Higher rise bars, have you ? Do you ? Did you stick ?

I raised mine by moving a 10mm spacer below the stem. It felt better immediately on the downhills, can’t say any worse on the uphills.

Yep, 35, 38 and 40 rise on my bikes. 6'1 on large 29ers.

We've discussed this at length on here but in a nutshell I think front ends are too low across the board especially with modern LLS geometry.

I settled on 40mm Fatbars on my Geometron and was happy until it got nicked. Bought a Norco Sight with 20mm bars which were way too low and replaced with 38mm Burgtec. Much more comfortable.

My Privateer 141 has the standard Pro-Taper bars fitted which are 30mm I think, with 2 10mm spacers. I've tried to get used to them but they'll be swapped out for 38 or 40 rise eventually. Even if it's just to cut the steerer and bin the spacers. I much prefer to get my rise from the bar which can be adjusted fore and aft and maintain the longish reach.

Plus I might be sad, old retired DH rider but I think high rise bars look cool and a stack of spacers looks goofy, so I'll happily use the former to delete the latter!

I was thinking of trying these when they're back in stock.- https://www.gussetcomponents.com/shop/handlebars-stems-grips/s2-handlebars-318mm/

They come in 50mm with a matching 31.8 stem. If they're too big I'll stick them on the DJ bike.

@sharkattack I've got some DMR Wingbars you can try in a 35 rise with 31.8

https://www.dmrbikes.com/Catalogue/Components/Handlebars/Alloy-WingBar-MK4

Used once.

38mm is my preference and I ain't going back to lower, headtubes are pretty short these days and I don't want a stack of spacers under the stem eating into my reach, I also don't like the look of it.

@weeksy

38mm risers on mine. Bloody lovely.

Went from 15mm rise to 25mm on my Evil Calling. It's a mullet so has a 62.5 degree head angle and 460mm reach for me at 5'9". I went back - I couldn't get enough weight through the front tyre.

I've got 38mm on mine and think I could go higher (I'm 6ft1 on a size L Sentinel). I've got a cheap set of 50mm Nukeproof bars in the shed for a different build but I'm tempted to give them a try.

I always run 38-40mm riser bars and lots of spacers so I probably need to get some 50mm rise at some point. I couldn’t go back to lower rise and now really hate doing steeper stuff and bigger jumps on bikes with a low rise. Fine on the ups too on my bike 🙂

Actually, the Nukeproof bars are even cheaper at CRC - £31.99 isn't a lot to try it out if you're curious (and already have a 31.8 stem).

@weeksy per previous discussions you sized down with the Slayer - so I’m not surprised if you find the front a little low. Like others have said I think head tubes are often a bit short on modern bikes to add to that - when I built my Marino I stuck in quite a long head tube vs other medium bikes (125mm vs often 100-110mm). I think it rides better because of it.

On that basis why not give it a go and see how it feels? Maybe give it at least 5 rides in varying places before chucking it if you don’t like the feel.

A higher front end definitely gives you more confidence on steep tech - although it can move your weight back a bit so making it a little harder to weight the front on fast / flat corners. As your bike has a relatively short reach vs your height I don’t think you’d find that an issue though.

Very tempted to get some high rise bars for a go. I saw someone on an old school mtb a few weeks back with Renthal-like BMX bars. Maybe a bit too high rise for what I’m thinking of, but they looked comfy in a cruiser-like way.

Currently highest rise are some on-one knucklebars. Maybe 25mm rise? Tempted by 50mm.

I got these in 50 mm and they sorted my bike out without it looking like a BMX.
https://www.wiggle.com/p/nukeproof-dolos-50mm-rise-handlebar

The main criticism of a high rise bars is that you can't put weight on the front wheel, but to those people I ask this question...Do you have elbows?

The difference between an average (20mm) rise and a 'high' (40mm) bar is that you're making your hands sit 20mm higher. For me the biggest difference is a much more comfortable seated pedalling position and it's easier to lift the front wheel when you need to. The rest of the time when you're riding fast or descending, you're standing up and you can put your body weight anywhere you like.

