I know STW regulars are all damn near Pro riders, but for those of you who aren't. Have you ever messed with you bar height?
Over the last few years I have built a few bikes and if those bars aren't at the height I'm used to it defo spoils my confidence.
So if you've never tried it, have a mess with spacers or borrow your mates spare stem and see what suits you..
Yeah it depends on the bike but generally I think I prefer lower so you can get more over the front in corners. Looks better with a slammed stem as well, of course 
Back and upsweep feel more important to me though. I have some funn bars that seem to have loads of backsweep and they feel well nice compared to the Deity bars I have.
Oh and get wider bars. I'm only 5'7.5" so 710 is wide enough for my girly shoulders but I started at 760 and worked my way down.
Yup - I have selection of cheap stems and an adjustable one so I can try it out at different heights and lengths
Tom
I can only go so low before it feels bad, although 2 of my bikes are Inbreds so they need some spacers.
My Wolf Ridge has a 0 rise stem and NP flat bars so needs a spacer or two!
I reckon you just get used to whatever you have, within reason.
Partner has a flipped stem and no spacers, which helps keep the front down.
Bike was set up for her by the Dales Bike Centre after she had a few issues on really steep climbs on a skills course there - she loves it.
I have the stem the 'right' way up and spacers, same size & geometry frame.
I don't mind either tbh - feel more confident on the downs on mine, but both are comfy and seem to fit fine.
Find I'm more sensitive to crank length, reach and seat height tbh.
As long as I'm comfy, it doesn't seem to matter on an MTB.
Much more critical on road for me, takes me yonks to get comfy on a road bike, not as much shifting around I suppose.
It depends on the geometry of the bike, but through experimentation I have found what works for me. It is one of the things I am quite particular about now.
It needs to be high enough so that the bike is good for dh and jumping and low enough so I can press on the bars without having to shift my bodyweight too far forward.
Oh - and I don't want stupidly wide bars - dead uncomfy
Started off high and at 710mm with a 70mm stem. Now lower at 745mm with a 55mm stem. Much better but did it in small steps.
yup, experimented with about 5/6 different stem lengths and bar widths.
Settled on the following...
DH bike (2004 boxxers + low rise crown) = 780mm flat bars / 55mm negative rise direct mount stem
other bike (2005 Fox 36s) = 740mm flat bars (same model as above) / 65mm straitline stem
I always leave my steerers longer than ness so i can move spacers above or below the stem till it feels right then trim again but leave it 10 longer than needed helps the resale value
I spend time building the bike and looking at the angles/positions and if its not right straight away i tend to just get used to it, (until I decide its not for me and sell the bike) 
My old Inbred always felt too low with rigid forks so I ended up putting 29er forks on to get it right. To be fair the old forks had a short(ish) steerer though. so I was limited in scope, but for me I like the bars quite high. I dont get on with too much weight on the front.
Get it right for pootle height and you can't go wrong
I used to have about 1 1/2" of spacers beneath my stems but then got some s/h bargain Pikes and had to go low, no spacers.
Since doing this my other bike got the same treatment.
I did used to mess about a bit with the spacers though. I found lower = more aggression on a trail, higher more relaxed.
bars 42" off the ground, trail bike and DH bike.
that is all.
I like a bar that's just a nice height to lean an elbow on.
And I have experimented with quite a few
Yep Dasnut. I like my bars on all bikes 104cm off the ground.
_tom_ - MemberYeah it depends on the bike but generally I think I prefer lower so you can get more over the front in corners. Looks better with a slammed stem as well, of course Back and upsweep feel more important to me though. I have some funn bars that seem to have loads of backsweep and they feel well nice compared to the Deity bars I have.
These?
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=69202
Your description sounds good but they look a touch narrow 
The trees where I ride aren't much wider apart than 700mm in places. I'll stick with the 685mm bars for now.
Generally have 5mm or 10mm stack spacer height below the stem on my riser bars. Less is ok, but more than that and it starts to make climbing a pain.
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