I've had to opt for a fugly System EX adjustable stem until I dial in my gravel position on the bike. I'm 170cm, but with that I have a mid axle to saddle of 870mm and a short reach. Think Chewbacca length legs on a time bandit torso and you are getting there lol. My gravel bike is an "S", but if I go to "M" then I get extra stack(could do with L stack), but also extra reach which I don't want(could do with XS reach). My gravel position until now has been almost identical to my road bike but it's rubbish off road so now with a 90mm stem at 50 (!) degrees on top of the steerer with as many spacers as I can get and the bars are about level with the saddle and it's way more comfortable and fun to ride. My neck was getting battered on anything other than flat smooth off road....Some of these 70mm rise redshifts on one of their suspension stems may be the answer to my woes....either that or a FS XC bike with a double (28/38)chainring up front, or just forget drops and go alt bars on the gravel bike....I've wrapped a bandana/buff tube thingy around the stem and have a small bar bag just to try and hide the stem it's so uncool lol...
In case all spacers are below the stem and the bar still is to low, one could also consider to get a bigger frame size. This leads a more comfortable position (maybe in addition with are shorter stem). Nevertheless an interesting option :)
For my 2018 Trek Domane AL3 I'm currently looking at the Specialized $55 Hover Expert Alloy Handlebar with 15mm rise to make it my comfy fun road bike.
I have been loving mine, 53 cm width 70 mm rise version. I put it on my old titanium rigid MTB I refuse to part with. It gets the drops a bit lower and more aggressive than the flat bar it was designed around while giving me a more upright position on the hoods.
I can see these becoming super popular. Even I'm thinking about getting some, and normally I think people that use drop bars have some sort of lycra fetish and would be better off contained in rooms with rubber wallpaper. Riser bars in general seem to be, er... on the rise for people that don't shred mad gnarr and do backflips over every hump, in the groups I'm in people are always posting that they made the switch to bars with more height to them just for hand positions and combating pins and needles. Good stuff!
More Rise = More Comfort. Most people aren't looking to wear lycra and go fast (at least in the "gravel" world). I can also confirm it makes a big difference if you get any numbness or discomfort in your hands.
Nice video, thanks. Wish you had shown the bike on a level spot with full side view. Are your bars "Neutral" level to saddle height, or a little above saddle height? I just reverted to drop bars on a new fully rigid mtn bike for comfort. Black Mountain Cycles La Cabra has tall head tube, so my bar is about 1/2" above SH using a Cowchipper bar, 22 deg stem. Happy trails!
My saddle height is just a hair under the bar height, but obviously that’ll be different for everyone. I don’t know if I’d want it any higher in the front for my use case.
@@RideYearRound Thanks, and I agree. If bar is too much above SH then steering into corners is adversely effected. I'm at 1/2" above, with shorter reach for my age (71), and I'm super comfy. Flat bars, even Jones H bar, I can only ride for about 20 miles before old hands, wrists, elbows hurt. ☮
I hope you don't mind if I ask you for your chest or shoulder measurements. I want something to go by when ordering a bar for myself. My chest is 42 inches in circumference. I have used road bars of 44cm in the past. Thank you for all of your informative videos.
When I use the tip of the shoulder blade measurement I get 46.5cm. I have broader shoulders and have always preferred wider bars, which is especially true on dirt.
Your problem is that bikes are assembled with the steerer cut down as low as possible rather than leaving 3 or 4 inches above the headset so you can raise the stem with spacers. With quill stems you could adjust bar height, the way bikes are built up these days makes it impossible. Yet another negative consequence of the racing bike image.
Moving the stem up the steerer adds stack, but it also shortens the reach which is something you may not want for an optimal fit or body position. Riser bars only add rise (unless you're also adding a bunch of back sweep). I agree though, I hate when steerers are cut super short and don't allow you to significantly adjust anything.
Indeed. But the issue is that many forks do not allow for excessive spacing between the headset and the stem, especially not on carbon steerers. The reasoning is that it acts as a lever arm on the headset.
