[baraant]

I just got a new bike, giant xtc 2, and when I bought it the lbs set me up with a new stem, race face deus, and new bars, race face deus low riser bar. The bike originally came with Easton EA50 stem and flat bar. My questions are:

What are the pros and cons of a low riser bar?

I think I have the bar height adjusted correctly, my seat is about 1-2" above the bars, but the stearing seems slow. The riser bar is about 2" longer than the flat bar is there a reason for this?

What would be the pro and con if I starting cutting the bar length down?

The deus stem is about 30mm shorter than the easton what effect does this have?

My front shock, Rock Shock Duke XC, 80mm travel, has a damper control and I was wondering what the pros and cons are of fast damping versus slow damping? Right now I have it set a little towards the fast side and it seems fine.

All in all I think I have the bike set up very close to where I want it I just ripped off my fastest time ever on my local single track and I am still out of shape! Thanks to all the guys who recommended buying a new bike rather than trying to upgrade my old one.

 

[FreeRangeChicken]

Shortening the stem will tend to quicken the steering while longer bars will tend to slow steering. I'd say the net effect of a 30mm shorter stem and 2" longer bars is probably quicker than the original setup. The slowness in steering that you perceive is likely due to a difference in wheelbase and/or head tube angle between your old bike and your new bike. Cutting down the handlebars will tend to quicken the steering, but you have to be careful about cutting composite bars. Often manufacturers recommend against cutting composite bars because it may compromise the integrity of the bars. Also, dust generated by cutting composite bars is extremely bad for your lungs.

Setting too much damping will not allow the fork to respond to high frequency stuff, like washboard and chattery rocks. Too low and the fork travel will tend to saturate too quickly and you may tend to bottom out the fork on bigger drops.

 

[baraant]

not composite bars

Thanks, the bars aren't composite so I'll try shortening them up in small increments, about .5" per side first. For the shock I haven't bottomed them out yet, what I will try is to keep going lower on the damping until I bottom them then I'll give them a little more damping.

 

[baraant]

now you're making me think

Shortening the stem will tend to quicken the steering while longer bars will tend to slow steering. I'd say the net effect of a 30mm shorter stem and 2" longer bars is probably quicker than the original setup.

I had to think about this, but if it's set up on an x-y coordinate system and then applying force calcs wouldn't the bar length have a much more significant effect on steering than the stem length because of its much greater length? I would also guess that by shortening the bar length probably the most signifcant thing you would notice is not the added force it would take to turn, but how much more turn you will get by moving your arms the same amount of distance.

Now that you made me think I might have answered my own questions, thanks.

 

[FreeRangeChicken]

Shortening the stem will tend to quicken the steering while longer bars will tend to slow steering. I'd say the net effect of a 30mm shorter stem and 2" longer bars is probably quicker than the original setup.

I had to think about this, but if it's set up on an x-y coordinate system and then applying force calcs wouldn't the bar length have a much more significant effect on steering than the stem length because of its much greater length? I would also guess that by shortening the bar length probably the most signifcant thing you would notice is not the added force it would take to turn, but how much more turn you will get by moving your arms the same amount of distance.

Now that you made me think I might have answered my own questions, thanks.

Remeber that you have to cut the extra 2" handle bar length in half (1" on either side of the steering axis). Yes, a 1" change in stem length will have less effect than a 1" change in handlebar length.

Don't underestimate the effects of loss of leverage. It comes in pretty handy at times when riding techy stuff. My point, don't go hacking 6" off your bars all at once to acheive faster steering. Once you cut it off, its gone. Baby steps....

 

[baraant]

baby steps

Yeah I was thinking of going at first with .5" - .75" off each side and then see how it rides.

Thanks.