Funn Upturn 55mm High Riser Handlebar review

How high is too high? We check out of these lofty 55mm rise Funn Upturn handlebars perform on the trails. The may be high but are they mighty?

• Brand: Funn
• Product: Upturn High Riser Handlebar
• From: Funn MTB
• Price: £65.90 (currently £61.90 on Amazon)
• Tested by: Benji for 12 months

Pros

• Fairly unique rise offerings (also available in 40 and 75mm rises)
• Nice neutral feel
• Decent price

Cons

• 785mm width may not enough for some
• Graphics not to everyone’s taste
• 31.8mm only

What is one indication that the bike industry has not yet reached ‘peak geometry’? What component is the biggest red flag to counter the worrying current theory that we have perfected bike geometry?

High rise handlebars.

If you’re of a certain height – say over 5ft 9in – you are still not really being served consistently well by bike geometry. Chances are your chain stays are too short and so is your head tube. The former issue can’t be cured but there is something you can do about short head tubes and the resulting too-low-slung grip height.

High rise handlebars.

Speaking as someone who’s a little over 6ft tall (if I stand up properly and stop slouching), the relatively recent resurgence of Proper Rise Handlebars has been a game changer.

There hasn’t really been an XL size test bike that hasn’t benefited from fitting higher rise handlebars than specced. As bikes have got longer in terms of reach, I’ve found that handling has greatly benefited from going higher in cockpit height.

The return of high rise arguably began with Burgtec’s Ride High bars. These have been joined in my go-to handlebar bin by the likes of Gusset S2 and DMR ODub bars. All of these bars sport 50mm rise.

So I very much welcome this Nigel Tuffnel of high bars from Funn. These bars offer more than just ‘one louder’ though; the ones reviewed here have 55mm of rise. That’s five louder.

Very tall people and/or people with really, really low front end bikes can even get a Funn Upturn bar with a whopping 75mm of rise. There’s also a 40mm rise option too that are well worth trying if you’re Joe/Josephine Average in stature.

In terms of design and fabrication, the Funn Upturn bars are made from 6061 aluminium, have a sandblast finish, a grid of Indication marks for trimming and accurate/consistent controls positioning.

They only come in 31.8mm diameter (which is totally fine by me because 31.8mm is The Best Standard). 785mm width (so wide bar fans may wish to run single collar lock-on grips with encapsulated ends to eek ~10mm more effective width. Colours: black, red, blue, grey, orange and green.

Overall

What is there to say about a set of handlebars beyond the bare dimensions of rise, width and sweeps? Aesthetically, I would say that the Funn Upturn bars aren’t very subtle (the grey ones are as sedate as it gets) which may turn off some potential purchasers. Which is a shame but I get it. In terms of ride feel, the Funn Upturn bars aren’t overly stiff at all. Very neutral. Indeed one thing taller riders will feel most is a sense of relief and neutrality. Finally your hands feel in the place they should have been all along.

Review Info

Brand:	Funn
Product:	Upturn High Riser Handlebar
From:	Funn MTB
Price:	£65.90
Tested:	by Benji for 12 months

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