Bar Sweep... Worth it?

[FLV]

I have constant bother with an old hand injury so am messing about with various bars.

I am trying Jones bars out on one bike. Weird so far, but not in a bad way.

On the other bike, I currently have a set of standard 9 degree sweep bars. I am looking at bars with more sweep, but not jones bars level. Found some with 12 degrees, and also with 16 degrees.

Has anyone been through this experiment already, is it worth trying the 12 deg or jumping straight into the 16 deg?

Cheers

[ScotRoutes]

Just jumping on this thread. I too have been looking at mid-swept bars on account of a wrist injury. I'm tempted to plump for 12 degrees as the 16 degrees just seems a bit "extreme" for the sort of riding I'm envisaging ( I already have Jones Loops on my fatbike and main bikepacking bike). So far, it seems to be SQ Lab and Syntace. Have you found any others?

[whitestone]

Hard to tell really, might not be much difference between 9 & 12 degrees, I'd be tempted to go straight to 16.

With the Jones bars I've found that the amount you slope them back towards the ground makes a big difference - starting point seems to be to have them pointing to the rear axle. If you have them horizontal then there's a forced angle at your wrists.

[FLV]

on the jones I'm almost horizontal, but I don't think they're high enough.

ScotRoutes, SQ Labs is where I've got to on those numbers. Eyewateringly expensive though.

Salsa rustler gets you 11 degrees, Salt flat 17 or 23 if you dont need the rise

[whitestone]

on the jones I'm almost horizontal, but I don't think they're high enough.

I've had that problem on my fat bike - I bought it from Ian Barrington and he's a little bit shorter than me so when I had a set of Jones Bars on it they didn't quite feel right. I swapped them to the Spearfish when I built that up and then realised that the bars had been too low on the fat bike. I ordered a set of the riser Jones Bars which lift the bars by 2.5". They look really weird being tilted back but feel fine on the fat bike.

[ScotRoutes]

SQ Labs is where I've got to on those numbers. Eyewateringly expensive though.

Especially if you are looking at the carbon versions....



FWIW, my Loops are tilted down a bit. Nowhere near pointing at the rear axle though.

[FLV]

Cheers for that. I have an old set of forks on it, and the stem I already had on it. I'll muck about till I get somewhere with that,

On the sweep of other bars. from 9 to 12 brings the bars about 16mm at the endpoint towards you, 9 to 16 brings them 37mm towards you.
Roughly of course, not allowing for the entire shape of the bars.

[FLV]

Oh, I hadnt found the alloy. Off to google

https://nsmb.com/articles/defying-conve ... weep-bars/

decent photos of the 30mm bars

[fatbikephil]

If you are looking to go high and wide try Stooge motos - 17 degree sweep
If you want really high and really wide try Surly sunrises - 15 degree sweep
I use both of the above (and h bars) and they are dead comfy.

[Dyffers]

Cheap and cheerful way to try 15 deg bars if they're wide enough and you use an adaptor or an old style 25.4 stem: https://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/HBOOFG/on- ... -handlebar

[FLV]

Ta.
I'm edging to hoping the 12 is enough to make a difference to be honest. along with a bit of mucking about with steerer spacers and seat positions.

[ton]

i have had a constant battle with finding the right bars for the last 5 or so years. my right wrist is fused, and my left is nearly the same.

tried jones bars in all the guises. feel fine to start, but end up feeling wrong and causing hand and wrist pain.
surly moloko bars fitted with ergo grips seem to be working ok at present. i think they have a different sweep to jones loops.
12 degree flat bars and ergo grips on the tourer, but they hurt me like hell and i need a new solution there.

i have bought loads of different bars to try and cure this, so far non work. it is a expensive problem.

[Jamesh]

Some interesting leads, I also suffer from wrist woes and have been looking into this.
I've been informed Ritchey are developing (soon to release) a Jones esq bar (with not as much sweep) to marry with the new Ultra. When pick up this frame shortly will push the guys at the shop for more info as it sounded like a possible option

[whitestone]

FWIW, my Loops are tilted down a bit. Nowhere near pointing at the rear axle though.

Like I said, it's a starting point. These things take time to get right especially if any problems only show after a while as it takes time to recover and try something different.

[mtbmarkymark]

have been using a set of Salsa pro moto carbon flat bars (660mm wide , 17deg backsweep ) for years now on my El Mariachi.
i have a spare set going cheap in the classifieds if you do a quick search.

[johnnystorm]

OG Bars from One-One are 25deg, link on the fleegle page from up there.

[wriggles]

These are useful resources when comparing bars
http://whatbars.com

http://yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/stem.php

[landel]

OG Bars from One-One are 25deg, link on the fleegle page from up there.

+1 for the OG bars with Ergon grips. Many positions and adjustments available to find your sweet spot. Used for HT550 this year and no hand issues.

[Dr Nick]

I've also got an old injury on one hand. I initially tried on-one Mary bars which helped (on a rigid 29er). I then changed to Jones bars and whilst I loved the position on that bike they felt a bit too rigid and that (I think) on longer rides contributed to numbness.

Now I've bought a fat bike with front suspension I fitted SQ lab alloy bars in 16 degree sweep and I love them.

Obviously it's hard to say how much the front suspension helps on the current bike, but with all the increased sweep bars I've tried - the pain I traditionally associated with riding less swept back bars was gone/ reduced.

so go for it I say!

[Moder-dye]

I have a set of OG bars if anyone's interested. I liked them, but ultimately went to dirt drops as my wrists prefer to be more vertical.

[ton]

I have a set of OG bars if anyone's interested

yes please mate.

[Moder-dye]

I have a set of OG bars if anyone's interested

yes please mate.

OK, drop me a PM with your details

[Moder-dye]

I have a set of OG bars if anyone's interested. I liked them, but ultimately went to dirt drops as my wrists prefer to be more vertical.

Also have some alpkit Confucius hoop bars I'll not use. Been cut to 690cm...

[Alpinum]

I've damaged my right hand on three occasions with multiple fractures, comminuted fractures and injured articular cartilage. Today I'm mostly pain free, but have issues with certain movements, mainly due to a complete destruction my triangular fibrocartilage complex.

I ride 9° back- and 5-6° upsweep at 760 - 800 mm, but have them twisted upwards by probably about 10-15° or so. My bars kind of end up looking up and back in a similar degree. Works for me. More sweep backwards gives me stinging pain at the end of my ulna. On my penny I hold the bars laterally but they are set in a very steep position (kind of like a hiking pole) which would be dangerous when biking.

Having all this - very subjective stuff - said, just as a general thought;

Depending on your prerequisite, an - otherwise -
anatomical correct bar may not be the right solution.

That's basically all I'm trying to say.

If you can't find comfort in the typical bars (well, kind of those mentioned), try odd stuff.
Some ride their bars really, really strange (mtb riser twisted 90° to front etc.), but if it works...

Once, I found the right bar, then I got rid of loosing sensation in my ring finger by using a 5 mm shorter stem in one case.
Then I figured it might help to have a stronger core, so made sure this was the case and now I feel much less sensitive to stem/front centre length and find comfort quicker and on more bikes/setups.

Hope you find something decent soon.
So yeah, go for it, it's likely going to help, but give yourself time to adjust position and riding and bike setup.
If it doesn't help, flip them a bit here and there.

[Charliecres]

I had some Jones bend bars in 710 flavour which I never quite got completely comfortable with (using foam grips). Now have some of the naughty Alpkit knock-offs (same sweep, I believe but 680 wide) with Ergon grips, which are super-comfy.