{"id":6452,"date":"2014-10-15T15:29:56","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T14:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/?p=6452"},"modified":"2019-03-11T01:37:10","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T01:37:10","slug":"buyers-guide-to-mtb-handlebars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/buyers-guide-to-mtb-handlebars\/","title":{"rendered":"Buyers Guide to MTB Handlebars"},"content":{"rendered":"

They aren’t just straight pipes. Selecting the most suitable handlebar for your bike and your riding is important. It’s thankfully nicely straightforward. Here’s the low-down.
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\nYour hands govern how your bike rides. Where you put them and how they interact wit the bike and the trail is dictated by your handlebar. It’s an important component that has a massive effect on your whole riding experience.<\/p>\n

Mountain bike handlebars have four main variables: width, rise, sweep, and material.<\/p>\n

\"easton<\/p>\n

Width<\/h2>\n

Mountain bike handlebars have got wider over the past decade or so. The common range for a normal bar width has now settled down to between 700mm to 800mm (27.5″ to 31.5″ in old money).<\/p>\n

What width you choose to ride is a matter of personal preference, terrain and body shape. We would recommend buying a bar that appears to be too wide – you can always easily trim it down to a finalised, desired size after a couple of test rides. If you’re finding it too hard to pull the front wheel up then the bars may need a trim. Otherwise leave it nice and wide.<\/p>\n

Very few people regret making the move to a wider handlebar. With a proper width handlebar you’ll no longer be riding with the outside of your palms hanging off the ends of the grips. This results in more comfort and a surprising amount more control.<\/p>\n

A wide bar in general improves your bike handling, control and confidence. Greater balance and stability. Your cornering ability will also improve.<\/p>\n

Rise<\/h2>\n

How much upwards rise a handlebar has. Not applicable to flat bars which are… er, flat. Bars with low-to-mid rises are the norm (20mm to 35mm). You can get low rise bars (7mm-20mm rise) and high rise bars (35mm-\"easton50mm rise).<\/p>\n

Again, it’s a personal preference and body shape thing as to which sort of rise you get along with best. Having said that, as wheel sizes have got bigger and suspension has got longer, the trend for lower rise bars has developed. If in doubt, just go for mid-rise.<\/p>\n

The range of long travel 29ers now available has lead to a rebirth of the flat bar. Once the reserve of lycra XC racers, the nu skool flat bars are much, much wider (700mm to 800mm just like modern riser bars).<\/p>\n

Sweep<\/h2>\n

\"raceSweep dictates the bar’s shape. Sweep refers to how swept-back and swept-up the handlebar is. Handlebars are not straight, even flat bars are swept in some way.<\/p>\n

Handlebars are swept in two dimension: back and up. The common range of back sweep is anywhere between 6\u00b0 and 9\u00b0. The common range of up sweep is 4\u00b0 to 5\u00b0.<\/p>\n

It’s this combination of sweeps that give a handlebar its handling characteristics. A good mid-range combo is 8\u00b0 back and 4\u00b0 up. Most people suit this bar shape.<\/p>\n

Material<\/h2>\n

Handlebars are either aluminium or carbon. Carbon is usually the more expensive option and can be lighter and stiffer. Manufacturers of carbon bars also claim that it can reduce tiny vibrations – ‘buzz’ – but we’re not sure how effective or relevant this is for mountain biking.<\/p>\n