flat bars on downhill bikes

was up at fort bill through the week and noticed alot of the downhill bars where set up with flat bars.

whats the advantage to flat bars compared to risers ?

Lower front end, more weight over the front wheels; more front wheel grip.

It's to get a lower front end with the long travel forks – helps with cornering. And cos it iz teh sick rad style innit.

surely all this though depends on how low you also set your stem? ie one inch risers will give same position as flat bars set one inch higher????is not thsi a big mfr marketting hype?…leading to demise of decent wide flat bars???

Why not run risers upside down like I did on my 1970s Puch 5 speed?

It was the shizzle on the corners etc

It works though, I've "only" got 5 inch of travel but run a flipped stem and flat bars. It just works, it probbly depends on flexibility (i've got long hamstrings) but I feel much more in controll with the bars that wide and that low compared to the EA50 mid risers I ran with the same stem before.

Wouldn't drops be better then?

Like a road bike?

No, why would they?

Although negative risers would be an interesting development, seeing as DH bikes caren't turn their bars that far anyway they wouldn't interfere with turning circle.

Fashion. Same reason we all started using riser bars in the first place. At the end of the day seat pin, frame, stem and handlebars are all just devices for holding your hands away from your arse away from your feet. You can do anything you like with the 'in between bits', but ultimately what really counts is the position those three parts of your anatomy are in, relative to each other.

RID has it!

Most people these days are running direct mount stems with zero rise so the handlebar is the only way to further lower the front end.

I think riser bars were originally conceived in a world of sub 5" travel forks rather than the 8" forks we now all use.

Got to laugh at everyone now wanting to run flat bars. Bar ends back in fashion by end of 2011?

Its more a fashion thing, i see alot of riders with wide flat bars and a stupid 30degree direct mount stem, the could get a lower front end using a zero degree rise stem and some low rise bars.

Not just fashion, with 2010 Boxxers the front end of my Demo 8 was too high. Zero spacers to remove, it was a choice of drop crowns or flat bars. Since I wanted wider bars anyway it made sense. They look funny and I prefer the look of risers, but they feel good.

Yeah well they are winning races on them rich so best not scoff too loudly.

I know there's a lot of 'following' going on but the pros aren't just doing it to set a fashion. There is science behind it.

I had risers, but when I put 36s on my Pitch it did make the front end pretty high – I've put flat bars on it and it definitely feels better for cornering. Plus I look moar sicker.

And there's science behind bar ends… I was really just agreeing with RID. Doesn't matter what the configuration of stem, bars etc is as long as you can get right position. What does make me laugh is all the followers binning their outdated, redundant risers and shopping for flat bars

RideInDenial is spot on. 'We' all started with flat bars, what goes round comes round. Fashon!! Long travel forks raising the front end is compensated by adjusted frame geometry, or so they keep telling us. Instead of buying riser bars when they 'came in', why didnt we just have a higher rise stem and so it goes on and on and on…..

bar ends on low rise bars are great….ONLY reason I use riser bars are almost total lack of wide flat bars now that rise bar fashion has swept MTB world

.ONLY reason I use riser bars are almost total lack of wide flat bars

Are you kidding, there are loads of wide flat bars around now.

I use 0 rise stem and lo rise bars, seems good enough for my feeble talents! 😀

The scary thing about these threads is the amount of belief in marketing that's exposed.

I don't get the flat v risers debate surely it's a fashion thing and the important bit is getting the stem in the right place?

wide flat bars……..
such as? when I last bought bars, 6 month ago I couldn`t find any graet choice

I fitted flat chromag bars to my 224 and loved them, but lent them to a mate and used his sunline low-risers in the interim. It turns out it was more the width that I liked than the rise, so I now also have sunlines… Anyone want to buy some flat bars?

How do I make a negative length stem? surely that's the next step forwards 😆

By wide you mean 600mm plus?

Truvative Noir

Control Tech

Raceface

Nuke Proof

Just off the top of my head.

The scary thing about these threads is the amount of belief in marketing that's exposed.

What the belief in marketing of risers, or belief in marketing of flat bars? Have you tried both on a downhill bike?

alex222 – Member
Its more a fashion thing, i see alot of riders with wide flat bars and a stupid 30degree direct mount stem, the could get a lower front end using a zero degree rise stem and some low rise bars.

