Author Topic: Does flatland changed?  (Read 3812 times)

Offline ido rosen

  • Hitchhiker
  • *****
  • Posts: 189
  • Flatland the Country
Does flatland changed?
« on: June 07, 2016, 11:25:04 AM »
Hi all,
I have been riding since I was 16 (I'm 34 now), however in the last 4 years I rode maybe 10 times.
I decided that I'm coming back to riding on a regular basis (at least 2 times a week).

I want to replace my stem and bars, but oh cheese things are different now  :mellow:  (I don't like these changes at all).

Bars:
Many people are riding with tall bars now, I can't tell people how to ride, but I would expect that lower bars (around 7") would still be available to purchase. I mean, what if I'm not a tall guy and i'm not breakless so I can't take out the spacers under the handlebar(gyro)? Running an 8" bars would not be comfortable to me. also many bars looks like street bars because their big and 2pc. there are some flatland looking bars like odyssey and dagmar but that's about it, not many brands.

Stems:
I noticed that many riders are not riding with really short stems like I used to (26-30mm).
I went to flatlandfuel and although there were some short stems there most of them were longer than 30mm. That wasn't the case 4 years ago. I also remember that most riders rode with very short stems.

So what's up with all these trends? with the big bars and the long stems flatland bikes looks like street bikes....
I'm not so fund of that, I liked that flatland stems were short for better feeling when bars are turned and I liked when I had a variety of bars height (not only 8" and up) and shapes (not only 2 pc, people liked narrow bars with space on the side) to choose from.

What do you think about these trends? and do you know where I can buy short stems and flatland looking bars?

Thanks.

PS.
Martin, how are you? I missed this forum...  ^_^
« Last Edit: June 07, 2016, 11:36:09 AM by ido rosen »
Meditate Flatland

Offline bhuffman

  • GF Inhabitant
  • ********
  • Posts: 1119
Re: Does flatland changed?
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2016, 04:15:35 PM »
Everyone is different, but for me the taller bars and longer stem work better. I'm tall though - it's more comfortable and I don't feel cramped. I don't like taller two piece bars though - makes death trucks and getting around them more difficult.
You look like Marty McFly!

Offline ido rosen

  • Hitchhiker
  • *****
  • Posts: 189
  • Flatland the Country
Re: Does flatland changed?
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2016, 05:45:29 PM »
Yah, also those wide 2 pc bars makes it harder to grab the front peg from peg wheelie.
Meditate Flatland

Offline MICHELE

  • Cliffhanger
  • *******
  • Posts: 611
Re: Does flatland changed?
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2016, 07:01:51 PM »
i ride a 2 piece street bar basically since i started because they have more backsweep and i find them more friendly on wrists, years ago i used lower bars but now (since maybe 3 years or more) i use 9" tall bars and long full offset stem because they give much more leverage and in my opinion they help for pedal tricks,
but i cut the bar i use because 9" bars are usually like 30" wide and that for me is too much i cut them to 26" +-.
also having a full reach stem give you more space for some kind of whiplashes when you turn the bar backward, and anyway even when i rode with the mike s zero offset bar stem combo the bike didn't felt the same when turning the bar so i prefer a full stem.


If I ever see a flat rider do a hop-to-wallride, my head would explode.

Offline ido rosen

  • Hitchhiker
  • *****
  • Posts: 189
  • Flatland the Country
Re: Does flatland changed?
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2016, 08:42:32 PM »
Thanks Michele, that's a fresh perspective I did not thought of.
Meditate Flatland

Offline out~riding

  • Global Team
  • GF Inhabitant
  • ******
  • Posts: 3659
Re: Does flatland changed?
« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2016, 12:51:07 PM »
There are still some sort stems and low bars out there.

For example, the S&M Redneck FLT, is 26mm (it's not on there website anymore, probably sold out but you can still find them in shops), and Shawn White was still offering not long ago on ebay the Bizhouse Dialyser. KHE still has the Minimalism available and St. Martin has the new Royal stem (26mm) available for this year.

