What's the Best Handlebar for Road Cycling? - BikeFitTuesdays
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- čas přidán 20. 03. 2020
- What's the best handlebar shape for road cycling and how do you choose the right one for you? We discuss in the latest episode of Bike Fit Tuesdays
James' shop: www.bicyclerichmond.co.uk/
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#cycling #bikes #bicycle #bikefit
Love Jame's logical and clear explanations of all things bike fit.
I was going to say something along those lines, but you said it perfectly
Agreed. He has a true gift!
I love the way Jamie explains things. I’ve learned a hell of a lot, by watching these videos.
So glad I found this one. Got a 56cm Domane and the reach is insane compared to my old 56cm Tarmac. Replaced the standard Bontrager bars with 93mm reach for Deda with a 75mm reach. Went from 44cm width to 40 also. Such a difference!
Thankyou for continuing to put out this content Francis. Difficult times ahead for us all, but these short trips out of what
is becoming a scary everyday reality, are very appreciated. Best of luck through this to you, Daisy, Lawrence, all at Jame's shop and all the other usual suspects that pop up in your films week on week. Keep clean, keep healthy, and if you can, keep pedaling.
This was a sweet video. Helped me understand some of my struggles on my current setup
Thanks for the video.... Always learn something from James.
Oh James ......I love it when you talk like that. Thanks Mr Cade stay safe and healthy
Really wonderful, in depth information. I've been riding a 42 for over 15 years. This video prompted me to be measured. That's right, I'm a 40....
Thanks for the vid on cleat position guys!
Turned my heels in by 10mm, based on James' rant and the sitbone pain was gone! 🥳👍👍
I am saving for bike fit with James! Love these Bikefittuesdays, so informative. 👍🙂🚴
Thank you James, I learned a lot with this one.
Love these vids!! That Indy Fab is gorgeous!!
Brilliant, concise and easy to understand.
I found the traditional drop bars a way better when sprinting out of the saddle in the drops. It keeps my wrists at a straight angle. Great video !👍
I definitely learned a lot from this video. And it’s coming out at a time where I am trying to choose the right bar and stem combination for my newly delivered Rondo Ruut CF2. Keep the vids coming mate, and stay safe
Great stuff, hope the build goes smoothly!
Well done James! Great video Francis
Really excellent video guys !! Loads of info
Excellent points made, thanks!
Great video, great explanations. Thanks as ever.
I am SO excited for my bike fit on Thursday!!!
Lots of good insight for a seemingly simple component
Very educational, thanks lads!
Loved this one. Thanks James and Francis. My road bike trek Domane sl7 in size 58 came with 44cm wide bars. I love the bike, but the width has been a problem (hands, neck and shoulders suffering all as James mentioned). I would have thought if you spend $4500aud on a bike they'd at least let you choose a bar width.
This is the very problem with buying bikes from big american bike manufacturers and why i specialise and focus on custom bikes
Don't buy off the peg bikes. They generally come with cheap nasty Shimano groupsets, odd-sized bar and stems, an unsuitable saddle and a crap set of wheels. Buy a frame and build.
my trek dealer fitted the bike to me and swapped items (stem) free of charge. They would have changed handlebars too i reckon.
I have a trek checkpoint with similar issues 😢 tine to swap the bars
Great episode! I've always had problems with 90's bikes with traditional handlebars and sti levers due to the excessive reach.
James shoe game is on point. Dress shoes everyday.
Thanks Francis and James. Thumbs up 👍👍👍
Tremendous, doing a full winter revamp of my ride height and measurements, this is absolutely invaluable. Suffering on anything longer than a 2 hour ride and I know I have a the capacity of a longer ride, but have so many comfort issues.
Just got a new bike off eBay, did a 2hr ride today and was so comfortable. Turns out I have been riding a 54cm when I needed a 52 with narrower bars!
Yep, been there, done that.
Great video! Would definitely be interested in a take on impact of groupset manufacturers to reach, as well as shifter ergonomics and whether this has fit/bike build implications for different hand sizes ✋.
Thanks for the vid. I started reading books about bikefitting, but never heard or seen before about this very simple way to get to the right width. My tip would be, first the handlebar and then the choose the right stem length (min 90mm for road).
Very useful! Thank you for that one!
We need lots of these vids!!!
One of my favorite bars (and the one I used across all my road/gravel bikes) is the Ritchey Logic Curve - comes in 38-44cm (center-to-center) and is fairly short reach/short drop. It's also ~35USD for an alloy version. I'm a "big rugby guy" and run a 44cm.
