So in the latest Vital "Let's Go Racing" video, Bryan goes into kind of a rabbit hole on comparing various bar sweeps (and stem lengths, but that's a different issue). He was basically comparing everything against a OneUp (8 degrees back), and all the other ones he did as 31.8mm alloy (to try and keep the compliance good). He mentioned he's long had issues with one wrist. I've had an issue with the right wrist also, I think stemming from the outer arm bone pointing a little bit up and out compared to the left. On any longer descent, I always end up with discomfort on the outer part of the right wrist. This has always been an issue for me across multiple bikes, suspension setups, grips, etc. Some settings aggravate it more or less but none really address it, and to my knowledge, I've never really messed with bar sweep.
In the video he mentioned that less sweep (vs. the typical 8), like Renthal uses (7) felt like it put him in a more aggressive elbows out stance but it felt worse on his wrist. My buddy who BMXs a fair amount said that for BMX he found a bar with less sweep helped him pump more aggressively. Then there's a handful of bars with slightly more sweep (9), PNW with 10, then kooky SQLab with 12 and 16. Bryan mentioned that both the Nukeproof (9) and the PNW (10) felt better on his bum wrist. I have played around holding myself in a plank position, adjusting my hands so that they're set more like a less sweep, and like a more sweep, and the bad wrist feels better in a "more sweep" position. So I am starting to think that it might be worth to try a bar with more sweep.
But I was also thinking, isn't the issue fundamentally the location of the end of the grip relative to the butt of my palm? Like, if I had to guess, I'd guess my normal bar setup ends up putting a lot of pressure on the ends of my hands, which would really exacerbate any outer wrist issues. And besides messing with sweep, a more obvious solution would be to mess with bar roll: like if I increased roll back, it would rotate the end of the grip slightly down and relieve some of that pressure. I normally set bar roll until it feels like the grips are level. I've briefly messed with a few degrees more rollback and it felt really weird, like the ends of the bar were drooping down, and it felt harder to lean the bike over more aggressively. FWIW, on the OneUp bar, my normal setup puts the middle of the top stem clamp lined up more or less with the little tick mark corresponding to my head angle.
So my question to the internet experts: for the sort of issue I'm describing, is bar roll or bar sweep more likely to be the ticket?
If I should try different back sweeps, how should I set up the comparison so that it gives me the most accurate comparison? Obviously I should cut them to the same length, and try to adjust spacers to end up with the same bar distance from the ground (to account for different rises). And same stem length, at least to start. The cheapest test would be to grab a PNW bar in 35mm for $70 and try that. But my concern is going to an aluminum 35mm round bar vs. might be harsher than my current carbon OneUp 35mm oval bar, and might hide any of the comfort changes related to the 2 degree sweep difference.
In the video he mentioned that less sweep (vs. the typical 8), like Renthal uses (7) felt like it put him in a more aggressive elbows out stance but it felt worse on his wrist. My buddy who BMXs a fair amount said that for BMX he found a bar with less sweep helped him pump more aggressively. Then there's a handful of bars with slightly more sweep (9), PNW with 10, then kooky SQLab with 12 and 16. Bryan mentioned that both the Nukeproof (9) and the PNW (10) felt better on his bum wrist. I have played around holding myself in a plank position, adjusting my hands so that they're set more like a less sweep, and like a more sweep, and the bad wrist feels better in a "more sweep" position. So I am starting to think that it might be worth to try a bar with more sweep.
But I was also thinking, isn't the issue fundamentally the location of the end of the grip relative to the butt of my palm? Like, if I had to guess, I'd guess my normal bar setup ends up putting a lot of pressure on the ends of my hands, which would really exacerbate any outer wrist issues. And besides messing with sweep, a more obvious solution would be to mess with bar roll: like if I increased roll back, it would rotate the end of the grip slightly down and relieve some of that pressure. I normally set bar roll until it feels like the grips are level. I've briefly messed with a few degrees more rollback and it felt really weird, like the ends of the bar were drooping down, and it felt harder to lean the bike over more aggressively. FWIW, on the OneUp bar, my normal setup puts the middle of the top stem clamp lined up more or less with the little tick mark corresponding to my head angle.
So my question to the internet experts: for the sort of issue I'm describing, is bar roll or bar sweep more likely to be the ticket?
If I should try different back sweeps, how should I set up the comparison so that it gives me the most accurate comparison? Obviously I should cut them to the same length, and try to adjust spacers to end up with the same bar distance from the ground (to account for different rises). And same stem length, at least to start. The cheapest test would be to grab a PNW bar in 35mm for $70 and try that. But my concern is going to an aluminum 35mm round bar vs. might be harsher than my current carbon OneUp 35mm oval bar, and might hide any of the comfort changes related to the 2 degree sweep difference.
, so I go with less sweep since I feel it gives me more direct control of the front end.
But really I think my neck prefers a narrower handlebar. Yes, I have neck issues. It's all connected...
It might be worth getting some old lock-ons out and try some narrower positions.
Not had an ejection, but gotten close. 