# High rise Vs. Low rise



## Iranian-Mechanic (May 6, 2004)

Differences between high riser bars and low rise ( but wider ) DH bars.

In Various conditions .I need to know the pros and cons. Of each in the conditions below and any other thing that may come into your mind.

-Cornering
-Aggressive ridding over rock gardens
-Steeps
-Drops
-Jumps
-high speed runs

And basically for what type of ridding each are suitable ?
Im ridding a Stinky with a 203 Travis on i dont race but ride on corses more than hucking.


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## his dudeness (May 9, 2007)

A lot of it is user preference...

For me I prefer low rise wide bars. I have ridiculously broad shoulders so the width feels comfy, I also feel like I can put more leverage on the bars in corners AND have more stability in the straightaways. Low rise just cuz I have ridden on high rise bars and feel like my center of gravity is just a tad high on the front, I prefer to be lower and more over the front end. But like I said... it's all user preference.


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## pancho4 (Jul 4, 2006)

wide bars are awesome if your shoulders are wide enough otherwise they are pointless. personally for jumping i prefer a higher rise bar because it puts my weight further back on the bike so going off lips requires less effort. on my downhill bike i prefer low or flat bars for keeping my weight more towards the front for corners. for reference i have 2.6in rise bar on my dirt jumper and a flat bar on my dh bike. they are 31.5in and 29in wide respectively.


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## Iranian-Mechanic (May 6, 2004)

So as you have said already and i was thinking about too is that: A low riser distributes weight more evenly on both ends . Puts aliiter more on the front which makes the fork to perform better also less stress on the headtube downtube area .Disloads some pressure from the chainstays too .Am i right?


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## rdhfreethought (Aug 12, 2006)

There is preference, but there is also an exact, perfect size for a particular physique (mostly shoulder width).

The strongest position is the width that it is most comfortable to do pushups. 
More narrow, gives you greater range of motion. (super steep drops, etc)
Wider gives you extra leverage with turning and standing climbs, a little better through rock gardens etc.

MTB bars started too narrow, since there MTB was essentially road biking on dirt roads. People eventually found wider bars better, and now they are the latest craze, and people think wider is better, but the limit is according to physiology. Preference really only come into play in the form of a lack of confidence in an unfamiliar position. All bars should come extra wide, and then be cut down to the perfect size for a particular rider.

I use the 'Pushup Position'. (BTW that term is henceforth patented!)


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## chup29 (Nov 28, 2006)

i like my front end really low and ive been running the 800mm gravity lights for about a year now and i couldnt be happier - i do think its all down to user preference and for me, switching to the lower and wider bars gave me a huge advantage in all of your categories - i wouldnt go back for anything, if i could explain it, i would say that i think of it like the wider your bars are (to a point*) the better body position it forces to you be in as well as lowering you towards the front of the bike, giving you more weight on the front tire, giving you more traction and control, and i like to scrub over jumps and stay super low and my bars are perfect for that


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## gurp (Jan 20, 2004)

It's more about bar placement then rise (although rise obviously affects bar placement). Example - on my bike with a 64 degree head angle - bar placement (both horizontal and vertical) of a 19mm rise Sunline bar with a 42mm Sunline direct mount stem and 0 spacers underneath is almost the same (1 mm of difference along each axis) as a 0mm rise Sunline with a 50mm Sunline stem and 20mm of spacers underneath. 

Long story short - perfect bar placement is very subjective, and there are multiple factors that affect bar placement (not just rise).


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## brillantesdv (Oct 24, 2007)

you dont have to have wide shoulders to benefit from wide bars. extra leverage is beneficial to all rider shapes and sizes.



SABER_MTB said:


> So as you have said already and i was thinking about too is that: A low riser distributes weight more evenly on both ends . Puts aliiter more on the front which makes the fork to perform better also less stress on the headtube downtube area .Disloads some pressure from the chainstays too .Am i right?


i wouldnt go as far as saying it relieves stress on the head tube...thats kinda of stretching it. but yes, more weight on the front, depending on your riding style and setup, is beneficial.


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## ducktape (May 21, 2007)

brillantesdv said:


> you dont have to have wide shoulders to benefit from wide bars. extra leverage is beneficial to all rider shapes and sizes.
> 
> i wouldnt go as far as saying it relieves stress on the head tube...thats kinda of stretching it. but yes, more weight on the front, depending on your riding style and setup, is beneficial.


I agree, I'm female so I doubt very much that my shoulders would be that wide, but since going to 710mm bars I've found my hands finally sit where they want to although they still teeter at the edge sometimes.

I do believe it's about bar placement, think about it DH bikes naturally have a high front end, so this whole low bar phenomenon probably came about due to that logic, high front end with lower bar equals a better set up.
DJ bikes are naturally lower so the trend was to have higher rise bars on them.
As for XC well they did have flat bars then the trend went more to risers, but XC bars are naturally low as well, so some rise is still suitable, it really depends on the kind of riding to some extent too, obviously low with weight over the front is beneficial to those climbing a lot of hills.

I have a low to mid rise bar on my DH bike 710 wise and I have a 2.5" riser on my DJ bike, which feels best when the fork is lowered down to 80mm and otherwise it does feel a little high for my liking.

Alright maybe I don't really know what I'm talking about. I think it depends on:
Personal preference...... after all what you don't know you don't miss do you? 
Bike geometry and the type of riding you do.....even talking specifically about DH, bike geo can and well it does vary so super low bars may suit some bikes so that the rider can get more weight over the front if it's naturally biased towards the back, or some bikes might feel more neutral, again rider preference comes in there too and what their riding style is too.

No doubt the best way to find out is to try different set ups on your bike. I tried a fair few different stem lengths and different rise bars when I had the trance, just wish I had thought of trying a bar as wide as 710 back then, perhaps all my prblems would have been solved!


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## trailadvent (Jun 29, 2004)

ducktape said:


> I agree, I'm female so I doubt very much that my shoulders would be that wide, but since going to 710mm bars I've found my hands finally sit where they want to although they still teeter at the edge sometimes.
> 
> I do believe it's about bar placement, think about it DH bikes naturally have a high front end, so this whole low bar phenomenon probably came about due to that logic, high front end with lower bar equals a better set up.
> DJ bikes are naturally lower so the trend was to have higher rise bars on them.
> ...


I think you've nailed it, being open to trying setups especially when changing bikes geo or travel is a good thing and knowing that sometimes it takes a few rides to feel the benefit and getting over what you know, which dosen't mean right, it takes time to dial in sometimes.

Ive always been a wide fan even on my XC bikes back in the day I had wider bars than most, but then I'm wide in my shoulders!

I like low and wide, but DJ bike high and 25.4mm clamp for comfort MTN 31.8 and low:thumbsup:


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

lower bars help lower center of gravity (better for dh)

wider bars give you more leverage ...so rock gardens feel smoother


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