Uni Posted December 30, 2016 Share The first time I rode the Niner, the immediate thing that felt 'odd' was that the handlebars felt very narrow. I figured I'd ride it for a bit and see if I could adjust. After some tweaking, the bike is feeling more comfortable, but the back hurts on longer climbs. Then yesterday I banged into the side of a bridge I normally have no issue turning onto it, and I don't know if it is the handlebars or just in my head, but even through twisty single track, I find myself all over the place. So I measured my old bars (ex bar ends) 640mm, the new ones is 660mm - so that's not it. The sweep (whatever the terminology is) is quite different - see pics, so don't know - wheel size wouldn't make that much difference in handling. Is it a problem between saddle and handlebars? Old ones - taken from bike hanging from rear wheel New one - bike on work stand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewbacca Posted December 30, 2016 Share It's the bar ends.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uni Posted December 30, 2016 Share It's the bar ends....Bwahahaa I've been forbidden from putting bar ends on the Niner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanD Posted December 30, 2016 Share You will be surprised what that small diffidence in lenght can make on your bars so don't rule the lenght out. The old bars seem to have some rise in them, probably 20-25mm whereas your new bar, from the pic, looks like a flat bar. The rise will give you a more upright postion whereas the flat bars will bring you down a bit into a more race position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heel Drop Posted December 30, 2016 Share It's the bar ends....you mean like last round ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewbacca Posted December 30, 2016 Share you mean like last round ?Isn't that closing time?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicky DQ Posted December 30, 2016 Share There are many things but to name a few.Handling - look at bar width, head angle, stem length (not just stem but effective length.)Back pain - look at bar width (the wider the lower), bar height referenced to saddle height, stem length / reach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JXV Posted December 30, 2016 Share Was your old bike also a 29er? If not....the bigger wheels benefit from wider bars which give more control and leverage. Unless you are tiny, 700mm plus is now the norm. 2 female friends that ride a lot have respectively:-Med Giant Anthem with 740mm bars...very happy-Small Cube (brand new) with 780mm bars - she finds these too wide and has asked me to cut them down. previously she rode a Rumor with 720-740mm bars and was happy. Secondly, from your pics the old bike has a riser bar tilted quite forward and the new one has a flat bar that appears tilted back quite a bit. This will result in quite a difference in the upsweep and backsweep. notwithstanding that the two bars may have quite different geometry anyway. Is it your lower back that gets sore or upper back/shoulders? If the Niner is new give it a month or so for your body to settle into the new geometry. If it still hurts after that then look at making changes. Consider a bike fit. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phatman Posted December 30, 2016 Share Try dropping your stem as low as possible (spacers on top) and rotate your bars forward at least 45 deg. Should be more comfortable and the back should feel better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grease_Monkey Posted December 30, 2016 Share +1 On wheel size. If the new one is 29 and the old one was smaller you will probably find you will have to go wider to get the same handling. The wider you go the shorter your stem should be (=better handling). On a 29er I would suggest nothing narrower than 720mm bars (personally I ride 780mm), with a stem ranging from 40mm to 60mm depending on fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uni Posted December 30, 2016 Share You will be surprised what that small diffidence in lenght can make on your bars so don't rule the lenght out.The old bars seem to have some rise in them, probably 20-25mm whereas your new bar, from the pic, looks like a flat bar. The rise will give you a more upright postion whereas the flat bars will bring you down a bit into a more race position.That makes sense, I think I'm more used to the more upright position. Was your old bike also a 29er? If not....the bigger wheels benefit from wider bars which give more control and leverage. Unless you are tiny, 700mm plus is now the norm.2 female friends that ride a lot have respectively:-Med Giant Anthem with 740mm bars...very happy-Small Cube (brand new) with 780mm bars - she finds these too wide and has asked me to cut them down. previously she rode a Rumor with 720-740mm bars and was happy.Secondly, from your pics the old bike has a riser bar tilted quite forward and the new one has a flat bar that appears tilted back quite a bit. This will result in quite a difference in the upsweep and backsweep. notwithstanding that the two bars may have quite different geometry anyway.Is it your lower back that gets sore or upper back/shoulders? If the Niner is new give it a month or so for your body to settle into the new geometry. If it still hurts after that then look at making changes. Consider a bike fit.Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk Initially pain was shoulders and lower back, moving the saddle forward - now the pain is mostly lower back, and especially in a seated comb position. I was a tad hesitant about going to a pro fit as I'm on flat pedals and it might be overkill - but an alternative has been suggested which I'll investigate post new year. +1 On wheel size. If the new one is 29 and the old one was smaller you will probably find you will have to go wider to get the same handling. The wider you go the shorter your stem should be (=better handling). On a 29er I would suggest nothing narrower than 720mm bars (personally I ride 780mm), with a stem ranging from 40mm to 60mm depending on fit.Old bike is 650b - my OH put on 780 bars on his bike and that feels stupid wide for my shoulder width Tx all, guess it's not as simple as swap bars around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JXV Posted December 30, 2016 Share That makes sense, I think I'm more used to the more upright position. Initially pain was shoulders and lower back, moving the saddle forward - now the pain is mostly lower back, and especially in a seated comb position. I was a tad hesitant about going to a pro fit as I'm on flat pedals and it might be overkill - but an alternative has been suggested which I'll investigate post new year. Old bike is 650b - my OH put on 780 bars on his bike and that feels stupid wide for my shoulder width Tx all, guess it's not as simple as swap bars around.Normally I would say Lower back pain - too short / lowShoulders - too long Echoes what you found. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanD Posted December 30, 2016 Share That makes sense, I think I'm more used to the more upright position. Initially pain was shoulders and lower back, moving the saddle forward - now the pain is mostly lower back, and especially in a seated comb position. I was a tad hesitant about going to a pro fit as I'm on flat pedals and it might be overkill - but an alternative has been suggested which I'll investigate post new year. Old bike is 650b - my OH put on 780 bars on his bike and that feels stupid wide for my shoulder width Tx all, guess it's not as simple as swap bars around.Regards to the bike fit, I have been twice. First time was when I was clipped in and narrow bars. Second time also clipped in with wide bars and shorter stem. They recommended narrower bars and a longer stem. All good but it is much orientated to a more race type, cleated setup with is great with all the angles lining up. I now have flats, wide bars and a short stem and the bike fit does not cater for this setup. As long as your seat is at the right height and saddle at the right for/aft position relative to where your foot is/want it (more of a mid foot stance) on the pedal (knee disecting the axle of the pedal) then the rest is personal preference like bars, stems...etc. The bike fit is a waste of money if you have flats/wide bars/short stem but we'll worth it for cleats and opposite to the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johanpre44 Posted December 30, 2016 Share Have you checked the Angle of the saddle? I couple of mm to high on the nose can cause your hips/pelvis to rotate too much causing your back to be less straight than what it aught to be. I had a similar problem where my lower back will be very tender after 30 minutes of riding. To solve I went for a bike fit (I do have cleats and a wide 760 mm wide bar with 10 mm rise and a short stem). To my surprise the saddle came up and forward a lot (to fix the seat angle and my knee angle), And also a slight change where the saddle's nose went down ever so slightly (to sort out my pelvic rotation causing the lower back strain). After chatting to the guy who did the fit he said best is to try a neutral setup first where the height of the saddle and handlebar (or rather grips) is almost the same and then trying to get the angles of my knees right to ensure I do not strain them unnecessarily. He also said he likes to get the last third of the saddle level (with a spirit level) in which case the nose seems to point up ever so slightly. My wife doesn't ride too much or hard and when I bought her a 29er two year ago I cut the handlebar down from 700 mm to about 670 mm to accommodate her narrow shoulders. She is on a medium (172 cm tall) and loves the feel of the bike with the narrower bars. Hope you get the setup sorted out, just remember if you make changes to make a single change and riding to decide if the change made any improvement or not. you should eventually have something that is close to perfect even though you still ride with flats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uni Posted December 31, 2016 Share my goal today was to get my longest ride in for the year - my back and backside said noddafok - I had to call it at 54km (2km more than my previous longest ride ) - this bike probably more for aggressive rides than gravel grind - but gonna need to sort it out so that we get along more like star crossed lovers than disgruntled exes. thanks for all the comments ppl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepia Posted December 31, 2016 Share my goal today was to get my longest ride in for the year - my back and backside said noddafok - I had to call it at 54km (2km more than my previous longest ride ) - this bike probably more for aggressive rides than gravel grind - but gonna need to sort it out so that we get along more like star crossed lovers than disgruntled exes. thanks for all the comments pplHang in Uni, you will get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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