So which setup is structurally better? Let's say strength to weight?

Actually grum it was more a comment on this type of dicussion rather than about this discussion is particular.

If memory serves me, and anyone please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, the reason that riser bars became popular in the first place was because DownHillers were using cut-down moto cross bars due to the fact that they were breaking standard flat bars. Which, at the time, were the only mountain-bike specific bars available and had been designed for the needs of cross country riders rather than downhillers. Thus it became fashionable to use riser bars.

I still stand by my argument that frame, seat pin, stem and bars are all a bunch of tubes and can be arranged in different ways to create a bicycle which behaves in different ways. It doesn't matter if said tubes are straight, curvy, bent, or even if they do a loop the loop…the significant point is where they end up putting your feet, hands and arse and thus distributing your weight.

i've got wide flat bars on my downhill bike, they look weird, and people point and laugh at me. but they feel great.

pay attention james:

riser bars on top of 8" forks is a little silly…

i have riser bars on my xc bike, which when i think about it, seems to be the wrong way round, but it works.

so, if i put flat bars on my xc bike, my hands wouldn't just be lower, they'd be nearer as well – this is good as i ride a gate of a frame.

(and yes, i've tried swapping them, and the riser bars on the xc bike may be going)

(thankyou Nukeproof, your stuff is very good)

something i've found is that if you want your bar's back-sweep in line with your wrists, you have to roll riser bars foward – which increase the reach, or 'virtual stem length' as i've just decided to call it.

geetee name someone who has won a world cup with flat bars! You can't because no one has its pure fashion. Like I said before a flat bar with a fun or other 30 degree rise direct mount stem is higher then my 0 direct mount stem and low rise bars.

clubber, i don't know i've not done any FEA or FDA on either of them, however I would have thought there's pretty much no difference between both of them. oh yeah the frame geometry has been adjusted to keep the front end down and there for a half an inch less rise bar is going to make next to no difference to the height of the bar. width wise king tut i would say 750mm plus.

alex, you sound very angry this morning, do you need a hug? – they're only handlebars.

Alex, I'll explain. Bends make bars weaker so for the same strength they have to be heavier (or made of a stronger material with the same density).

So, flat bars are functionally better. If you can run a setup with a flat bar and higher rise stem or a riser and flatter stem, the first option will be lighter for the same strength. So using riser bars is just fashion if you can get the right position with a flat bar.

using riser bars is just fashion if you can get the right position with a flat bar.

Quite.

But there's something psychological about a riser, just looks a bit more fun/less serious than a flat bar.

width wise king tut i would say 750mm plus.

**** me, I'd suggest a broom handle then.

'We' all started with flat bars, what goes round comes round. Fashon!!

You sure 'bout that? seen those old films of repack, check out those 'flat' bars. Flat narrow bars were a product of fashion back in the nighties, and lets be honest here, that's why you needed bar ends, and **** me. How twitchy on descents? No wonder that 'fashion' only lasted a couple of years

So, flat bars are functionally better.

Entirely depends, for a high ended DH bike, then yep, on my 140mm cham? I doubt it. I agree that riser have to be 'heavier' (if you make them from the same stuff), but it's a worst a couple of grammes. but as RID suggests as long as they put your hands in the right position, then it makes no difference

By wide you mean 600mm plus?

Keep up, try 750mm + I'd consider anything under 650mm a narrow bar

Entirely depends, for a high ended DH bike, then yep, on my 140mm cham? I doubt it. I agree that riser have to be 'heavier' (if you make them from the same stuff), but it's a worst a couple of grammes. but as RID suggests as long as they put your hands in the right position, then it makes no difference

A higher stem and flatter bar would still be better. Of course it'd look crap and that's why some of my bikes still have risers 😉

clubber whilst I understand that bend create stress raisers, i doubt that the overall weight savings are that noticable, especially when you take into acount internal gussets or butting especially as there are upward of 8 buts in some handle bars. ie where there is material required the bar is butted and where the material isn't required the material is removed or thinned out. its a case of removing material from the zero axis as it is completely redundant along this invisible line. burgtec low rise bars 265g – chromag flat bars 305g whilst being 15mm narrower. Of course these are just the list weights but its an example of how little or no weight gains there are to be had from using a flat bar. I also doubt that either bar is 'stonger'