flat bars on downhill bikes

ahwhiles i will take that hug thanks

I've always considered risers as fashion. And to my engineering mind, flats make more sense.

Thing is, it's a matter of months since I made the move to risers – due to a new bike build and an inability to source flat bars…..gah! if only I'd waited a while longer.

I have bar ends on my bike, can't live without then. Fashion is nothing, function is everything.

A higher stem and flatter bar would still be better.

Define 'better', I've never broken a riser (use Easton low rise carbon, more or less flat anyway).

I have bar ends on my bike, can't live without then. Fashion is nothing, function is everything.

then the bar's not wide enough

2 words

'Sam' 'Hill'

BRRRAAAAAAAPPPPP

sam hill uses gravity risers matey.

I defined better previously – strength to weight. There's no other functional difference between flat bars and risers.

Alex – list weights but even if they were right or they were the same weight, for the same material, the flat bar would be significantly stronger.

hmm, i know where you're coming from but it simply doesn't add up, surely if this were the case mx bike would have always had higher rise stems and flat bars? also see the point on internal gussets. whilst i understand the principal of what you're saying the argument simply doesn't stack up. if handles were made from plain guage tubing then yes you would be right but there is bound to be a significant amount of fea done by handlebar manufacturers to make sure that the bars won't fail. it is worth noting that 'flat' bars also have stress raiser in them at the mounting point and a riser can actually maintain a straighter section through this point. i would have thought that the greatest stress raisers were at the handle bar mount.

sorry alex
2 words

jason mcroy

BRRRAAAAP

i think you mean jason mcroy. look on google images he used cut down mx bars back in the day.

what is your point alex?

X

that flat bars aren't stonger or lighter than riser bars but they look far uglier.

bars don't have internal guessets – they start out as a straight tube which is bent so they design them with different thicknesses at different points to account for where they'll be weakened (eg bent). Riser bars have to be thicker through all of the bends.

it is worth noting that 'flat' bars also have stress raiser in them at the mounting point and a riser can actually maintain a straighter section through this point. i would have thought that the greatest stress raisers were at the handle bar mount.

I'm not really quite sure what you mean by this but the greatest stress should be just outside of the stem where there's maxiumum bending moment on the bar. If you're suggesting that the stem clamp is loading them more than that then I think they'd have to be very heavily overtightened…

I actually don't know why some motor bikes have riser type bars – historical reasons I suspect – again to raise the front end while retaining the clamp on the fork crown which is already in place. Anyone with motorcycle experience/knowledge?

alex222 – Member
that flat bars aren't stonger or lighter than riser bars

Sorry, basic engineering FAIL 😉 You can argue that the differences may be marginal if you like but not that they're not there. As for ugly. I recall everyone saying the same about riser bars in the mid-late 90s 😉

alex could you tell me then who uses flat bars for downhill…

just so that I can make the brraaap noise

thanks

alex222 – Member

that flat bars aren't stonger or lighter than riser bars but they look far uglier

if you don't like them, don't use them, there, that was easy wasn't it?

bars do have internal gussets mate. my slam xlt bars on my bmx have 8 or more. what i mean is take say a element nickle wide bar, they are sweeping back from the stem whereas say a burgtec bar they are sweepinf from the first knuckle or bend so as you have just said the greatest moment on a stress raiser is going to be on the element nickle wide bar. fact.

while i agree with the principal of what you're saying. whilst you say engineering fail to me (i am an engineer and i am about to start my masters, i have industrial experience) the shere number of bendy bars and the amount of fea going in to these product these days actually says fail to you.

clubber also jmc died in 94 and he was using mx riser bars on his bike. i didn't start riding until around then so that could be the reason i love them so much. just get low rise bars and suck up the fact that they are better.

rudi boy, no one on the world cup circuit uses them, if they were that great every bar manufacturer would make them and use them without exception. so there is no precident to show that flat bars are better.

Good grief! As DH bikes have got better and the forks work better, we've realised that you need to get your weight over the front to make that big fork work. Yeah, they're funny looking, ugly even, but they work.
Just for reference, my large VPfree has a stupidly long head tube, with normal riser bars and a conventional stem, the bar height is up in the clouds. I still have a riser bar (Fun 15mm rise/750wide) but to achieve the same net result my stem in fitted upside down. Having tried it back to back with stem normal way up and higher rise bars, its definatley better. I'm quicker and feel more in control than just a passenger. Its very easy to say its fashionable, but as said before, its all about getting them contact points in the right positions.

