Low rise

[tastes like bur]

What's the big advantage of lowering your bar height by half an inch of so?

I can see it would reduce your relative centre of gravity and centre your weight slightly more over the front wheel, however wouldn't your body positioning / riding style have far more impact on this?

Just want to understand why I need to buy some lower rise bars.

[- seb]

Well I'm not at all sure, but I've not spent much time thinking about it. If it's such a benefit then surely negative-rise bars would be even better? How come people haven't started mounting their risers upside down yet? :P

[tastes like bur]

http://www.btt.com.ar/foto/o/11/29/1129884396_tomacfrodrop300.jpg

Exactly...

[?????]

I'm sure there is a good range and then there is just being excessive... bar heights will probably go through a cycle like suspension travel and weight were way excessive a few years ago until people finally settled on a good range.

[fellow pinner]

To me they make me feel like im closer to the bike instead of being
1.5 up from the crown I also think that they are stonger.

[Bulldog]

I'm sure there is a good range and then there is just being excessive... bar heights will probably go through a cycle like suspension travel and weight were way excessive a few years ago until people finally settled on a good range.

Bingo. And along with finding a good range I'll add finding a noticeable difference too. Changing your tires and/or pressure or even rotating your bars a few degrees can make front end height changes. Can you notice 2" - most people would say heck yeah. Can you notice 1/2" - I don't know that I could. Where do you draw the line? How sensitive are you? What else can you change? And how will the most minute changes really make you a better rider? Eventually people get consumed tweaking their bikes to the Nth degree and worrying about their perception of it's performance and forget to enjoy riding!

[altix]

http://ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187095&highlight=upsidedown+bar

[OilCanRacer]

it will help to keep your weight back and lower. think about being in the bike as opposed to being on it.


also almost all crashes are over the bars. this will help. i set up last years bike with a minimal rise/raise stem and it helped alot in extreme instances. not too much other times. i did feel more connected to my bike in the air though.


some dh racers like to be more foward ontheir bikes, but those guys are rare and usualy tall.

[Dave-B]

it will help to keep your weight back and lower. think about being in the bike as opposed to being on it.


also almost all crashes are over the bars. this will help. i set up last years bike with a minimal rise/raise stem and it helped alot in extreme instances. not too much other times. i did feel more connected to my bike in the air though.


some dh racers like to be more foward ontheir bikes, but those guys are rare and usualy tall.
How does lowering your bars put weight over the back of the bike?
It brings your weight towards the front of the bike giving you more traction on the front wheel for better cornering.

[OilCanRacer]

How does lowering your bars put weight over the back of the bike?
It brings your weight towards the front of the bike giving you more traction on the front wheel for better cornering.

ok monkey boy. or i should say lack of being a monkey boy. us humans have short arms. follow me here.
thus a lower/shorter stem setup will give you the ability to get your body farther back and lower(behind your seat. like i explained most people go over the bars. :poster_oops:
also the trend in dh racing is going to riding the course and using the terrain to your advantage more and more than before. lighter bikes and a better riding position will compliment that school of thought as opposed to ramming into every rock in your way and slowing down considerably(i.e. 10" travel bikes).

we are aiming towards nimble faster bikes and straying away from 50 pound marshmellows.

[JRogers]

How does lowering your bars put weight over the back of the bike?
It brings your weight towards the front of the bike giving you more traction on the front wheel for better cornering.

I'm in agreement here. I'm not really sure how lower bars moves weight back since the conventional wisdom for all types of riding is that lower bars will move weight forward. Think about riding a bike with super high bars- it's really hard to get your weight forward and on the front wheel, which makes cornering harder.

[tlproject7]

people do flip their risers

[Rover Nick]

Because its the cool thing to do. Its pretty cool to post your 36lb DH bike with a 36" bar height with a 12" BB height online.

In all seriousness, it does help handling a good bit, but IMO, there is a certain point at which it makes the bike feel steep and twichty. Heck, if I really wanted a low bar height I could ride my Giant NRS down a DH course, too.

[MorewoodKid]

I'm in agreement here. I'm not really sure how lower bars moves weight back since the conventional wisdom for all types of riding is that lower bars will move weight forward. Think about riding a bike with super high bars- it's really hard to get your weight forward and on the front wheel, which makes cornering harder.

my perspective is that it helps you move your body and adjust your COG more freely. firstly it obviously lowerd your COG and "connects" you to the bike. secondly having a lower front end makes it easier to get your weight over the front wheel for traction in corners. thirdly it makes it easier to shift your weight over the back as OilCanRacer said: picture your bars up in the air, not only is it difficult to get your weight over the front, but it is also difficult to shift your hips and body back.

so the lower front end IMO assists with nearly ALL weight shifts. and lets face it, traction is made or lost with weight shifts.

looking at current trends is also very important. once again, as mentioned by OilCanRacer, the current trend is to ride lighter, more nimble bikes, and this calls for the ability to be able to shift and move around the bike more freely, hence the lower front end. but bearing this "trend" in mind, if your bike or riding style does not follow this trend the it is likely that a lower front end will not suit you, and you will not benefit from it. or at least not get the full benefit from it.

another thing to bear in mind: lowering the front end without lowering the rest of the bike may be more negative than positive. having a low front end with a sky high BB is not exactly what i would call ideal. so the whole bike setup needs to follow in line with what you are trying to achieve.

[DirtyMike]

Because Sam Hill does it, thats all you need to know.......Just kidding


Real answer, Because getting your bar height right, is just like getting your seat height right. what level you will want will depend on the rider and bike paired together, dont laugh, but its just like fitting a road bike. You need to set up the bar and seat height so that the rider fits into the proper riding position. More and more people are realizing this in the later years, seeing bars a little lower, and seats a little higher, people taking time to fine tune how they sit on the bike when riding......... It really is all about fit, some people may not realize thats why they are doing it, but it is.

[Damo]

High rise bars have been around for donkeys years. Since then, forks have gotten longer and the need for high rise has gone. Low rise bars should put you back to the proper riding position of before when we were riding Judy DHs.

I don't understand how lower-rise bars will stop you from going over the bars... Surely the higher the bar, the less likely an OTB scenario will occur?

These are just my theories and I may be wrong...

[DirtyMike]

High rise bars have been around for donkeys years. Since then, forks have gotten longer and the need for high rise has gone. Low rise bars should put you back to the proper riding position of before when we were riding Judy DHs.

I don't understand how lower-rise bars will stop you from going over the bars... Surely the higher the bar, the less likely an OTB scenario will occur?

These are just my theories and I may be wrong...



Thats exactly right, just have to fit the bike to the rider!!!!!