Just to add, these video are absolutely fantastic at taking our minds off the present health situation and enjoying ( even if it's momentarily) our passion for cycling ! Many thanks Francis, but please don't put yourself at unnecessary risk to make them. :-)
Finally got a proper fit! Thankfully, my new bike is the right size, tried to get in before I ordered, but it didn't happen. Shorter cranks were the biggest change, so far, I'm loving the tweaks to positioning, so much more comfortable in the saddle and on the hoods!
Pleasantly surprised how much I learned from you guys . I've been racing for 35 plus years road and then switched to mtb had no choice since I moved to Costa Rica with dirt roads and now I just bought a gravel (why😅) . so yea good info. Cheers
Thank you for the great video!
Brilliant vid guys. I do roll my hands inward like you demonstrated, this causes me to lock out my elbows, thus, I get pain in my hands after around 40miles.
I also find it more comfortable on one of my bikes to rest my hands a little back from the hoods. One bike has a 90mm stem and one has 100mm. The measurements are the same (as I thought, when measured from saddle to centre of bars. I’ve just measured from tip of saddle to back of hoods and found 30mm difference! Wow I think I’ll try some narrower bars now and see how they go and adjust my saddle setback a little. To get the reach more comfortable.
Whils't living in Chicago somebody stole my handlebars while I was at work; however, they did replace face plate, bolts, and washers, so there's that. I ended up venturing home on my bike, a fixed gear, single-handed on the quill stem singing "I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars, no handlebars".
This was a good video and good information.
Huh, never thought anything about handlebar, just went well with the stock bar that came with merida, compact sort of type? I guess
Love your Videos, wish I lived near the shop to get a proper fitting
Bugga, been comfy for years on a 440 and just got myself a new 440, with flatter tops, though not aero. No wait, I’m about 45/46 shoulder, will get help on measuring my shoulders for peace of mind. Great insight to Handlebars😊👍
MTB handlebars also associates to balancing. Remember the movie "The Walk"? When people does "Slacklining" (or balancing on rope) they tend to either hold a long stick to balance themselves or just simply put your arms as wide as possible for balancing and stability. Same principle applies to a wider handlebar.
This was my video ☺️ danke!
James' definitively got some sweet bikes there
Good stuff guys.
great explanation of bars, people get sucked in by the marketing hype, rather than a set of bars that truly works for them. Must say, I'm loving the Ursus MAGNUS H.01 integrated bars. Extremely comfortable .
If ever in England, i gotta see this store and meet James. What an interesting fellow!
Thanks for the video. I have always suspected that my body is telling me that I should swap out my stock 44cm handlebar to slightly reduce the reach of my bike. However, I cannot find other articles online to confirm my suspicion is correct. Now I can experiment with a 38cm bar with slight more confidence.
Bike shop tour? That Independent Fabrication ti bike looked Nnnniiiicccceeee!
it's stainless steel but yes it is Nnnniiiicccceeee!
really interesting, I'm on a 42 but I should probably be on a 40. I rolled in the wrists exactly like was said and had numb hands! Great vid once again Francis, I'm sure the quality of videos will still be really good even in these mexicanbeervirus times!
Cycle Nutter I’m also a 40 on a 42 bar. Have you changed your handlebars? If so, how was it?
Jonathan Gapay I’m on a new bike now, and it feels ok 👌 . But my shoulders have broadened a little bit 🤪 not in the last few months, but getting there
Cycle Nutter I’ve just changed to a 40, and the improvement was immediately noticeable. Gonna go on a longer ride to see if my hand numbness disappears.
Jonathan Gapay oh nice man 🤟
@@jonathangapay1724 hey, so what is long term update? Did 40 cm bar work out well?
Nice vid, man. Send my regards to Chris as well. Seems like a nice bloke.
My Trek Emonda came with Bontrager of course. In the drops and sprinting out of the saddle, my wrists would hit the bar. They were also uncomfortable on the tops. Replaced with Deda Superleggera and what a difference!
nice explanation, thanks
I wouldnt step foot in that shop because I'd give all my savings to James 😆. Boy knows it all, can see the passion in it
Hadn't even thought of using the handlebars to alter the reach of the bike - thanks
Good thing to note is that this kind of logic is used in Office Ergonomics, being fit to a zero gravity recliner, and buying a mattress. It's all about maintaining neutral posture throughout the activities in your life. Whenever your myofascial system is misaligned, especially when introducing repetitive movement (cycling), you accelerate the process of deteriorating your body. Love the way this guy explains this stuff.
