Very informative and a lot of “food for thought” I like to understand the mechanics of these changes and I wasn’t understanding how sweep affects body position. Now I get the picture
Thanks again for another great video Shad. This information is very helpful as a reminder to not just go with the flow but to remember common sense when putting a bike together Mark from Maryland
I wish I had seen this before being sold extremely swept handlebars to try to combat hand pain. I'm built like a rugby player, and my elbows go out not in. Thanks for this.
Yep, not everyone is built the same. I tend to have wider shoulders and my elbows stick out. I have tried to pull my elbows in and it's simply not comfortable for me. Many people, like the other person that recently commented on here, think that one solution or in this case, sweep, will work for everyone. That is exactly why you want to do this exercise with a string and grips. Then you will know how much sweep you need. I wish more companies made less sweep. I have BMX bars with 3 degrees of sweep and they feel soooo good!
The ergonomic position for your arms and hands is with your palms about 1/2 way between facing the floor and each other. Then you will find more sweep works ergonomically. You will also find it almost impossible to find a non-drop bar that does that. The way he demonstrated for sweep was with his palms facing fully toward the floor. That is not how the shoulder works.
How I demonstrated this is exactly how the handlebars are on my mountain bike. I have tried bars with more sweep and they are uncomfortable and cause my hands to fall asleep and I get pain in my elbow during longer rides. I think what you don't realize is that I am standing often, jumping, riding technical stuff and a flatter bar absolutely helps for that. We are not talking about the most comfortable hand position while seated and pedaling.
My choice after 50 years of playing bike is 820mm width, 8° upsweep, 12° backsweep. It is a cardinal rule that my handlebar is trials oriented with a splash of punkass enduro.
Forward sweep makes sense to me, unless the bars are much wider than your shoulders, like on a big motorcycle. Also, wouldn't holding two dowels be an easy way to do this?
You want more sweep for touring bikes. For bars he's talking about on a touring bike your hands and wrists will be sore in 10 minutes. You'll have pinched nerves within an hour or two. More sweep is more natural, for a straight bar the outside of the palm will be sore in 10 minutes of riding. A road bike with hands on the drop is actually most natural where the hands naturally rest when you bring them forward like if you bring you hand forward to shake someone's hand.
Not true, especially for mountain biking. I ride for hours, even doing endurance events where I am riding for 4 or 5 hours and my palms are fine. I have bikes with drop bars and I find riding on the hoods the most comfortable.
@@ShadLifeI feel like there is more pressure on the hands in the road bike no? And drop bars are more ergonomic, but you get more pressure on the outer part of the hand on the hoods.
@@JitinMisraIt all depends on how your road bike is set up. Stack height, effective top tube, and stem length will all play a role in how far forward your lean is. For serious road bikers they work on a lot of core engagement also. I remember when I was being fitted on a road bike the person kept reminding me to engage my core and not put all my weight on my hands. It's definitely a different way to ride a bike. The reason I like my State All-Road so much, as well as my Fargo, is because the stack height is much higher than a transitional road bike and it makes it way more comfortable.
I want my upsweep pretty flat. So I roll the bars back and I still need less backsweep. I want bars with 3 degrees of backsweep. Nothing is available except for BMX race bars.
This is terrifying. No discussion of the carpal tunnel, no discussion of riding numbness. Elbows in engages the lays and is more neutral. He has no idea of what natural means. Nothing to do with aero.
Very informative and a lot of “food for thought” I like to understand the mechanics of these changes and I wasn’t understanding how sweep affects body position. Now I get the picture
Great video, I learned a lot from your channel so I subscribed, Thank you.
Awesome! Thank you!
Thanks again for another great video Shad.
This information is very helpful as a reminder to not just go with the flow but to remember common sense when putting a bike together
Mark from Maryland
So glad I came across your video. Helped me make the right choice, 6d for sure.
I wish I had seen this before being sold extremely swept handlebars to try to combat hand pain. I'm built like a rugby player, and my elbows go out not in. Thanks for this.
Yep, not everyone is built the same. I tend to have wider shoulders and my elbows stick out. I have tried to pull my elbows in and it's simply not comfortable for me.
Many people, like the other person that recently commented on here, think that one solution or in this case, sweep, will work for everyone. That is exactly why you want to do this exercise with a string and grips. Then you will know how much sweep you need.
I wish more companies made less sweep. I have BMX bars with 3 degrees of sweep and they feel soooo good!
The ergonomic position for your arms and hands is with your palms about 1/2 way between facing the floor and each other. Then you will find more sweep works ergonomically. You will also find it almost impossible to find a non-drop bar that does that. The way he demonstrated for sweep was with his palms facing fully toward the floor. That is not how the shoulder works.
How I demonstrated this is exactly how the handlebars are on my mountain bike. I have tried bars with more sweep and they are uncomfortable and cause my hands to fall asleep and I get pain in my elbow during longer rides.
I think what you don't realize is that I am standing often, jumping, riding technical stuff and a flatter bar absolutely helps for that. We are not talking about the most comfortable hand position while seated and pedaling.
My choice after 50 years of playing bike is 820mm width, 8° upsweep, 12° backsweep. It is a cardinal rule that my handlebar is trials oriented with a splash of punkass enduro.
Those that need a bigger sweep feel the same way. I came out to 17 degree, have to settle at 16 from SQ Labs.
No Caribou? ;-)
Forward sweep makes sense to me, unless the bars are much wider than your shoulders, like on a big motorcycle. Also, wouldn't holding two dowels be an easy way to do this?
How would dowels be any better than actual grips?
@@ShadLife because they'll cross at a particular angle, which can easily be measured.
@@blurglide That's one helluva an idea!
You want more sweep for touring bikes. For bars he's talking about on a touring bike your hands and wrists will be sore in 10 minutes. You'll have pinched nerves within an hour or two. More sweep is more natural, for a straight bar the outside of the palm will be sore in 10 minutes of riding. A road bike with hands on the drop is actually most natural where the hands naturally rest when you bring them forward like if you bring you hand forward to shake someone's hand.
Not true, especially for mountain biking. I ride for hours, even doing endurance events where I am riding for 4 or 5 hours and my palms are fine.
I have bikes with drop bars and I find riding on the hoods the most comfortable.
@@ShadLifeI feel like there is more pressure on the hands in the road bike no? And drop bars are more ergonomic, but you get more pressure on the outer part of the hand on the hoods.
@@JitinMisraIt all depends on how your road bike is set up. Stack height, effective top tube, and stem length will all play a role in how far forward your lean is.
For serious road bikers they work on a lot of core engagement also. I remember when I was being fitted on a road bike the person kept reminding me to engage my core and not put all my weight on my hands. It's definitely a different way to ride a bike.
The reason I like my State All-Road so much, as well as my Fargo, is because the stack height is much higher than a transitional road bike and it makes it way more comfortable.
thank you for an effort, but did not work for me...
Rolling the bars changes the back sweep and the up-sweep. You can usually find a comfortable position messing with the roll.
I want my upsweep pretty flat. So I roll the bars back and I still need less backsweep. I want bars with 3 degrees of backsweep. Nothing is available except for BMX race bars.
This is terrifying. No discussion of the carpal tunnel, no discussion of riding numbness. Elbows in engages the lays and is more neutral. He has no idea of what natural means. Nothing to do with aero.
Thanks for all your helpful videos, I am new to MTB's and these videos are great. I sent you a message on Instagram, please let me know your thoughts.