Author Topic: Handlebars  (Read 6468 times)

Offline aliasdck

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #15 on: July 07, 2019, 04:26:32 AM »
Odyssey 44, Chase style  :P Aren't they 6° us and 6° bs?I ride 8.5" and would say higher does not make sense. Personal preference of course...


Hey Daddycool just curious why you think taller might not make sense? Like you said, personal preference plays a big part obviously but I've always wondered if taller bars are better for me. During some tricks I notice that I am hunched over too much  or that there isn't enough room between my knees and the bars during certain front wheel tricks for example.

Unfortunately I have no idea either way as I have been using the same fork, stem, bar and spacer setup for many many years. I am going to buy a stem with additional rise (like a top load stem with some rise) and maybe even taller bars (currently have 7.9 might get something closer to 8.5-9) and then play around with the setup by changing bars, stem, number of spacers, etc  until I figure out wha is best for me and my current tricks.

Just curious why you think taller is not necessarily better? Obviously there is a bit of trend nowadays to have big bars that are both tall and wide, but I could care less about trends.  I'm just hoping to find through trial and error what works best for me - and I'm curious why you have the opinion you do. Thanks.

Offline DaddyCool

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #16 on: July 07, 2019, 03:38:15 PM »
I think the "trial and error" approach makes sense. If you play around with spacers, stems and bars you will find out what works best for you.When I switched from the Graveyard OG that I was riding for more than ten year to a Sick Child Relapse (so about one inch more height which is a lot!) I felt more comfortable in almost every front wheel trick. But there are exceptions for some tricks. When you do backwheel tricks you feel the bigger distance from grip to peg, so the ride-in into a caboose for example is different. While doing a gerator, your bike is "laying down" to the ground, i. e. the front wheel is closer to the ground. Your arm/body position when doing time machines is different...And even if it is low, I found that steping over the crossbar or doing bar hop tricks is much more difficult when you have the bar too high. In my opinion this is based on the distance peg -> grip and not only influenced by the crossbar height. This is what I felt like with the Sick Child bar and my later London custom bars (8.5") when the stem was on top of the steerer tube (185 mm) with the maximum spacers underneath. So I installed the stem a little lower (spacers on top of the stem) and it felt better for me. So I knew that 9" is not for me...By the way: I am 1.88 m and have rather long legs.

Offline aliasdck

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #17 on: July 07, 2019, 08:33:58 PM »
Thanks for the reply, you brought up some things I had not fully considered like how the taller bars will affect some back wheel tricks.


At the time I do not do much tricks where I have to step over or jump over the bars, so for now that isn't a concern of course this can change in the future.

So yes, trial and error is the only way I'll find what works best.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2019, 08:37:27 PM by aliasdck »

Offline aliasdck

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #18 on: July 09, 2019, 07:34:00 AM »
I have ordered a top load stem (this will allow me to try a higher rise with my current bars)

I had a really hard time deciding between the S&M Enduro V2 at 40mm or the Madera Mast at 36mm. Eventually decided to go with the s&m.

I'll play around with the setup a bit and see what I think then, I bet I find my current setup is best and that I don't really like change (lol) worst case I just sell the new stem and put everything back the way it was.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2019, 07:35:36 AM by aliasdck »

Offline metalbmxer

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #19 on: July 10, 2019, 12:30:56 AM »
I have ordered a top load stem (this will allow me to try a higher rise with my current bars)

I had a really hard time deciding between the S&M Enduro V2 at 40mm or the Madera Mast at 36mm. Eventually decided to go with the s&m.

I'll play around with the setup a bit and see what I think then, I bet I find my current setup is best and that I don't really like change (lol) worst case I just sell the new stem and put everything back the way it was.

Oh wow great choice. Keep us posted!
Dax (now in LAS VEGAS as of July 2022)

Offline aliasdck

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #20 on: July 12, 2019, 01:00:55 AM »
I put the stem on today and switched from the OG Caramel 2 bars to my older odyssey 44s. So far I am happy with the change but I'll need a few days of riding to know for sure. It is a lot of changes at once: the new stem has longer reach and also imparts more rise so it puts the handlebars further out and up then before. These bars have similar dimensions to the old ones, just a bit wider with slightly more up/back sweep.

The tricks I've tried so far have mostly felt better, or just a bit different but so far nothing bad. There appears to be more stability in certain tricks and it feels like I have more leverage I think? Not sure how to describe the feeling but it feels good. I was worried the difference between bars forward and bars backward would be too great but it isn't.

I am glad I did not go with taller bars, this setup does make the bars about 1" higher from the front axle. It feels good but I don't think I want to go any higher. Like daddycool said, I would be worried about the effect on tricks where I have to hop or step over the bars, but this isn't much an issue with my current tricks. It doesn't seem to be too much a change either for backwheel tricks, atleast the ones I've tried.

Offline aliasdck

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #21 on: July 12, 2019, 04:03:37 AM »
heres a photo, so many spacers below the stem! Stems these days have such low stack height and headtubes are smaller too i think, plus i never trimmed my odyssey fork stem, its still full length so lots of spacers were needed. I like the way this stem looks!

« Last Edit: July 12, 2019, 04:07:08 AM by aliasdck »

Offline metalbmxer

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #22 on: July 12, 2019, 08:19:07 AM »
Whoa looks great!
Dax (now in LAS VEGAS as of July 2022)

Offline DaddyCool

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #23 on: July 12, 2019, 05:33:06 PM »
Sounds good! Can you post a pic of the whole bike? I would like to see what it looks like.Did you realise a difference due to the other weight? I guess the Odyssey bar is heavier than the OG. I just had a session yesterday with (one of) my spare bike(s) and it has very similar geometry also in terms of bar position, but the stem/bar is lighter and this makes it feel different. For example when I do a hitchhiker to steamroller, the bike flips in a different way because of the decreased inertia. Hitchhikers in general feels more nervous in my opinion with a very light handlebar.

Offline aliasdck

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #24 on: July 13, 2019, 04:12:16 AM »
Oh you are right about the weight, checking the parts section it looks like i probably added 0.8lbs between the replaced bars and stem. To be honest i hadn't really noticed yesterday or today while riding. Maybe I will tomorrow when i ride again, now that I'm aware of it, lol. But, it ok, I've never really been concerned over weight, my bike is probably over 28 lbs so its not a lightweight anyways.


Offline DaddyCool

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #25 on: July 15, 2019, 09:07:29 AM »
Cool, it fits somehow. Looks good! I would say with that long steere tube and that stem, you do not need much more than 8" for the handlebar. I would consider this as high. But as we discussed, try it out ;)

Offline aliasdck

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #26 on: August 05, 2019, 08:39:34 PM »
Just wanted to update after riding with the s&m stem for the past month: this stem kicks ass. The handlebars have not moved at all, either forward/backward or side/side and I have had some pretty hard crashes. This stem has way better clamping power then any other stem I've ever used. S&m kicks ass.

Offline metalbmxer

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Re: Handlebars
« Reply #27 on: August 06, 2019, 12:06:25 AM »
Just wanted to update after riding with the s&m stem for the past month: this stem kicks ass. The handlebars have not moved at all, either forward/backward or side/side and I have had some pretty hard crashes. This stem has way better clamping power then any other stem I've ever used. S&m kicks ass.

Great to hear. That has been my experience as well with my stem too. Good quality part
Dax (now in LAS VEGAS as of July 2022)