Hey Francis and James! It would be really cool to see an episode addressing leg length discrepancy and how it can be fixed! Thanks for the great content guys!
Good one - we'll do this
Bikefit James thanks! I actually sent you an IG dm about this topic exactly 👌🏻
Will probably switch to the more compact 3T Ergonova (now called Superergo I think) from my stock Bontrager bars, feel like I just need to decrease the reach a tiny bit and the flatter top is an added bonus.
Nice! It seems the person knows what they talking about, I hope I can pass by to see the shop and get some advice.
I find that as you bend your elbows more, your forearms naturally rotate to the outside. It’s why shift levers and aero extensions are designed the way they are. To me it would even make sense to bend the tops of drop bars a little bit to accommodate this natural arm/wrist rotation.
Deda has the best feel bars for me personally. I love their Alanera cockpit
Really interesting insight, I was previously told during a bike fit that they would fit me to a wider bar and using your method of measuring I came up with 44cm. I am relatively broad but not to the rugby player build just 6'2 and lean. Is it worth considering another bike fit to assess this or is this a good basis to go off of?
Great.. very informative
Got pair of Hoy track bars,like cinelli 65 in sale couple years back love them on gravel bike,look so different to 'ergo' bars,really deep drops
I'm quite a slender guy so I installed a 38 cm bar which should align with my shoulders but I noticed that i had the tendency to push my elbows out and my shoulders got stiff as I tried to keep them in. I now installed a 40 cm bar with the hoods slightly turned inwards and my position feels perfect.
I would love to find a current drop bar that has the reach and drop of my old Scott drop ins. Yes I know they were weird looking but they fit my hands perfectly.
Excellent chaps. Good gear. A question for James, assuming your saddle is dialed, I am running 38cm SL70 Ergo handlebars. 38cm for the width and 70mm for the reach.
If I find myself resting the base of my palm often on the tops of the handlebar, but the hoods feels okay, sound like reach too short?
In my 70s, I went back to straight bars to reduce back ache. It ends up being quite an expensive conversion because of Shimano's different pull ratios for their various components.
my wife gave me the go ahead to start planning a trip to the uk just for a bike fit with james!
Traditional drop bars were like that purely because that's all they used to be able to bend the quality of tubing at the time. Also as the bikes had quill stems, standard
headsets, down tube shifting and Italian square geometry, they were considerably higher. They have no place today where we mainly ride the hoods. Back then we mainly rode in the hooks.
Thanks!
I have 42's 3T ergosum Pro bars on all my road bikes, I find them most comfortable. I cut my mtb bars down to be 2cms wider than my road bars for ease of getting through traffic & fitted bar end grips.
Any chance of a video on where to position controls on handlebars? How high, how low etc..
I've been struggling with neck pain no matter how close or far away i put my seat, and no matter what stem height. My bike came with a 42cm causing me to splay my elbows out more, I think going down to a 38 would make a big difference.
How to replicate a cleat position on different shoes would be a good one.....
I’m 6 feet 1”, I weigh 86kg for the past 27 years I used 42cm. Then last year after researching the benefits I switched to using shallow drop 36cm on all my road bikes. I absolutely love em, anything wider than that for me feels like you’re a parachute.
What brand do you use? Thanks!
@@AdrielDamoneTv I use two different brands. Enigma and Specialized. I believe Hoy also produce one.
@@jiyon167 Nice! Can you name the exact one you use? I’m having a hard time finding decent 36mm handlebars
@@AdrielDamoneTv no idea. There are no exact model designations. Try Ebay there is plenty of 36cm bars on there.
THis is awesome advice, thanks.
I ride a size L Gravelbike (we all know the handlebars on those are ginormous and after almost two years of oning it i dont really understand the slanted drop bar)
aand i ride a size L road bike.
Both the handlebar widths are 44cm.
I just measured my shoulders and they are 40cm apart.
I was in shock first but luckily used handlebars arent that expensive
Got into road cycling 3 months ago. I went into it withought any knowledge about bike fitting.
Now I am reverse engineering everything.
I am now problem solving my handlebar width. It is too wide.
I suffer from neck pain, numb hands and overall discomfort in shoulder / neck / arm area.
Thanks to your videos I realised that my wrists are turned inwards on handlebars. That I actually ride with my elbows away from my body like you would on a mountain bike because my handlebar is too wide.
