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lowering my bike's front end - options?

dexterq20

dexterq20

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2003
3,442
1
NorCal
Here's a weird one for you guys...

I just got a new DH bike and have it set up with an old Fox 40, 1.5" flush reducer headset, super low Straitline direct mount stem, and 20mm rise Truvativ Boobar handlebars. The front end is super low, the bike corners really well, and I love it.

But now my trail bike's front end feels WAY too tall, to the point where I really notice it while riding (especially when decending). The trail bike has a Fox 36 TALAS, traditional 1 1/8" headset, 70mm Thomson stem with zero rise (and no spacers underneath it), and 25mm rise Gravity Light handlebars.

As far as I can tell, my only option is to get handlebars with lower rise, and the two options I'm considering are the Sunline V1 with a 19mm rise (will 6mm really make that much of a difference?), or the Gravity Light flat bar, which looks freakin' cool, but might make things too low. I guess I could also get a longer stem, but I think that would compromise the bike's handling on the downhills (the only reason I pedal uphill is so I can get to the downhill parts).

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,936
24,503
media blackout
6mm will make a small difference, a flat bar would be a better difference, wouldn't hurt trying it. Chromag also makes a flat bar, and Sunline also makes the V1 OS in a flat bar.
 
djjohnr

djjohnr

Turbo Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
3,017
1,719
Northern California
6mm can make a big difference, but only you will know if it's enough. Your best bet is getting the flat bar and adding spacers if necessary.
 
D

davet

Monkey
Jun 24, 2004
551
3
what headset are you using, they can vary by quite a bit.

I've been using the Crank Bros Opium for a year without issue. It's got a super low stack height. You just have to not be a monkey when you install it.
 
dexterq20

dexterq20

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2003
3,442
1
NorCal
jonKranked said:
...Sunline also makes the V1 OS in a flat bar.
Click to expand...
Didn't realize that. Thanks for the heads-up. I'm actually a bit hesitant about the Gravity flat bar's 10 degree backsweep... seems kinda extreme. Maybe the Sunline will have a bit more "normal" sweep? Anybody know for sure? Sunline's website only says the sweep is "comparable to the riser bars". Not too helpful.


davet said:
what headset are you using, they can vary by quite a bit.
Click to expand...
FSA Orbit Xtreme Pro. Reasonably low stack height, I think it's something like 30 or 31mm.
 
time-bomb

time-bomb

Monkey
May 2, 2008
957
21
right here -> .
funny thing, i too ride a 40 but w/sunline direct mount and sunline bars. my trail bike also runs a 36 TALAS RC2. i experienced the same feeling so i went w/a slightly lower bar than what i was using before but i still find myself running the TALAS in 140mm instead of 160mm for most of my trail riding. i bump it up to 160mm for all the DH but the lower setting just feels faster and more controlled for general riding. this could also have something to do w/BB height and HA of my bike though. lowering the fork may steepen your HA too much but if feels perfect for most of the trail riding i do.
 
Acadian

Acadian

Born Again Newbie
Sep 5, 2001
714
2
Blah Blah and Blah
dexterq20 said:
But is it all that good?
Click to expand...
if you want to lower your front end, it will REALLY help. I tried them on my DH bike and it made my front end a bit too low, so I went back to low risers.

on a trail bike that has 1) a tall headtube 2) tall headset stack 3) tall fork - it would work great.

if you ride a lot of rough descents and you're use to a bar with some upsweep - you might get sore wrists at first. But like anything else, if you give it time you'll get use to them.

oh and for me they were way too wide at 777mm so I had to cut them down to 740. if I ever decide to run them on my trail bike, I'll cut them down a tad bit more. but width is a personal preference...

oh and like JK mentioned - Sunline also makes a nice flat bar. so you have a few options.

 
Brian HCM#1

Brian HCM#1

MMMMMMMMM BEER!!!!!!!!!!
Sep 7, 2001
32,119
378
Bay Area, California
Acadian said:
if you want to lower your front end, it will REALLY help. I tried them on my DH bike and it made my front end a bit too low, so I went back to low risers.

on a trail bike that has 1) a tall headtube 2) tall headset stack 3) tall fork - it would work great.

if you ride a lot of rough descents and you're use to a bar with some upsweep - you might get sore wrists at first. But like anything else, if you give it time you'll get use to them.

oh and for me they were way too wide at 777mm so I had to cut them down to 740. if I ever decide to run them on my trail bike, I'll cut them down a tad bit more. but width is a personal preference...

oh and like JK mentioned - Sunline also makes a nice flat bar. so you have a few options.

