[perttime]

I am about ready to start setting up the riding position on my project bike, and it looks like I might have to install my low riser bar inverted to get my hands where I want them.

Any particular reasons not to do this?

I know it would look unusual, but it is a singlespeed so people will think I am strange anyway....

Will Truvativ mind if the texts on a chrome colored Holzefeller bar are upside down ?

 

[ddraewwg]

Get a negative rise stem ( or just flip your stem ) and a flat bar. Flipping the riser bar upside down may put the grips at the right height but the bar's rise will end up pointing the grips slightly downward....not what you want.

 

[ettore]

If it fits your position, i can't imagine it would make any difference. At the endurance races I go to, a few people do what you speak of. The only concern for me would be if, in theory, the thickness of the bar differs from top to bottom, meaning it might actually be weaker upside down. However, that seems insanely unlikely.

 

[perttime]

It is a DH bar, so I doubt strength would be an issue.
The bar pointing up or down will pretty much depend on how it is mounted: rolled backwards or forward.

My existing bike has a low riser on an inverted stem and the position is pretty good. This bike has a taller fork so that may not be quite enough.

I might even do it just to be different

 

[Sideknob]

Wouldn't the sweep be all wrong?

Negative rise stem and wide flat bar sounds like a better option (not to mention looking a bit more normal, if that's important.)

 

[perttime]

Wouldn't the sweep be all wrong?

hmmm, a riser bar is bent a few degrees this way and a few degrees that way.

I think the direction all those degrees actually point in depends on how you mount the bar.

 

[whoda*huck]

I am about ready to start setting up the riding position on my project bike, and it looks like I might have to install my low riser bar inverted to get my hands where I want them.

Any particular reasons not to do this?

I know it would look unusual, but it is a singlespeed so people will think I am strange anyway....

Will Truvativ mind if the texts on a chrome colored Holzefeller bar are upside down ?

Yeah, and while you're at it you could turn your saddle around, wear your helmet backwards and turn your shorts inside out!
Or you could get the correct parts to get you into your preferred riding position and use them as they were designed.

 

[perttime]

Yeah, and while you're at it you could turn your saddle around, wear your helmet backwards and turn your shorts inside out!

That would not work.

Or you could get the correct parts to get you into your preferred riding position and use them as they were designed.

Yup, I have a 10 degree stem and a bar. The stem can be run inverted, although the texts will look funny. Now I'll just see which part I will install which way to get the bar right.

What exactly concerns you about installing a strong bar inverted?

 

[Bikinfoolferlife]

I see no reason why not to do it if it makes you happy, and I'd really like to see some photos!

 

[f3rg]

Wow, this brings up something I saw about 3 weeks ago during a ride...

Some frumpy girl was cruising down the rail-trail on a Wal-Mart clunker, but she had the oddest posture from the back as I came up on her. WTF, why is she sitting like that?

When I finally passed her, I checked out her hand positioning, and she had her riser bar turned down toward her. Basically, she'd loosened (or the crap builder at Wal-Mart had) her bar, and rotated it toward the seat, I guess so she'd have less of a reach. Because riser bars have a lot of backsweep, this caused the ends of the handlebar to point downward, which is why she seemed to have such weird posture.

To make it worse, the brake levers were basically pointing skyward, and her seat was all the way down as well. I really wish I'd gotten a pic, but the memory is terrifying enough.

 

[ddraewwg]

That would not work.
Yup, I have a 10 degree stem and a bar. The stem can be run inverted, although the texts will look funny. Now I'll just see which part I will install which way to get the bar right.

What exactly concerns you about installing a strong bar inverted?

Running stem inverted doesn't change ergonomics....it only changes the vertical position of the hands.....basically only adjusts your position on one plane.

Inverting a riser bar is totally different since a riser bar has backsweep and rise, any changes to it's position affects more than just one plane. Look at a riser bar from the front of the bike. The "rise" does not stop at the clamp area....it continues all the way to the end of the bar so if you INVERT the bar, the ends of the bar will actually point downward....they're not going to be flat in relation to the ground. Now, I guess you can ride a bike that way....maybe you won't notice it, but there definitely is a difference between running an inverted stem/flat bar and just inverting the riser bar....even if they offered the same drop in height, you're not going to have the same ergonomics.

 

[perttime]

a riser bar has backsweep and rise, any changes to it's position affects more than just one plane. Look at a riser bar from the front of the bike. The "rise" does not stop at the clamp area....it continues all the way to the end of the bar so if you INVERT the bar, the ends of the bar will actually point downward....

I can get my normal riser to point downward by rotating it backwards a bit. If I rotate an inverted bar forward a bit, It will point up.

 

[ettore]

So, essentially, there is nothing wrong with it; however it'll look funny. If, in the end, the positing feels right, then do it. I seem to recall a guy on these forums running MTB drop bars, and everyone hating on him for it because it was "wrong" ... dispite the fac that he thought it was comfortable and was probably a trainload better at riding than all his critics.

I'd try it ... doesn't exactly take all that long to change it around if it sucks. Nobody on here has been able to come up with a reason you shouldn't do it safety wise, which I think is the main reason you came here.

 

[ddraewwg]

I can get my normal riser to point downward by rotating it backwards a bit. If I rotate an inverted bar forward a bit, It will point up.

That would also affect your position forward/aft which may not necessarily be what you want.

 

[perttime]

It would effectively shorten the stem by a few mm, I think. Might be just right, or might not. We'll see.

I like to take my time with bike wrenching. I plan to put the rest of the puzzle together in the next few days....

 

[Berkeley Mike]

My son did it because it was fun

on a singlespeed I built for him as a transit bike. It made the bike look like a waterbuffalo and we all got a chuckle out of it but it was a 15 year olds fun bike and everyone gets that. He wanted to cut them narrower and complained of neck pain. I just switched him to a flatbar and cut it narrow (21 inches), changed the stem, raising his hand postion about 1 inch and he is much happier. Steering demands on the road are much different and the risers (or lowers) and their sweep are unnecessary.

 

[perttime]

I have shortish legs and still like to have my hands a little below seat level. Suspension forks make the front of a bike (especially HT) a little tall for me.

I seem to recall a guy on these forums running MTB drop bars,

That would be Shiggy, the tyre guru. I guess there are others.

 

[bvibert]

I say if it's comfortable for you then do it. Yes, the ergonomics may be a little screwy, but who cares if it works for you? Post pics when you get it mounted up.

 

[chumbox]

I know it would look unusual, but it is a singlespeed so people will think I am strange anyway....

Sounds like a dig for attention to me... there are plenty of options available to avoid the need for this sort of setup. Get an On One Fleegle Bar and flip ya stem and ya done.

 

[perttime]

I have some options with my existing parts. Some spacers on steerer, a 10 degree stem, a low riser bar. Pretty sure some combination will put my hands low enough but not too low....

I am not buying another bar unless I really need to. I don't think I do.