After I sort that out, I will have to look at the stem because I am convinced that I am over reaching. There is way too much body weight on my arms.
this guy knows so much about bikes :o
Q - indoor bike set up, do you recommend making any tweaks to your outdoor position for improved comfort when spending much more time on the trainer?
drop vs flat
For a lot of people who don't cycle much, drop bars feel 'twitchy'. flat bars need a bigger movement of the hands for the same turn. So to an occasional rider, flat bars feel more stable.
I loved your video it taught me a lot. I am building my first bike with a framed carbon fiber frame. I live by the beach where there are lots of people on the bike paths along the beach. I have only ever had a flat handled bar. When building this new bike I am trying to determine how much maneuverability I would loose if I switch to those non flat variety. I have to brake quite often because people don’t pay attention on those paths by the beach. Because of the brake position on the curved handle bars does it make it more difficult to ride in a densely populated area?
Not really, but you have to keep them covered, ie. fingers on the lever ready to brake.
@2:10 just spoke my language. Those things describe my problem.. need to look into a smaller width bar
40 Thomson carbon road bars for me 🤙🏼 Found the perfect bars
Would be interesting to hear James' opinion about the more fronted-fitting (0-offset posts, slammed saddles etc.) like you see with pro racers for smaller individuals.
steadfast_ what’s a slammed saddle...?
@@ianbrown_ a saddle that is as far forward as possible on the saddle rails.
James, love that shirt. Great pattern, Bicycle Richmond Club Issue ? As a Cycling shirt? 🧔⚓🥃🚴♂️
As much as I like listening to James I was drawn to the Look bike hanging on the wall.
Ian Brewer it’s for sale, make me an offer
Bikefit James Tempting......🤔
James I’ve been getting sore elbows riding and wondered whether it’s because I’m over stretched? Got a shortish torso but long legs so can’t have my saddle much lower without compromising the knee position. Thanks 👍🏻
That’a exactly my problem. Super long bars reach and 80mm stem... plus it’s a 44 so Lots of discomfort. Switching my bars on Monday for 40cms with short reach and also positioning the control less flat
on RB we use 40cm, then move to CX/GV with 42cm flared, the question is, does a flare that angels the same as our arms when we span (so the wrist will be as straight as on 40cm non flared) naturalize the wider-than-shoulder handlebar issues?
Question, what would be more stable for a gravel bike, 100mm stem and 42cm bars or 110mm stem and 40cm bars? I'm currently on the first, considering the latter. Will I be ok on the 110/40 or propelled into space on the first rocky descent?🤔
I currently ride with aluminium classic 44cm drop handlebars, and most likely I'm (at 107kg) the heaviest commenter here, typically riding up a 400m hill most days, though sometimes 800~1000m hill / mountain / volcano near where I live.
I was thinking about switching to carbon drops, and something a bit more compact, as the classic geometry feels like dropping too much vertically with no stretching forward, so to speak, as I feel I'd like to.
Maybe a huge misconception on my part, but to conclude this essay, my question was simply regarding the hoods and their mechanical connection to the bars...
is this connection (significantly / any) stronger and more robust on aluminium bars as a substrate, or would carbon be just as strong?
Thinking about when the grade goes north of 12 or 14% and ones hands are in that kind of position, on or near the hoods.
Is it worth converting my Hybrid to have drop bars. If so, what is the cheapest way of doing it?
1-I was thinking to just change the bars but keep the MTB style thumb shifter and brakes so I literally just change the bar.
2- hangs the bar and the brakes but keep the shifter
3- bullhorns with the MTB shifter and brake
Damn. I just checked the spec on my handlebars. 44cm on a 56cm roubaix. But shoulders measured at the cp is 47cm. Been struggling saddle discomfort. I went to a very well known fitter in LA, but the handlebar width never came up. Got a shorter stem, repositioned cleats and saddle height, etc.
I have a Trek with the VRC bar and I thought I was going crazy. But no, it's not me, it's the bar. Off to find a more suitable sized bar. What's the best way to try out different handlebars?
James I have been having some neck and shoulder issues. From your explanation it could be from the handle bar setup. I am all the way in Ghana and would like if you could give me some guidelines to address this issue; perhaps some adjustments, rule of thumb fitting measurements. I measure 5ft 7 inches
Flat bars ftw. I've never gotten handlebar palsy with flat bars, only with drop bars. It happened twice, once for each hand on separate occasions, took about a couple of months to regain full control for each of my hands.