So I bought an H Bar to go on my Ramin. All good on the straights, I'd started with a 65mm stem and it felt a grip diameter wrong. Ordered a 35mm stem and tried it for size (going on daughters bike so nothing to lose by trying).
Went out for a ride yesterday and it just felt crap. On the ups its really skittish and prone to lifting and on the downs it's just not confidence inspiring (but I'm not sure if that's the strange new hand position).
Any thoughts? Would I be as well trying a 50mm stem as that's the mid spot?
FWIW the previous riser bars were spot on for off road but not great for longer rides which was why I got the H bars. I'm happy to get used to them or just accept I won't be attacking stuff as hard but I want the same planted front end on the clibs that I had before which they just weren't offering.
I love my Loops on the Rooster, but I'm old school (and just old) and so I'm on a 70mm stem.
I don't think you need too short a stem on Jones bars though as they put your hands further back (but at a more comfortable angle IMO).
If you end up hating them, drop me a pm 😉
When you say "grip diameter wrong"what do you mean?
Used Jones bars with the same system length as before. Felt fine. Ended up dropping them back a couple of cm as it took a bit of weight off my hands. Been great ever since. Think the lifting thing maybe be making it too short?
If you can borrow a 50mm give it a try. I've loved my Jones bars.
I’ve got 2 bikes with h/loop bars. If you’re used to riding with an elbows-out ‘attack’ position, then you may find them odd at first. I also have mine angled down to give a more relaxed wrist position. For me, no problem riding really steep or techy stuff both up and down.
@dovebiker yeah that sounds right, I'm happy to give it time.
@u02sgb I meant I fitted them and my hand wanted to be a grip diameter back (if you imagine the axis along the bike) from where they were. Maybe I just didn't give them a decent run.
Pretty sure I have a 50mm stem so it wouldnt be hard to see what they're like, otherwise I have the original stem I can put back on. At least it sounds like I'm on the right track.
Possibly try a longer stem. I have mine on a 110mm stem on my anthem as the position of the grips moves the hands back, and they’re spot on
Sorry to hijack the post, but where are we getting Jones bars from these days?
Bothy Bikes seem to have good stock but aren't particularly shy on pricing.
I have a Jones with H bars which is a fair bit shorter than the Ramin, but I use 90-100mm stem to put the tips of the bar or main grip position in the right place relative to the steerer. I also had a 90mm with H bars on my old Genesis 26" SS.
I think they'd feel odd with such a short stem. The idea with the longer grip range and sweep is the wider rearward part is your descent or singletrack position and you move your hands fwd a few inches for climbing.
I think these bars also work best when relatively high, around level with the saddle, ime if the front end is low they never feel as good.
No idea where folk are getting them, mine were second hand.
FWIW the reason I had them so far back was the fitting guide for the Mk2s says a normal (non-Jones) bike may need a shorter stem.
the fitting guide for the Mk2s says a normal (non-Jones) bike may need a shorter stem.
Not for me to doubt the bar designer but if your hands were in the right place before with (eg) a 50mm stem and flat bar, I expect you'd stay the same or go longer on the stem for an H-bar not shorter, to account for the sweep and put your hands in a similar position relative to the steerer. You want to be at the back of the bar grip area when descending so have your hand close to or just behind the previous flat bar's position there.
The advice about a shorter stem may be about how H-bars work better (ime) on shorter reach bikes and a Jones is much shorter than most MTBs are now.
Ex Jones owner here that's had H and loop bars on several different bikes.
My advice would be to run a 90 mm stem and point the rear of the bars down.
You want them kind of pointing down at the rear axle.
This way they take on a more 3D kind of a shape and feel more natural.
I always left like my hands were going to come off them if I had them too flat.
Also go for really long grips that make full use of different hand positions.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/3515/3959784890_3d08fe9cb7_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/3515/3959784890_3d08fe9cb7_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/72UW6h ]2009_0927ashtonlot0030[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/ ]StuartBrettle[/url], on Flickr
+1 on the bar angle point there ^
Oh that's much more than mine!
I'm at about 10 degrees which feels comfy at that point, moving them forwards I can see why more angle would work.
All much appreciated 🙂
I run some Salsa Swallow bars that put my hands in the same position as the Jones (angles and swept back). You will need a LONGER stem to put them the same distance from the steerer (100 mm in my case). Otherwise a shorter stem will make the steering more sensitive as the pivot radius (perpendicular distance from hands to steerer) will be smaller.
As above.
Longer stem to cater for the sweep and angle down slightly.
I then fit ergon gp1 grips.
Fitted a 90mm stem and took it on the same run as before. Night and day; front end is planted, back to normal on the downs and nice and comfy.
Steering feels like a boat at slow speed (like, practically track standing) and it feels like it's tramlining in ruts but that could be tyre pressure as opposed to anything else. All in all its quite subtle so I'm not bothered, the bike feels like I wanted it to so thats all that matters.
Got a set of foam grips with them which I'm liking, just need to tape up the horns for the extra position.
Thanks everyone and apologies to bonzodog, they'll be staying with me!
I have some planet X knock offs.
They are on a MTB that came with a 35mm stem.
I've ended up with a 100mm stem and the bar angled down at the back.
The bike has had a ridgid carbon fork fitted instead of a suspension fork. I think the fork is a bit short axel to crown which has resulted in some odd set up choices. My saddle is all the way back on the rails, every other bike I've ever had has had the saddle rails all the way forward.