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Building up my new diverge and I have reached the point of installing the bars. I'm using the Salsa Cowbells. Couple of questions:
1) Should the top of the bar after the bend leading onto the grips be horizontal or slightly pointing down?
2) Should the very bottom of the bar be horizontal (therefore affecting point 1).
The answer is : whatever is right for you.
I have the tops flat onto the hoods.
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I'm no expert, but I'd say the starting point should be with the tops horizontal - otherwise you get a weird hand position on the hoods. The bottom probably therefore won't be horizontal on flared bars but I don't know the Cowbells specifically.
I'd try them in different positions, down, up, and then decide what was the best for you. We all have different body shapes and flexability so it's down to the individual what is most comfy for the riding they do.
Tops after the bend flat is a good starting point. It used to be the very end of the drop was set horizontal to the ground but that was before compact/flared and generally weird shaped bars came along.
Ride Without Tape
Assess
Adjust.
Repeat.
Etc.
Tape when happy.
(Then a week or so later decide that the brake levers need moving by 10mm and 3 deg 🤣)
I've the on one midge bars. Started off with the tops level, but meant the drops were too angled down and I couldn't get a confident enough hand hold. Rotated down a bit and brought the levers up to compensate, now comfy for both tops and drops.
Lever tops inline with the top of the bars and the bars tilted back a couple of degrees. Tilt your levers in a couple of degrees too. This is based on a drop (bars to saddle height difference) of only a couple of cm's
I find the angle of the bars to be dependent on the amount of drop you have, the less drop the more the bars should tilt up and the more the drop you have the more the bars should tilt down. If no drop then try the bars level.
When I built my first road bike I just looked at Google images of how others had set their bikes up for a reference. Also I prefer a compact drop bar.
When I got my cowbells I started with flat tops rather than flat drops - then I adjusted them (and the levers) a tiny bit over the next few rides, but didn’t once focus on the angle of the drops. I noticed the changes to the tops but the drop angle didn’t have much effect on me.
We used to angle the drop to point roughly at the rear axle (in the 60s)
A lot depends on how long your stem is. These days I favour the same set up as scotroutes, tops flat to lever.
The best bet is to ride around a bit with no bar tape and experiment because people are not of uniform shape or flexibility.
http://www.63xc.com/mattc/midge.htm
Thanks all. Will ride it without wrapping the bars and adjust from there.