Click to expand...
You need to go with some drop bars next:thumb:
 
dhkid

dhkid

Turbo Monkey
Mar 10, 2005
3,358
0
Malaysia
the best way would be getting a dual crown fork and lower it to 6 inches. axle to crown heights on a dual crown fork are pretty much an inch lower than a single crown fork of similar travel.

probably not an option you will consider, but its gonna drop your bars the most.
 
captainspauldin

captainspauldin

intrigued by a pole
May 14, 2007
1,263
177
Jersey Shore
dhkid said:
the best way would be getting a dual crown fork and lower it to 6 inches. axle to crown heights on a dual crown fork are pretty much an inch lower than a single crown fork of similar travel.

probably not an option you will consider, but its gonna drop your bars the most.
Click to expand...
that'll just mess w/the geometry, not to mention it'll void the warranty on the bike..
 
O

OBB

Monkey
Sep 25, 2008
157
3
I had the same issue between my DH bike and my trail bike. My Demo sat about 3/4 of an inch lower than my Trail bike, even though it has more travel and a long axle to crown measurement.

On my trail bike, I'm running 19mm rise bars with no spacers under the stem. I resorted to machining the headtube down 2/3rds of an inch on the top, almost down to where the weld starts! Made a huge difference and now hopping from either bike feels comfortable.

Taking material off the head tube on top won't affect your head angle. If you need to get lower, there usually is some material to be removed on the bottom as well. Just watch things like fork clearances.
 
altix

altix

Monkey
Feb 14, 2007
407
0
Kore Torsion flat bars. I have the 20mm rise on my dh and they are sick they come in 800mm as well =]
 
djivotno

djivotno

Monkey
Oct 3, 2008
108
0
I would grab a flat bar for the trail bike. It could be a bit lower than the DH as the 160mm front end will sag less and will stand taller in general. Don't forget the HA of a trail bike will be bigger so that will add up to the feeling of a taller front end too ;)
 
D

davep

Turbo Monkey
Jan 7, 2005
3,276
0
seattle
dexterq20 said:
Didn't realize that. Thanks for the heads-up. I'm actually a bit hesitant about the Gravity flat bar's 10 degree backsweep... seems kinda extreme. Maybe the Sunline will have a bit more "normal" sweep? Anybody know for sure? Sunline's website only says the sweep is "comparable to the riser bars". Not too helpful.



FSA Orbit Xtreme Pro. Reasonably low stack height, I think it's something like 30 or 31mm.
Click to expand...
Two things.

The Gravity bar is not truely flat. Where the center bulges, it only bulges down rather than 'out' in all directions. The rise comes out to about 3mm.

The sweep seems extreme until you think about it. Riser bars are generally listed with two sweeps, up and back. With a flat bar, both of these angle are 'combined' into a single sweep. ie a flat bar with 9* sweep will have much less 'real sweep' than a riser bar that is 4* up and 9* back. Once you rotate the 10* flat bar to have the upsweep that is built into a riser bar, it is no longer 10* back. Try and rotate your current bars until they have zero up-sweep....they will look and feel funny.

The Gravity bar actually feels quite similar to the sunline
 
mrpercussive

mrpercussive

Monkey
Feb 11, 2007
318
0
CA
just got these... feels quite a bit lower than my old Dirty30s... Havent had a ride on it yet so cant really say much...



 
H

hardboiled

Chimp
May 15, 2006
23
0
right behind you
bumping this old thread because I've been thinking about bar/stem combos on my trail bike. I thought "conventional wisdom" (for trail bikes at least) was that short stems and higher bars gave better DH/tech performance (kinda borrowing from moto setups) and long stems/low bars was for climbing and a more XC position (ie roadie setup). most of the posts I read here talk about getting the lowest front end possible on a DH bike, but this is the first one I read specifically talking about going for a low front end on a trail bike.

so what gives, is it just about improved cornering from the lower front end? is the "conventional wisdom" wrong and/or changing about ideal body positioning for technical riding?
 
Iridemtb

Iridemtb

Turbo Monkey
Feb 2, 2007
1,497
-1
Hmmmm... So you need to lower the front. Well I ran into the same problem. My demo 9 was a little hgih for me in the front, and I just purchased a canfield drop stem. I didn't put it on yet, but I will take some pictures when it is on and maybe do a review after blue mountain this weekend. It looks like really quality stuff there.
 
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