I saw the new Tracer has 20mm more reach than the previous version in medium.

Have you ever experimented with bar rotation to increase your reach?

Rotating your bars does not increase reach.
Nor does using a longer stem.
Or pushing your seat back on the rails.

It might work.

Personally, I like my bars to be flat when installed. The problem with rotating them would be they’d no longer be flat and they would also be a little bitt higher.

It’s worth experimenting with. Changing the rotation of riser bars has a big effect on feel and hand position as well as reach. It’s a significant part of bike setup, for me.

I like the sweep pointing up a bit to angle the bar upwards, as I find it fits my hands better. But there’s quite a range of rotation that suits that, so I do use it to adjust “reach” or whatever the hell the distance to the bars is meant to be called these days.

Changing the rotation of riser bars has a big effect on feel and hand position as well as reach. It’s a significant part of bike setup, for me.

Yup, the rise might make everything longer but you’re also rotating the back and up sweeps of the bar so the feel can change quite a lot

Reach is the horizontal distance between the bb and the top of the headtube.

Rorschach – Member

Reach is the horizontal distance between the bb and the top of the headtube.

Top pedantry points, it’s also a reasonable term for someone to use when talking about the distance from saddle to bars.

I’m considering effective reach (?), so horizontal distance from BB to grips.

I’ve got the Easton Havocs, 9° backsweep, 5° upsweep btw. Fairly low rise. I’m 5’9″ on a medium 2014 Tracer, so on the cusp of needing a large

I’m guessing the difference between the faceplate clamped on 0, and clamped on 2 is probably about 5-10mm higher and 15-20mm forward. Off to ride some steeps tonight and I might report back if it goes well.

Thomson bars have limited sweep and i use them on my bike that’s a tiny bit too short in the top tube

Reach is the horizontal distance between the bb and the top of the headtube.

Must be tricky cornering…

Top pedantry points, it’s also a reasonable term for someone to use when talking about the distance from saddle to bars.

The word “reach” is a specific term used in bicycle geometry so it’s also reasonable for someone to identify an incorrect use of that term.

Not really sure if the saddle to bar distance has a specific name? AFAIK, effective top tube is from seat post to head tube so doesn’t take account of stem and bar dimensions.

But to answer the OP’s question without the pedantry. Yep tried it but depending on the bar’s back and up sweep you also change how your hands sit on the bars and it didn’t feel comfortable to me.

This thread went down hill fast. 🙂

Also thinking about it, is rotating bars forward to increase saddle bar length any different from just using a longer stem?

Its not going to increase the front centre to make the geom closer to the new one. So you might as well get a longer stem and keep your bars in a nice comfy position.

you’re correct jairaj, but I wouldn’t want to go beyond 60mm, and easton’s 35mm diameter stem only comes in a 50mm length. Raceface do a 60mm, but rotating bars is a lot cheaper.

for what it’s worth the new tracer’s wheelbase is 32mm longer. I’m guessing that at least half of that is down to the HA being 1° slacker?

Just thinking aloud really as I’m feeling that something isn’t quite right with my position on the steepest tracks, and hoping that by stretching myself a little bit I can grant myself a bit more stability from my core, and relying less on my shoulders

What doesn’t feel right when you are on steep sections? Maybe we can give other suggestions.

A bit more info might help people give suitable suggestions. It is possible to get too much weight forward on steep sections so moving your bars further out from the headtube could make it worse. Also on the flip side you could be riding with your weight too far back and the extra length would help centralise your weight better?