As far as low bars, japanese brand Flamon is coming out with these: http://www.global-flat.com/smf/index.php?topic=64397.msg472450

And you can get custom bars made by We, Standard, London, FBM, PIR,  ...

Offline ido rosen

  • Hitchhiker
  • *****
  • Posts: 189
  • Flatland the Country
Re: Does flatland changed?
« Reply #6 on: June 08, 2016, 02:22:48 PM »
Thanks a lot out~riding, I did not knew that, this info will truly help me.
Meditate Flatland

Offline DaddyCool

  • Deathtrucker
  • ********
  • Posts: 860
Re: Does flatland changed?
« Reply #7 on: June 11, 2016, 08:38:02 PM »
Hello ido rosen,
I can understand your point. My personal opinion is that there are some modern riding styles that fit to tall wide (2-piece) bars. But on the other hand there are many people who just ride those handlebars because they like the "street bike look" and just follow the trend.
I did not change the width of my handlebar (24.8 " = 63 cm) for a about 10 years and I use short stems (below 30 mm). When I started to ride like that it felt very good and I do not see why I should switch back to long stems and wide bars (with a lot of back sweep). In the past other riders told me my bar is wide and now some tell me it is narrow... So one can see what the influence of the trends is. But I changed the heigt of my handlebar. I rode 7.1 " for a long time and now I ride around 8.5 " and with my size (1.88 m) I feel better with this.
Shorter stems  and lower handlebars can for example be bought from KHE:
https://www.khebikes.com/bmx-vorbauten
https://www.khebikes.com/khe-bmx-lenker
Here you find the KHE "Flat 26" stem (here listed as "Minimalism") and the DaFu and Bram handlebars which are around 7 ".
It is a pity that depending on the time period you just can not buy certain parts. But I think we need to understand the companies. When 95 % of the riders want to ride 9 " handlebars with 30 " width why would you like to offer a 7 " bar?
If you can afford it I would recommend custom products. I have London Bikes bars and I am 100 % satisfied. My PiR frames are also very good and I am pretty sure Malo (from PiR) also makes very good bars and it is not so expensive.
Good luck for finding a good setup for you!

Offline ido rosen

  • Hitchhiker
  • *****
  • Posts: 189
  • Flatland the Country
Re: Does flatland changed?
« Reply #8 on: June 11, 2016, 10:25:07 PM »
Thank you very much DaddyCool, it was very nice to read your answer.
I think you are right about why companies follow the trend, in addition I think that they can still make parts for older trends for something like 0.1% of their time because some people will buy that.
Thanks a lot for links and for sharing your personal experience.

I found in my house an odyssey bar-mitzvah bars 6.125" height ^_^  good luck ha ha :mellow:

Thank you very much, have a great week!
Meditate Flatland

Offline bmxelement90

  • Backpacker
  • ******
  • Posts: 238
Re: Does flatland changed?
« Reply #9 on: June 12, 2016, 12:09:36 PM »
Flatland bikes are looking like street bikes because the line between flat and street has been getting blurred. I guess the motto is now "ride a bike that can do both" haha

Offline ido rosen

  • Hitchhiker
  • *****
  • Posts: 189
  • Flatland the Country
Re: Does flatland changed?
« Reply #10 on: June 12, 2016, 12:57:25 PM »
I don't think the line is blurred today, today the two disciplines are mostly apart.
The interesting thing is that when I started riding in 1997 we did not looked at bmx as flatland and street, we had bmx freestyle bikes, those frames were a bit flatland and a bit street geometry
but always with a platform on the top tube. we had steel pegs so we could do grinds and rails.
and we always did flatland and street in the same session.
Then in the 2000's I started buying only flatland frames and parts.

Although flatland bikes today look like street bikes, I don't think a lot of riders do serious flatland and serious street riding on the same bike (some riders do, but most riders don't).
Meditate Flatland