They seem cheap, what do they weigh like?

the 2 in my shed are 600g (renthal alloy) and 820g(pro taper)

The main thing you have to remember about motorbike bars, is that they’re designed have a motorbike fall on them at speed, without bending or breaking.

So even decent bars weigh 600g??!!
I don’t think I’d give it the time of day to research this personally!

weight is much less important when you have a motor. Strength and cheapness rule.

IME they’re not so comfortable as bicycle ones, ie stiffer and thicker wall (even Titanium ones). Not to mention heavier.

Charlie kelly, but probably not since the 70’s

Charlie kelly, but probably not since the 70’s

[old bloke mode]

Ehhh young ‘un, I remember when them new fangled riser bars came out, some time in t’90s it were. Loads of us used to use Renthals of us motorbikes ‘cos it were reet ard to get ‘old of proper MTB ‘uns! I had some on me Kona Cinder Cone if I remember rightly…..

[/old bloke mode]

What’s the clamp size? Could you get a stem to fit?

As above, I would have thought they’d be way too heavy.

IIRC the control/clamp size is different on a motorbike

Really? You can get MTB risers for less than £20. I’m not sure why this is even a consideration?

back in klunker days yep they were used as they were strong and a good shape to fit the repack downhill bikes. weight was less of an issue until gears came along and people realised they needed light bikes to make going up hill easier but soon after this mountain bike manufacturers began producing lightweight bars for mtbs. job done. history lesson over. so unless you were building a klunker a modern mtb bar is strong and light enough to do the job and relatively cheap.

Afaik they have a 22.2mm dia, a friend used a pair on a bike, the reason has left me but I do remember how super wide they were at the time.

Young ‘un!
Genuinely flattered, not as good as getting id’d but close.
Now go feed t’whippet lad.

[old bloke mode]

Ehhh young ‘un, I remember when them new fangled riser bars came out, some time in t’90s it were. Loads of us used to use Renthals of us motorbikes ‘cos it were reet ard to get ‘old of proper MTB ‘uns! I had some on me Kona Cinder Cone if I remember rightly…..

[/old bloke mode]
Aye, BITD when Azonics weren’t wide enough and kids used MX bars at ~780-800mm .. 50mm stems and 1×8 and big rims and tyres .. nowt much new out there.

Yup, that’s it!

A good set of ape hangers could be more like a couple of kilos. Would go well with slacker head angles though.

Charlie Kelly, but probably not since the 70’s

Turns out the equivalent is made by bicycle companies now.

In the ’80s Gary Fisher and I (i.e. “MountainBikes”) were the US importers for Magura motorcycle products, mostly for the brake and clutch levers, but we sold a few of the MX bars. The cross-piece was removable so you could thread it into a stem. It was a little higher rise than what is popular noew.

My Transition “Klunker” model bike came with a pretty good approximation of those ’70s motorcycle bars.

Your be able to put a nice bar pad on them :wink:.least the euro bike companies put good bars on them not like the Japs that use to put those cheap steel crap on them.Have a great pair of Maguras on my Husky.

So if motorbikes have 22.2 diameter bars and clamps and they corner and crash at 3 figure speeds then why was 25.4 on MTBs not stiff enough?

Because we want our bars to weigh a third as much. Also, stiff and strong aren’t the same thing, a thinwalled fat pipe can be stiffer but weaker than a fatwalled thin pipe.