bar height

[steve_v]

I just got my trials bike built up and it feels awful. Its way too low in the front and all my weight is over the front wheel. I realized that the bar height is about four inches lower than my xc bike. I guess I could get a stem with a serious rise or DH-type bars, also with a serious rise. Should I shoot for a similar feel as my xc bike ? Would DH bars be ok for trials ? I saw ones that are really wide and have a 2.5 inch rise. Thanks

[xxxfr]

umm 30-31" is pretty average

[trauma100]

In no way should a trials bike feal anyhting like an xc bike , two totaly differnet animals, weight forward is were you want to be IMO kinda like a gorilla draggin his knuckles. what frame, stem, h-bar set up are you running?you can play with bar height stem length till you feel a little more comfy but keep in mind .....YOUR NOT ON AN XC BIKE!

[RomanR]

Bar widths, pretty much all the trial bars available (brisa, echo, tryall) are in the area of 29" wide, so if you find some bars in that width then that's fine. As for bar height, between 36 and 40 inches covers most stock trials bikes, most being around the middle of that figure. It's just something you have to get used to, especially coming from other biking backgrounds. Try to stick with it. If it's really bothering you, or if your bars are lower than 36 inches, you could try stems with a higher rise, or some shorter ones to bring your weight a bit off the front.

[steve_v]

what frame, stem, h-bar set up are you running?you can play with bar height stem length till you feel a little more comfy but keep in mind .....YOUR NOT ON AN XC BIKE!
My bike is an Echo Bounce and a 400mm Echo fork. It's kind of a frankenstein build at this point, alot of extra components I had around. The stem is 15 deg. x 90. The bars are Specialized Wide Boys. They're 28" wide but flat. One problem is that the stem takes up all the space on the steerer tube( i.e. no spacers) so I don't have room to play around with the bar height as it is. I'll have to measure the bar height again to see if it's in the correct range.

It was really difficult to trackstand or pull up the front end with this setup and my weight seemed too far forward.

[RomanR]

That setup sounds fine, you just need some more riding time to get used to it. Stick with it, you don't want to end up riding a 50mm x 30 degree stem with 2.5" rise bars. Trials bikes feel completely different to other bikes, that's why it feels so weird to you. But just keep on it, you'll get used to it.

[trauma100]

:werd: That setup sounds fine, you just need some more riding time to get used to it. Stick with it, you don't want to end up riding a 50mm x 30 degree stem with 2.5" rise bars. Trials bikes feel completely different to other bikes, that's why it feels so weird to you. But just keep on it, you'll get used to it.

[CRAK_BOT]

I would have to agree with everyone else on this one. When I first set my bike up I thought the bars were to low and put a bunch of spacers under the stem. Once I figured out how to ride I took all those out and got the bars as low as I could and it made a big difference.

Jim

[steve_v]

Thanks, you guys rock. I measured the height last night - 36''. Maybe a low rise bar would help out a little. I'll check it out.

[rider]

Its not that simple though. The higher the BB height the higher the bar needs to be. Just look at the monster stem that TRA uses in his "riding vinco frame vid"

[freeridercam]

That would be a valid point, except for the fact that steve has a Bounce.

[steve_v]

I got a riser bar, amazing difference. My bike is so ghetto, it's embarrassing.

[Ross]

Trials bikes arent supposed to be pretty, except before your first ride on it. After a few weeks you will have a nice collection of scratches, besides, no trials riders will give you shit for having an ugly bike.

[AgrAde]

Trials bikes arent supposed to be pretty, except before your first ride on it. After a few weeks you will have a nice collection of scratches, besides, no trials riders will give you shit for having an ugly bike.

i beg to differ - it happens all the time on this forum.

[aj2four0]

true, but thats because we are all bike snobs.