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  Topic Name: what lighter riser bars for ergons and bar ends? on: September 16, 2009, 01:37:58 PM
jeremy11


Location: Grand Junction, CO
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« on: September 16, 2009, 01:37:58 PM »

So, I'm looking for lighter riser bars with more sweep to go with ergons and bar ends
Current setup is 2x9 Vassago Jabberwocky, Easton EA70 stem and EA70 Monkeylite riser bars (about 260 grams)
I could use a bit more sweep, nothing crazy, and less weight (sub 200 would be nice)
I don't really want to do carbon or anything super expensive.
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  Topic Name: what lighter riser bars for ergons and bar ends? Reply #1 on: September 17, 2009, 02:03:11 PM
Slim


Location: Duluth MN, North Central USA
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« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2009, 02:03:11 PM »

And where would you like to have this cake (delivered) and eat it too? icon_biggrin

To make a lighter bar you can:
  • Make it narrower
  • make it flat and straight instead of swept and riser
  • make it out of carbon
  • use more expensive contruction, like butting etc
  • make it less strong

So, you cannot have a cheap, light, strong, riser bar with a lot of sweep and width. Pick the most important characteristics and then compromise on the others.
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  Topic Name: what lighter riser bars for ergons and bar ends? Reply #2 on: September 17, 2009, 02:04:54 PM
Slim


Location: Duluth MN, North Central USA
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« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2009, 02:04:54 PM »

PS: If you just want to save weight, switching from regular to ultralight tubes will save about 2*30g for only about $6, and rotating weight at that!

PS II: If you are looking at weights of bars, remember to check the width, some bars are much wider than others, so if cut to the same width, they will be less than spec weight.
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  Topic Name: what lighter riser bars for ergons and bar ends? Reply #3 on: September 17, 2009, 05:06:13 PM
jeremy11


Location: Grand Junction, CO
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« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2009, 05:06:13 PM »

I realize the tradeoffs....

I am dropping about 1.5 POUNDS in the tire/wheel area going from Mavic A317/DT 14g spokes/Deore hubs/tubed Intense S-29  to Stan's Flow, 14/15/14 spokes and al nipples, DMR Revolver hubs, tubeless WWLT front, Ardent rear.

OK, forget weight on the bars.
something with more sweep that isn't a funky bar and will be reliable in the backcountry

How noticeable is a 2 deg change?  I think the EA70's I have are 9 deg, which feels close, but would the 11 deg sweep Salsa bars be much of a change?

Or maybe I'll try a shorter higher stem first.
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  Topic Name: what lighter riser bars for ergons and bar ends? Reply #4 on: September 18, 2009, 01:13:00 PM
Slim


Location: Duluth MN, North Central USA
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« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2009, 01:13:00 PM »

Yes, I went from a 9 to a 11 bar, quite noticable. They also make a 17 degree. I took the 11 because I already use a 140 mm stem with those, and an even more swept bar would require a longer stem (hard to find), or  using one of the 'alt' bars with a forward bend in them, which raises weight again significantly.

One point perhaps to keep in mind if using the 17 degree Salsa bars is that your hands put a lot more torque on the clamp than with a more traditional style, your weight is trying to rotate the bars in the clamp.

The big ergonomic difference is that the more sweep a bar has the more your elbows can drop down and in with a wide bar, relaxing the shoulders. The old MTB's had straight bars to force your elbows up and out, helping resist impacts to the front wheel. These days we use much wider bars that give us plenty of leverage, especially combined with the slacker angles and suspension of modern bikes, to keep the bars straight, even with a more neutral elbow position.
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  Topic Name: what lighter riser bars for ergons and bar ends? Reply #5 on: September 18, 2009, 05:27:04 PM
jeremy11


Location: Grand Junction, CO
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« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2009, 05:27:04 PM »

It seems that on the flat and uphill the bike and bars are fitting well, but then on long rough downhills, my back, shoulders, and hands hurt.
I am 5'9" on an rigid 18" Jabberwocky (2x9) riding in Lake City, CO.  Almost everything is big.
Some of the tension may of course be from riding rigid (I am tempted to get a shock, but weight and price are big)
I started with a 100mm stem, then switched to a 90mm stem.  The ergons help considerably, so I might just pick up an 80mm stem and try it out for a bit.
The structural integrity of big sweep bars kinda weirds me out too.  Then again, riser bars are also working against physics.....
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