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Poll: Preferred Bar Height on a 29er?

6K views 31 replies 22 participants last post by  richwolf 
#1 ·
Newish 29er rider here. At 6'1" with a lot of height in the legs, all of my 26ers were at max seat post extension and a ton of drop from saddle to handlebars (even with a riser bar). Now, with a flat bar, I have about 1 inch drop to my handlebar. It's comfortable so far, but I wonder who has played around with different bar heights and come to any conclusions?

I know this is all about personal preference, but I wonder if there is a trend in other 29er riders? A lot of guys I see are running negative rise stems but they are shorter riders on smaller frames.
 
#27 ·
I ride with my bars about level with my saddle. Works for me. I've got a long torso and short legs. I run wide bars, and my 29er has a quick-ish front end (72.5 degree head angle and 39mm offset rigid fork), which gives me a short-ish front center, so I don't seem to have any problem weighting the front wheel.

I don't ever change saddle height during a ride. Proper leg extension, similar to my road bikes. If I need to get lower, I get BEHIND the saddle.

FWIW, my road bikes are set up about the same way. The Romulus has bars about level with saddle, and the touring bike has bars slightly higher than the saddle. My townie is the only bike I have that has sigificant drop! That's just because it is my old 26" mountain bike, dating from back when I (and everybody else, it seems) rode mountain with a whole lot of drop to the bars...
 
#28 ·
Very interesting posts and good info!

Quote: "There is no reason that you can't get the bars the same height in relation to the saddle on a 26er as on a 29er. Just use a different stem and/or more spacers and/or a higher rise bar."

Reply: Well, OK, but I could never do that. I would have ended up with a very ungainly (IMO) chopper-like set-up. It's for this reason that I think the 29er is a MUCH better fit for me than a 26er. Anyway.

Quote: "I think shorter riders have a tougher time with saddle to bar ratios going for a 26" to a 29". I Ride my 26" with the seat at the same height as the bars. My 29" I can't get my seat high to the same level as my bars. "

Reply: Now that's interesting! Seems that on the higher end of size the opposite problem occurs. My wife is on a 26er with a 650B front (which, I know, adds another layer of complexity) and her saddle is below her bars and, with many adjustments, will stay there.

She is short. I am tall. On a similar note, we frequently have trouble buying a car where the seat adjustment can be ideally fit for both of us.
 
#30 ·
John_Biker said:
I ride with my bars about level with my saddle. Works for me. I've got a long torso and short legs. I run wide bars, and my 29er has a quick-ish front end (72.5 degree head angle and 39mm offset rigid fork), which gives me a short-ish front center, so I don't seem to have any problem weighting the front wheel.

I don't ever change saddle height during a ride. Proper leg extension, similar to my road bikes. If I need to get lower, I get BEHIND the saddle.
39mm offset doesn't make for a very quick front end even with steep HTA's. Try a 72* and 47mm offset. Good fun!

I'm agree about not changing my seat height.
 
#31 ·
ungainly?

gthcarolina said:
Quote: "There is no reason that you can't get the bars the same height in relation to the saddle on a 26er as on a 29er. Just use a different stem and/or more spacers and/or a higher rise bar."

Reply: Well, OK, but I could never do that. I would have ended up with a very ungainly (IMO) chopper-like set-up.
How would it be ungainly? Regarding performance, or do you just mean the appearance of the bike?
 
#32 ·
Everyone is built differently so the height preference of their bars vis a vis their saddle will be different. Also many prefer a XC style set up vs. a downhill set up. My preference is bars well above my saddle. I have more confidence and control on the downhills and on the uphills where I often am out of the saddle the higher bars put me in a more comfortable and controllable position.
Playing around with different positions takes times but eventually you will find that sweet spot. I think there are too many variables in your body build, bike geometry and riding preferences to pigeonhole things.
 
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