Mountain Bike Handlebar Setup for smaller riders

[@hope4surf]

This is great! I'm 5'4" and had similar bars. Changed them to bars cut down to 700mm and with a 50mm rise (Deity Highside bars). So much more comfortable!

[@rolandovera5935]

Great vid. When it was at its worst my thumbs and pointer finger would go so numb I couldn’t shift after 45 minutes. Bars were cut down to 650 with a 90mm stem and it’s fixed the numbness. Also having neck and shoulder issues that I had never experienced in all my years mountain biking. Wide bars just don’t work for everyone. That said my 650 wide bars are still so much wider than my bars were in the 1990’s.

[@volodymyrilchenko8453]

Since I bought my first xc 29er this issue doesn't leave me happy while riding. It seemed like I have owned this bike being fully saturated with a huge knowledge base about bikefit. I had numbed or even sometimes painful wrists. But only you gave me now a truth about what went wrong in that combination with my XS (TT 540 mm) frame and 740 mm flat bar. Thank you tremendous John for pointing the issue and explanation!

[@todddennehy804]

Thank you! COnfirmed my suspicions about sweep angle and wrist position/pain. Good video presentation with excellent information.

[@TazErrant]

Best video I've seen on this - especially regarding sweep. The bars still seem to be getting wider and wider. I've got a new bike and have moved all my controls further inboard and with my hands on the very inside of grips to approximate narrower bars and it feels better. I have a big angle in my wrists otherwise. I'll now cut the bars down from 750 to 720 and try again. Might go to 700 if necessary. I understand the argument for wide bars for enduro - but no point if you are small and it causes physical problems.

[@HawkSwimming]

What width did you end up at? Even though I have long arms, my total height and torso are average. The 800 mm bars are too wide causing wrist pain and problems with my thumb using the dropper post.

[@TazErrant]

@@HawkSwimming I've cut to 720 and feels way better. I notice I'm still naturally riding with hands a little inboard so I could go down to 700. I'm 5'4" female with long leg to torso ratio. I've bought but not installed yet a Wolf Tooth Barcentric remote dropper lever. I have small hands/thumb length and find the stock dropper lever needs a large sweep movement to activate.

[@HawkSwimming]

@@TazErrant Thanks - talked with my local MTB shop yesterday and he thinks 800 is good for fast downhill stability, but not necessarily good for narrow and tight, sharp corners (ascending and descending) which is what I have been riding.

[@TazErrant]

@@HawkSwimming 👍That's what I'm riding too. 😃. Steep forest with lots of tight switchback turns.

[@HawkSwimming]

@@TazErrant Moved controls so I could hold the grips as narrow as possible without cutting the bars. Effectively, this made the bars almost 720 mm and it feels so much better. For the first time, I did not end the ride frustrated. My first cuts won't be that dramatic though. One video suggested I should be at 740 mm. Thanks very much Taz!

[@carljansevanrensburg2440]

Thanks for the useful information. Struggling with the same problem. I'm definitely going to look into it.

[@bNaVSK]

Thats a very good tip! My mtb frame is a bit small for me, and I installed handlebars with 730mm and 6°. This low value for backsweep allows me to place my elbows further out when descending and i feel less fadigue this way. Of course it only works because i get a fairly upright position when sitting, not stretching the arms too much.

[@SurpriseMeJT]

I'm 5' 8" and ride xc. My bars are 680mm wide and I realized later that it's the same width as Nino Schurter's, who is about my height as well.

[@Emtbtoday]

Burgtec high Rise 30s or 38s perfect for back pain and backsweep is so nice

[@DTUFINOPhotography]

Having the same issue with my wrists, will put up 12 degrees back swopingbars.

[@madmonkeycycling9098]

MTB handlebars always have to be cut by the bikeshop to the customers needs. They're made to be cut shorter

[@derekchung9495]

it depends on what/how you ride. you need your elbows pointing outwards so that you can lean your bike a lot for corners. too much backsweep puts your wrists into a weird position when you lean your bike

[@ND92s]

Thanks for this great video with clear education! I quit MTB after a TFCC injury because my wrist would react with pain, swelling and limited mobility after a ride. Now 7 years later I would like to start mountainbiking again. My wrist is still limited in mobility (-10° dorsal flexion and -30° pronation), but less reactive. Do you have any tips about what kind of steer I should look for to make MTB fun again? Thanks!