I've had to opt for a fugly System EX adjustable stem until I dial in my gravel position on the bike. I'm 170cm, but with that I have a mid axle to saddle of 870mm and a short reach. Think Chewbacca length legs on a time bandit torso and you are getting there lol. My gravel bike is an "S", but if I go to "M" then I get extra stack(could do with L stack), but also extra reach which I don't want(could do with XS reach). My gravel position until now has been almost identical to my road bike but it's rubbish off road so now with a 90mm stem at 50 (!) degrees on top of the steerer with as many spacers as I can get and the bars are about level with the saddle and it's way more comfortable and fun to ride. My neck was getting battered on anything other than flat smooth off road....Some of these 70mm rise redshifts on one of their suspension stems may be the answer to my woes....either that or a FS XC bike with a double (28/38)chainring up front, or just forget drops and go alt bars on the gravel bike....I've wrapped a bandana/buff tube thingy around the stem and have a small bar bag just to try and hide the stem it's so uncool lol...
In case all spacers are below the stem and the bar still is to low, one could also consider to get a bigger frame size. This leads a more comfortable position (maybe in addition with are shorter stem). Nevertheless an interesting option :)
For my 2018 Trek Domane AL3 I'm currently looking at the Specialized $55 Hover Expert Alloy Handlebar with 15mm rise to make it my comfy fun road bike.
I have been loving mine, 53 cm width 70 mm rise version. I put it on my old titanium rigid MTB I refuse to part with. It gets the drops a bit lower and more aggressive than the flat bar it was designed around while giving me a more upright position on the hoods.
That sounds like a fun set up!
Nice handlebar for my way too small bike that I had to put the stem 10 degrees up, 130 mm 😂
I can see these becoming super popular. Even I'm thinking about getting some, and normally I think people that use drop bars have some sort of lycra fetish and would be better off contained in rooms with rubber wallpaper. Riser bars in general seem to be, er... on the rise for people that don't shred mad gnarr and do backflips over every hump, in the groups I'm in people are always posting that they made the switch to bars with more height to them just for hand positions and combating pins and needles. Good stuff!
More Rise = More Comfort. Most people aren't looking to wear lycra and go fast (at least in the "gravel" world). I can also confirm it makes a big difference if you get any numbness or discomfort in your hands.
I'm intrigued
Nice video, thanks. Wish you had shown the bike on a level spot with full side view. Are your bars "Neutral" level to saddle height, or a little above saddle height? I just reverted to drop bars on a new fully rigid mtn bike for comfort. Black Mountain Cycles La Cabra has tall head tube, so my bar is about 1/2" above SH using a Cowchipper bar, 22 deg stem. Happy trails!
My saddle height is just a hair under the bar height, but obviously that’ll be different for everyone. I don’t know if I’d want it any higher in the front for my use case.
@@RideYearRound Thanks, and I agree. If bar is too much above SH then steering into corners is adversely effected. I'm at 1/2" above, with shorter reach for my age (71), and I'm super comfy. Flat bars, even Jones H bar, I can only ride for about 20 miles before old hands, wrists, elbows hurt. ☮
I hope you don't mind if I ask you for your chest or shoulder measurements. I want something to go by when ordering a bar for myself. My chest is 42 inches in circumference. I have used road bars of 44cm in the past. Thank you for all of your informative videos.
When I use the tip of the shoulder blade measurement I get 46.5cm. I have broader shoulders and have always preferred wider bars, which is especially true on dirt.
Your problem is that bikes are assembled with the steerer cut down as low as possible rather than leaving 3 or 4 inches above the headset so you can raise the stem with spacers. With quill stems you could adjust bar height, the way bikes are built up these days makes it impossible. Yet another negative consequence of the racing bike image.
Moving the stem up the steerer adds stack, but it also shortens the reach which is something you may not want for an optimal fit or body position. Riser bars only add rise (unless you're also adding a bunch of back sweep). I agree though, I hate when steerers are cut super short and don't allow you to significantly adjust anything.
Indeed. But the issue is that many forks do not allow for excessive spacing between the headset and the stem, especially not on carbon steerers. The reasoning is that it acts as a lever arm on the headset.
Like the hover 15mm