Kore Torison – 800mm nice!

I supose as no-one actually measures the distance from ground-handlebar, there's plenty of scope for people on the internet to tell you 'your front needs to be lower'.

Flat bars do look a bit crap though, FACT. You need a bit o curve there I reckons

as a tall person i always end up with a couple of inches of spacers under a stem, and a riser bar. this leaves the fork steerer much longer than it could be if i used a rising stem and flat (lighter) bars. there would be less steerer to twist along its length, and less steerer to flex around the bearing points and loftily held stem. if it wasn't for the lack of cash these days id be trying out a steep stem and a flat bar, and i suspect saving weight and losing some noodliness. (i weigh 15+ stone without any gear on…)

apart from a slightly longer stem, this seems logical yes?

Good grief! As DH bikes have got better and the forks work better, we've realised that you need to get your weight over the front to make that big fork work. Yeah, they're funny looking, ugly even, but they work.
Just for reference, my large VPfree has a stupidly long head tube, with normal riser bars and a conventional stem, the bar height is up in the clouds. I still have a riser bar (Fun 15mm rise/750wide) but to achieve the same net result my stem in fitted upside down. Having tried it back to back with stem normal way up and higher rise bars, its definatley better. I'm quicker and feel more in control than just a passenger. Its very easy to say its fashionable, but as said before, its all about getting them contact points in the right positions.

I agree with this. Things move on, so we tried riser bars, and they work. Then people start running 160mm forks on 'trail' bikes and now it seems that flat bars with sweep allow you to work the fork better and keep in a decent riding position, whats wrong with that?

I'm not sure it's fashion or marketing, just something different.

Dirt Mag bar width video
Make your own minds up, though I'd say Ben Cathro and Cam Cole's bars look pretty damn flat to me. Pretty much everyone else there using minimal rise apart from the syndicate guys?

I don't think bar height from ground would really work, as its also kind of subjective to the bikes other contact points like the pedals.

I've always considered risers as fashion

Risers have been around for nigh on half the popular life of the mtb. Far from fashion.

I reckon a short stem and riser bars is lighter than a long stem and a flat bar. Anyone care to google this? I cba 🙂

Personally I can see the point. Until early this year I thought low front ends were daft. Now, having tried it, it makes sense. Taller forks and improved fork tech means more weight over the front is better.

However the flat bar isn't for everyone. I run very low risess and a 0 rise stem on my bigger bike because I can't find a flat bar that adequately mimics the shape of riser I like.

On my xc race bike I run 580mm flats and a 5 degree drop stem. Low is good, although there is such a thing as too low.

clubber also jmc died in 94 and he was using mx riser bars on his bike. i didn't start riding until around then so that could be the reason i love them so much. just get low rise bars and suck up the fact that they are better.

Yeah get em clubber and suck it up.

jmc died in 94 and he was using mx riser bars on his bike

…so therefore flat bars are better.

I FEAd this thread, and its got a huge stress riser in the middle of it: alex222

FWIW, since I started MTBing just a bit before that, it was actually 95 when he died.
http://www.jasonmcroy.com/jmc/the-jmc-story

And Alex, you're certainly very persuasive with your well argued, researched and explained arguments 😉

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:

look good but I use old fashioned?? 25.4 bars and stems!!!; are o/s bars another fashion fad too?

Go on clubber, tell him to suck it up.

clubber i'm glad we're now on the same hymn sheet. 😛

"are o/s bars another fashion fad too?"

Yes. Very much so.

From pinkbike here: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/2011-specialized-demo-8-brendan-fairclough.html

You and your gang may be trying to see who can get their bars the lowest, but Brendan is of the opinion that enough is enough. His '11 Demo not only sports a proper riser bar, but also a healthy amount of headset spacers under his crown. Then again, he is riding steeper, burlier, and harder tracks a touch faster than you. Just a touch…

There is also an audio bite on the site for more insight.

Its also interesting with his bike he's now running 1×6 gears – 30 or 31 / 9-21:
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/1×6-specialized-gearing-2010.html

We also know that it is a rather personal taste – bar height and if you watch Brendan on a race run, he's probably the most 'relaxed' looking riding style on the circuit. Bet Sam Hill's setup is quite different.