[@TheTonicro]

hey have you taken into consideration actual handling of the bike, when you stand up on the pedals and go into technical section on the trail being in that more agressive position gives better control it is more of a comprise what i've seen is that lots people get trail and enduro bikes but ride them on very tame trails while spending 95% of the sitting down and therefore creating issues simply because not using the bike in the intended way, probably different bike to start with

[@MyZippy13]

I’m 5ft 3” and ride a small frame with a 90mm stem and 68mm 9 degree sweep bars

[@jasonpatrickdeleon4701]

im 5'5 guy im using only 750mm wide before 780mm its to much for me im enduro trail guy

[@Rebuu-]

This sounds familiar, im visiting a physiotherapist for 8/9 weeks now because my shoulder and neck are over stressed. The shoulder and wrist possitions you talked about what could cause stress in my neck/shoulders is almost the position i have indeed. And the palm of my hands start to hurt also indeed. My 'old' bar is 720mm and last weeks i tried a smaller bar (640mm) that didnt help much, it felt i was still or even more pulling my shoulders up. I dont know the backsweep off that 640mm bar but the 720 one has 9 degrees. Do you have any other tips maybe that might help? Because it looks like more sweep is hard to find for reasonable prise to try it out. I tried few different stem lengths/rise, grips and spacer placements and nothing felt like it mattered much tho only the really high stem rise. But the handlebar backsweep/with feels like the direction to go for now. Thanks

[@marcostorroija7612]

gracias amigo, muchas gracias, thanks friend, thank so much. you are a good person. thanks from argentina.

[@vijaykishorerajyana6264]

Hi, need your help, i bought Cannondale Trail 4, frame Large from my friend. I am of heihht of 176 . I started having pain in my right elbow. I tried to reduce the stem to 30mm pressure on my elbow reduced big need more comfort. Can you please advise what to do for more relaxed ride? Thanks, Regards

[@sungirl14225]

what size bar should I use 5'2"?

[@TheNickbb10]

Think you can include tall people in this video too, I'm 6'7 and my bike came with 800mm bars, ended up cutting them to 740mm to get comfortable, and am thinking about getting a swept bar too.

[@bikefitadviser7012]

Nick Black Agreed....just more common with the smaller folks

[@gabrieledalessio6707]

can you precisely define the back sweep measure... is it the angle between the horizontal line (drawn perpendicular to the top of the strem) and the line drawn fron the center of the bar to the tip of the bar OR is it the angle between the horizontal line and the bar direction at the bar grips...? anyway unfortunately higher backsweep angles bars are not so common.. besides this wider bars (>740mm) should always come with at least 10-12° sweep but everyone produce the standard 9°.. it's a shame in my opinion

[@izzansdy]

Is there a relation of the rider shoulder witdh to the handle bar length..?

[@henkki1000]

On road bikes you want your arms forwards, so close to 1:1 in that case. For MTB the consensus seems to be to get as wide bars as possible so you can slam into all the trees. Ignore the trends and experiment to see what works seems the way to go.

[@bilogako2530]

Sir, will 760 mm width of d bar fits on person with d height of 5’5” or shall need to go for a shorter width? Thanks

[@ArRizal]

I'm 5'5 tall. My bike has 760mm bar out of the box. It feels too wide and unnatural for me. So I cut it down to 640mm and it's great now.

[@vinylholicsanonymous3871]

I'm 5'6 and I cut mine down to 760 and they feel pretty good. I've had wider as well.

[@yodisumarjanasumarjana9203]

Terimakasih atas pengetahuannya, tankyu.....

[@splitshot71]

Wide bars” all the cool kids are doin it.

[@charliebrown5089]

my wrist is killing me. i need a bcksweep

[@CreamyBone]

Yikes... if I scaled that ratio up, it would be like 1000cm wide bars on MY bike!

[@petesahad3028]

Mean 100cm? One meter? 1000cm are 10 meters, thats a two story house.

[@harrowsparrow7199]

His friend is a t-rex

[@koukimonzta]

hahhaha

[@MsDenver2]

She needs a bit more rise aswell

[@1FishinAddict]

Man you’re a good looking adviser. Women riders probably make up reasons just to get to talk to you, lol.

[@manuelp592]

i'm 5'7 and i have 780mm bars... is correct for me?

[@nealswanson8684]

I got the same thing and am 5'7" as well, had 720 but just felt like the control was lacking during jumps and downhill which is what I look forward to. I was a wrestler so you are taught to keep your elbows in but mtb is different.

[@richardjeffery517]

I'm 5'7" 780 works perfectly for me

[@josephfarrugia2350]

Way too wide; more like 700mm max

[@kyle618]

i think 740mm would be better. 720 is too narrow imo

[@Christian-bw5vw]

Is 800mm okay because im 5'5

[@josephfarrugia2350]

WAAAAY too long

[@BASH_ANGEL]

NEVER TRUST A PHYSICAL THERAPIST.