I always find it funny when people say a high bar takes weight off the front wheel as if your whole body just rigidly pivots backwards.

Flat up to about 25mm max is about right for me or I find it hard to push through the front. But I am short at 5'8".

All the spacers and 38mm bars on my full sus enduro bike, all the spacers and 60mm bars on the hardtail. As said ^ much better for me as well on steep trails.

Every bike I have, I always get on with to a degree - but then when I get around to raising the front end I'm always happier.

27mm on mine, but a couple of decent sized spacers underneath. Mulleting it brought the front end up, but before that I was definitely considering going to at least 40mm. As it is, it's feeling spot on at the moment

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The main criticism of a high rise bars is that you can’t put weight on the front wheel, but to those people I ask this question…Do you have elbows

Yeah, but for the same given standing/ elbows bent position, shorties have far less weight/ are not able to push down as hard on the front wheel, so gotta get the weight pushed through by lowering the bars.

For me the biggest difference is a much more comfortable seated pedalling position and it’s easier to lift the front wheel when you need to. The rest of the time when you’re riding fast or descending, you’re standing up and you can put your body weight anywhere you like.

Having a lower front end makes it much easier for me to move my weight over the front wheel - for me, easier is better. Of course I have elbows, but if I'm having to bend them more to get my weight lower then I'm removing some of my range of movement for big hits. I'm flexible enough to be able to maintain a reasonably aggressive position with larger bar drop than most (and I don't have a gut to get in the way) so don't have any issue with my seated position. If anything, when I've ridden friends' bikes with high bars I can sometimes feel like my spine is having to rotate in a way it's not comfortable with.

I realise I'm an outlier in this, but I'm happy with being able to more easily shift my weight over the front wheel.

I run 38mm risers on my BFEMax. Defo found the front end to low on that. Other bikes still run 20mm but with some spacers below the stem.

@zippykona thanks. Neat and fairly-priced. Tempting.

I wondered what others there were. The Wiggle search results were poor.

I’m flexible enough to be able to maintain a reasonably aggressive position with larger bar drop than most (and I don’t have a gut to get in the way)

Are you calling me fat?

I've long legs for my height consequentially every bike I've ever tried/owned has had too short a headtube and therefore I've run a stack of spaces and a riser bar.

Only in the last couple of bikes have the bar ends started to be near to the saddle height - just looking at pics of my old 26's and I reckon the saddle was 6" higher.

I dunno, buying new kit cos it's the latest fashion. How the bike industry keeps going isn't it?
Maybe my full sus would feel better with higher rise bars, but I haven't got £100 to chuck about here and there on the maybes these days.

No time like the present.

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All in all i'm 99% happy with them, i sure felt like i went faster on my usual test trail. It did feel a bit weird as though my hands were too far forward, so i've tilted them back slightly now, but only slightly.
These are a 35mm rise, which isn't massively extreme but is 10mm higher than my usual bars. I do have a set of Burgtec 38s which a mate has borrowed.
I also wonder if you can actually feel 'flex' in 31.8s compared to 35dia... it sure felt like it.... But maybe a placebo effect in action.

I also wonder if you can actually feel ‘flex’ in 31.8s compared to 35dia… it sure felt like it…. But maybe a placebo effect in action.

I can weight my 31.8's and see them flex

I swapped from 30mm DMR risers to some 60mm Spank ones  on my Ragley Blue Pig. Love em. Bit more back sweep on them too 👍

Went from the stock 20mm to 25mm, and now 35mm on my short travel 29er. Felt better each and every time.

Agreed that modern head tube lengths are generally too low for tall, leggy riders (like me). Also, nothing worse than having your weight forward and low on a descent.

Who's Slayer?

(I'm jokin!)

also wonder if you can actually feel ‘flex’ in 31.8s compared to 35dia… it sure felt like it…. But maybe a placebo effect in action.

