as bad with slightly different setups.
Figure out what feels comfortable to YOU, and go with it.
 
Dirtjumper999

Dirtjumper999

Turbo Monkey
Feb 13, 2005
1,556
0
Charlotte, NC
I had almost the exact same problem, the way I solved it was with 2inch rise bars, and tilt the bars slightly forward. You'd be surprised what those minor geo changes will do. Generally when picking bars keep this in mind, the lower your bars are, the further forward your weight is, and the more you will want to lean back to counter it. Which could account for you feeling weird on quarters. As far as tables go, I don't think they were ever a problem with me as far as bars go, I always found that the narrower the bars the easier the bike was to move, but harder to control.

As I said, I tried several set ups with stems and bars, what I have come to is..

60mm stem 0degree rise. 28.5x2inch rise bars tilted forward about 15degrees past the regular position. Makes it effortless to come out of a quarter, flatten your bike, and the wide bars help to keep it all under control. Hope this helped.
 
Dirtjumper999

Dirtjumper999

Turbo Monkey
Feb 13, 2005
1,556
0
Charlotte, NC
By the way, the reason (if not apparent) that you are tilting the bars forward a bit, is to aim the sweep of the bars towards the center of gravity of you and the bike.
 
Tetreault

Tetreault

Monkey
Nov 23, 2005
877
0
SoMeWhErE NoWhErE
i've always rode 1-2" rise bars, i prefer lower rise because it positions me more over top of the bikes, and especially with a bike with such a short rear end, i found it alot less comfortable and that i sacrificed a lot of bar control with high rise bars as i stood further back on the bike.

there is more leverage with lower bars, more roof to pull and more the bikes, thats why you can table better, its because you can pull them further towards your chest.

also, i never got into the wide bar thing, i've always has mine cut to 26" or less.

obviously since you've ridden some, the only thing left for you to do is get a set for yourself.
 
T

TortugaTonta

Monkey
Aug 27, 2008
539
0
I guess some people like to run setups on the extreme side to be different. But really its just a plain old boring neutral setup that works the best.
 
demo 9

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Glad to hear the advice, im hoping to ride again this wednesday and i am going to try out low bars with 1 inch of spacers, I am thinking the table top issues is that the farther away your bars are, the more "circular" your have to move your arms to table it.
 
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poekie

Chimp
Mar 21, 2009
59
0
get low bars, for both tricks you mentioned low (for mtb standards that is) bars are useful to keep weight over the front as well as for bunnyhops and manuals.

with a chopper set up like 90 mil forks and 3" bars you'll always have the feeling of looping out on steep quarters and the back end that wont come up..

the only use of high bars is a comfortable riding position and less back pain
 
K

kremecheze

Chimp
Dec 20, 2009
19
0
seems like everybody is gonna have different opinions on this,i'm 6'4 and ride an eastern thunderbird which is made to be small like a bmx bike,it comes stock with a 2.5 inch rise and about 25-26 inch bars,this position my wieght way to far over the front end of the bike and ends up hurting my back if i ride it thought a trail,so i dont think there is ever realy a pro or a con to a high or low rise it realy depends on you body type.bike size and you general preference
 
demo 9

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Ran flat bars for the next time i went to the skatepark, instantly better in alot of ways. Now can 540 hurricane, can also do quarter pipes better, and get higher on the wall taps, however, still no go for the tabletops (which i can do on every other bike) My bike has a huge top tube, related to tabletops?

also good for dump 360s into the foam =)
 
TheTruth

TheTruth

Turbo Monkey
Jun 15, 2009
3,893
1
I'm waving. Can you see me now?
demo 9 said:
Ran flat bars for the next time i went to the skatepark, instantly better in alot of ways. Now can 540 hurricane, can also do quarter pipes better, and get higher on the wall taps, however, still no go for the tabletops (which i can do on every other bike) My bike has a huge top tube, related to tabletops?

also good for dump 360s into the foam =)
Click to expand...
Maybe your table top technique is off. You need to consult an expert. What bars did you get?
 
FR4life.

FR4life.

Monkey
Nov 2, 2004
606
0
The Bay
poekie said:
get low bars, for both tricks you mentioned low (for mtb standards that is) bars are useful to keep weight over the front as well as for bunnyhops and manuals.

with a chopper set up like 90 mil forks and 3" bars you'll always have the feeling of looping out on steep quarters and the back end that wont come up..
Click to expand...
That doesn't make sense to me at all.. I ride 3" bars on my night train and they have made it alot easier to pick up the front end for bunnyhops/manuals. I never have the feeling of looping out on steep quarters, and if anything the higher rise bars made it easier to get the back end up. Whenever I need to get the bike dumped all I have to do is extend my arms, and technically speaking higher rise bars would push the bike farther down when you extend your arms. I like the high rise with 53mm ish stem for clearance with turndowns and whatnot, but its all personal preference. just think about how much leg clearance and leverage for hops and manuals you want/need.
 
Pebble

Pebble

Monkey
Dec 6, 2006
137
0
Nannup
You have to consider that some people who are running higher bars might be running lower forks (ie 80mm) or the fork might have a lower axle to crown measurement, so in effect their actual bar height might be the same as yours when the bikes are side to side...if that makes sense.
And vice versa too, people with the low bar set up might have a 100mm travel fork or the fork has a higher axle to crown, or maybe they have a different rise in the stem or even a space underneath.
All I'm saying is you can't judge by bar height alone, a few different factors affect the overall cockpit height.

I've got an STP, I know that wide bars (710 wide) feel heaps better than the ones it came with. When the fork set up is low (80mm) then the higher rise deity 2014's feel more natural than lower rise bars, when the fork is at 100mm plus then it feels higher in the front end obviously, lower bars feel more natural.....which sort of achieves the same overall height as the low fork high bar combo.

As far as dirt jumping goes, I wouldn't have a clue...hopefully I get game enough to try one day...there is still "some" hope for me perhaps. Ha ha.
 
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