I currently run a Race Face Evolve Riser Bar with 9° rearward and 6° upward sweep.

I find the bar to be very ‘bow’ shaped – the sweep means my hands are almost level with the fork steerer tube ( I run a 60mm stem). This makes the riding position feel a little cramped.

Is this normal or am I tilting the bars too far back?

Some people advise to match the sweep with the fork angle, but it seems a bit confusing with these new style ‘multidimensional’ bars.

Also, about the tilt markings on the front of the bar – I presume that they are meant to be applied against the horizontal, as the stem/head angle will vary across bikes – is this right?

And yes, I know, personal preference plays a major part in all this!

am I tilting the bars too far back

Why not tilt them forwards a bit, see if you like it better 🙂

It’s a bit of a minefield having both upsweep and backsweep dimensions.

My bars are listed as 0° upsweep, and 10° backsweep. I fit them so that they are rotated forward, to get the sweep at 45° to the horizontal, so that upsweep and backsweep are equal. This means that the manufacturer logos are facing the floor.

Yes, try it and see.

I always run the combined sweep at about 45°, but others will have different preferences. I don’t know if there is an anatomically correct answer – maybe aiming toward you shoulder socket?

I have just done some calcs to get it straight in my head. Assuming a 700mm wide bar with no offset (so that the stem clamp is the centre of the bend – not likely), the combined sweep will be about 10.7° and set at about 34° from horizontal. The end of the bars will be about 55mm behind the centre. If you rotate the bars forward so that the combined sweep is at 45° to horizontal, you will move the end of the bars forward by 8mm, and up by 10mm.

I’ve always just left the stem slightly loose, straddled the bike and got the bars where they feel best, then tightened.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

I’ve always just left the stem slightly loose, straddled the bike and got the bars where they feel best, then tightened

Rockplough, that’s a good suggestion – I will try.

I’ve always just left the stem slightly loose, straddled the bike and got the bars where they feel best, then tightened.

That’s what I do. How else would you fit them?

Just rotate until comfy or do the car park test and adjust accordingly. Take an allen key with you.