Riser Mtb

March 4th, 2010 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

Will riser MTB bars help with hand fatigue?

My hands still go numb no matter what adjustments I have made to riding position. I am wondering if 1.5″ riser bars will help. I have Specialized low rise XC bars on my stumpy now.

Everyone suffers from this…..sometimes it’s positioning on the bike, sometimes it’s the bar configuration itself…..it could also be something in your anatomy causing it. If the numbness or pain is severe, you may want to see a doctor first and be sure you don’t have some muscular or spine issues affecting it.

Riser bars helped me a lot. WIDE bars will also help! Setting up my urban rig, I ditched my flat bars (yes, I’ve been riding flats for years), and put on a 70mm then later a 50mm stem. I did this for handling reasons, but I instantly noticed that my hands felt better and I had less irritation in my neck/shoulder blades from landing the flat drops. I think that the hand positioning with the wide bars made more difference than the slightly more upright effect from a short stem/higher rise. I tried three bars until I settled on the 2″ rise. The short stem just improves so many things on the bike…the ONLY disadvantage is in extra-steep technical/loose hill climbs on the trails, but I climb very well so it didn’t affect me too much.

If you can try it out without dropping a lot of cash, try a 2″ full width riser bar (26″ to 28″) and a short stem. Forget what people say about standard bike fit in the cockpit and listen to what downhillers have known for a long time, just try it out. Sometimes shops will let you borrow these items, or maybe a friend has some. You can pick them up cheap used, too. I liked the handling so much better that I changed my setup on the xc bike to match…..the benefit to my ulnar nerve in my palm, and my neck/shoulders is icing on the cake.

You may need to buy new cables to accomodate the wider/higher bars, even with a short stem.

I’ve read that grip size can matter to some people, too, but I’ll bet that’s a very small effect compared to setup.

GT DH-i TEAM

Matthews 20 Century C Stand, Double Riser Stand with Mini Base, Supports 15 lbs, Maximum Height 63, Black.

$169.50

Century stands or “C” stands are an important component in the image maker’s arsenal of tools. The Matthews 20″ century stand with spring loaded mini base assists the motion picture, television, and photographic professional in lighting, and lighting modification support. This 20″ C stand with spring loaded mini base features a 17″ footprint, and is available in black finish…

Origin 8 – Alloy Riser Urban/MTB Handlebar 25.4 x 560mm Black.

$14.40

Origin 8 – Alloy Riser Urban/MTB Handlebar 25.4 x 560mm Black.
6061-T6 Anodized Finish Butted Alloy.
25.4mm clamp dia. 560mm width, 50mm rise with 5° up sweep & 3° back sweep.
Laser etched graphics.
Light Weight only 264g….

Origin 8 – Alloy Riser Urban/MTB Handlebar 25.4 x 560mm White.

$21.99

Origin 8 – Alloy Riser Urban/MTB Handlebar 25.4 x 560mm White.
6061-T6 Powder Coated Butted Alloy.
25.4mm clamp dia. 560mm width, 50mm rise with 5° up sweep & 3° back sweep.
Laser etched graphics.
Light Weight only 264g….

Origin 8 – Alloy Riser Urban/MTB Handlebar 25.4 x 560mm Gold.

$21.50

Origin 8 – Alloy Riser Urban/MTB Handlebar 25.4 x 560mm Gold.
6061-T6 Anodized Finish Butted Alloy.
25.4mm clamp dia. 560mm width, 50mm rise with 5° up sweep & 3° back sweep.
Laser etched graphics.
Light Weight only 264g !…