Viewing 26 posts - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)
  • Tell me about Mary bars.
  • sv
    Full Member

    What are pros/cons? What stem length – same as normal bars?

    clubber
    Free Member

    pros – you look different and I'm told that they're comfortable due to the wrist angle

    cons – your bike looks like a shopper and for me at least, they feel horrible, particularly on twisty trails.

    stAn-BadBrainsMBC
    Free Member

    pros – very comfortable and offer quite a few positions. great for climbing. look different which is good IMHO.
    cons – ermmm. some people think they are weird. can be a bit difficult to mount stuff on (light, computers, etc)

    DaveyBoyWonder
    Free Member

    I had a pair on my old SS when I bought it. Was prepared to get rid immediately but they became one of my favourite parts of the bike. Felt really nice, I think you'd want to run a slightly shorter stem than normal. Wouldn't want to do anything too technical with them and lock-on grips are a must. First ride out I kept pulling my old non lock-on grips off the bars – quite annoying!

    ski
    Free Member

    Helped no end after I smashed my arm/fingers up, as above, very comfortable.

    Never bothered changing the stem about tbh, felt fine as it was.

    sv
    Full Member

    Great – normally run 60-80mm stem so will stick with that. Shopper look here I come 😉

    thomthumb
    Free Member

    too narrow

    monkeychild
    Free Member

    Shoppercore is where is at 🙂 I loves them.

    yunki
    Free Member

    They're curvy and swoopy and comfortable and offer a very good degree of control..

    They make you look slightly more socially acceptable to the non-biking fraternity..

    I would like them to be a tad wider and they can make some bar mounted lights point off in funny directions..

    ampthill
    Full Member

    I think Brant has done wider version for Hot Lines. But I can't remember what they are called

    To me Mary bars are better for my wrists and just feel fine on all types of trails

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    Harder to chew than Mars Bars?

    On a more serious note I like the sweptback angle, but I have since found that Midges are even better.

    nunuboogie
    Free Member

    Great if you suffer from wrist ache, much more natural position.

    Forge_Master
    Free Member

    Pros: They're probably comfortable.
    Cons: They look a bit ghey.

    grtdkad
    Full Member

    Oh no, not Ghey Bars…

    Sancho
    Free Member

    Pros, they are niche, and aid some people with wrist problems,cons they compromise handling.
    If they were any good for riding a bike then Honda, renthal etc would be using the design on motorbikes and the downhill fraternity would be using them.
    again for climbing, etc, the XC racers would be all over them if they improved your climbing ability, but you dont see any on the XC circuit either.

    sv
    Full Member

    Sancho – motorbike clip-ons are swept back but then again they do have an engine 😉

    Inzane
    Free Member

    Good for comfort, bad for handling on tech or aggressive stuff.

    bassspine
    Free Member

    they're made of marmite

    mick_r
    Full Member

    Too narrow for me. But my mrs loves them to bits. She again falls into the neck and wrist problem category – gradually getting more crook after 20years of mtb so regular bars and all manner of stem combos (even Salsa ones with reasonably big sweep)leave her in agony after 2-3 hours.

    Runs them upside down on her 96er and right way up on 26 (gives exactly the same bar position on both bikes). 2 more pairs have landed on my desk this morning to convert the rest of her fleet (Planet x ebay shop is doing them for £20 posted)

    Not sure about the "no good for handling on tech or aggressive stuff". She's happily ridden them everywhere (including alps) and can throw the rigid 96er around Kirroughtree red + black in 2hrs 20 min…..

    brant
    Free Member
    BigDummy
    Free Member

    Old Man Worland seems to have his Carnegies on with the ends pointing quite a long way up brant. Is that the intention?

    brant
    Free Member

    He's ridden further than I have with them. Who knows if they're like that now. I think the low angle makes it look a bit odd too. I'd have 'em pointed down a little more.

    Scienceofficer
    Free Member

    I just put some Carnegies Bars on my bike.

    The jury is out until I've put some more time in on them, since I've only done one ride.

    1st impressions are they feel fairly comfy to start with and then feel no different after a few miles. They love carving big turns and are more stable on straight-lining high speed chop.

    They make you look like a weirdo and I'm turning in too late at present.

    thekingofsweden
    Full Member

    Great bars ran mine with the writing upside down lovely bars in all conditions

    JohnClimber
    Free Member

    After 3 years of riding with bent bars on my 4 bikes
    1 x Jones H bars
    2 x Carnegies
    1 x Mary

    I feel that riding with your "normal" bars is just wrong, I don't know how you all ride with these bars as I feel they offer me such an elbows out and un natural arm wrist/position.

    miketually
    Free Member

    Old Man Worland seems to have his Carnegies on with the ends pointing quite a long way up brant. Is that the intention?

    I thought that too, though it's always hard to tell in photographs from an angle; even 'normal' bars look odd in some photographs.

    I have the ends of my Mary bars pointing down quite a lot, but it depends upon all sorts of factors.

    This photo makes it look like I have one end pointing up and one end pointing down:

    Looking forward to trying out the Carnegies.

Viewing 26 posts - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)

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