If you have your forks locked out, probably

40mm on both bikes (with 29” front wheels and 160mm forks) and I’m just over 5’10”. I do only run a 10mm spacer under the stem though.

I’m sure you can feel the difference in bar flex - suspension forks are very resistant to high frequency movement whilst bars move equally well at all frequencies (apart from up around their resonant frequencies where they’ll move much easier but that’s super high).

Higher bars make more sense the more you want to optimise downhill.  The steeper the downs and the less you care about the up, the more they make sense.

taking it to extremes:

38mm Nukeproof for me but I have some 50mm Title bars in chrome (😍) that I’m planning on trying out

Burgtec ride high for me

10mm higher, felt too high on anything but steep downhill. With 430mm chainstays I had my chest on the stem trying to keep the front down on steep climbs.

10mm lower, felt too low and couldn't put weight down on the front.

Try the Atherton sizing calculator, it takes a few body measurements, then compare to your current bike. For me it came out with the exact stack of my current bike, which I run with 15mm of spacers and a 20mm riser.

How do you output the Atherton calc

38mm is my preference and I ain’t going back to lower, headtubes are pretty short these days and I don’t want a stack of spacers under the stem eating into my reach, I also don’t like the look of it.

Aren’t the higher bars also eating into your reach to pretty much the same degree?

Unless your bars have no sweep and are mounted so the rise is perfectly vertical, it’ll be the same as the spacers as the rise will be parallel (or possibly even slacker, thus worse) to the HT angle.

I’d prefer a mix of spacers and rise as both in extremes look rather weird, the latter especially on 31.8mm bars.

I’m on 35mm rise On Up - I changed from 20mm.  I used to run flat bars on 29ers, but the front end has dropped so much in recent years that even 20mm feels too short.

It’s not just smaller head tubes - shorter stems with little to no rise have also contributed 10-20mm to the drop too.

How do you output the Atherton calc

It's on the product pages under Frame Size e.g. https://www.athertonbikes.com/am-150-1.html

It's broken unless you make a selection in the preceding colour and graphic steps.

Presumably it will give different numbers for different models, so pick the one closes to your bike.

This is just their opinion based formula on what the perfect custom geo for you is, so obviously just one data point. I don't know what bar rise or how many spacers they come with.

I didn't quite get on with either higher rise overall. I'd say on some of the downward stuff they may have been better, but not night and day... Both were 38mm rise, a pair of Burgtec 38 in 35dia and a set of DMR 38 in 31.6

I ended up going back to the 27mm rise of the Rocky Mountain standards.

Just feels nicer straight away, when pedalling with the higher bars it seems 'weavy'

“I didn’t quite get on with either higher rise overall.”

You’ve already got about 25mm of spacers below the stem. That stack makes much more of a difference than going between 27 and 38mm bar rise.

You’ve already got about 25mm of spacers below the stem. That stack makes much more of a difference than going between 27 and 38mm bar rise.

Yeah that's how it came from the factory/shop... i don't know if they usually run it high stock... but that's where it came... so that's where it runs... i think there's 4x5mm so 20mm.

I thought you were a pro bike tweaker and here you are running bikeshop stack height. Get that hacksaw out!

Or at least, move the stem down 10mm and try the higher bar again. It'll look better if nothing else. Think of the weight saving from removing 10mm of steerer tube and 2 spacers.

Narrower  @ 760mm & 40mm rise on an XL, all positive

On my Cannondale Scalpel, I actually have the front as low as possible.
- Slammed stem (no spacers)
- Stem upside down
- Flat bars (with a decent amount of sweep)
- Slack headset (this actually raised the stem about 10mm but still lowered the overall bar height due to slackening the head angle by 1.5 degrees).
I love it.

Totally different to my Hello Dave with it's Moto bars and stack of spacers under the stem. Which I equally love. 🤷‍♂️