Lately I have been toying with the idea of swapping out the handlebar and stem on my Bontrager. The original bar, Bontrager Race, is 560mm wide with a 5 degree bend. It is a flat bar with no rise whatsoever. Although it has served me well over the past 18 years, I am becoming increasingly sensitive to pain and numbness in my hands.
The stem is a relatively new Soma Shotwell in 100mm. There is also an additional issue of a growing awareness of the amount of weight over the front wheel. This has become much more pronounced since switching to a rigid fork. This will likely necessitate a swap to a shorter stem to move some of my body weight back.
When I purchased the Bontrager in '96, 25.4mm was the industry standard for clamp diameter on handlebars and stems. Since that time, the standard has changed to 31.8mm. Because of this, I feel it would be easier to simply swap both which would allow for a greater choice in which bar and which stem instead of restricting me to the antiquated 25.4mm clamp size.
Now comes the task of choosing a new cockpit. Handlebars come in flat, low rise, medium rise, and high rise, all of which are available with varying degrees of upsweep and backsweep. Alternative bars are also available with bend configurations that seem initially more stylish than functional. Lengths are typically longer than my admittedly narrow 560mm, ranging upwards of 700mm and longer. While aluminum is still the material of choice, carbon fiber handlebars have entered into the realm of affordability.
My initial thoughts are an 80mm stem with 6 degrees of rise paired with a 650mm low rise handlebar. This combination seems like it would bring the bar up and back, thereby relieving some of the pressure on my hands while not drastically altering the handling of the bike. I still have no idea whether I will go with aluminum or carbon.
This is going to be a process of trial and error. I suspect it may be a while until I am able to settle on a combination that fits my needs. Until that time, I will keep you informed of my progress as long as you agree to make some suggestions along the way (I do not want to get lost in a sea of choices).
The stem is a relatively new Soma Shotwell in 100mm. There is also an additional issue of a growing awareness of the amount of weight over the front wheel. This has become much more pronounced since switching to a rigid fork. This will likely necessitate a swap to a shorter stem to move some of my body weight back.
When I purchased the Bontrager in '96, 25.4mm was the industry standard for clamp diameter on handlebars and stems. Since that time, the standard has changed to 31.8mm. Because of this, I feel it would be easier to simply swap both which would allow for a greater choice in which bar and which stem instead of restricting me to the antiquated 25.4mm clamp size.
Now comes the task of choosing a new cockpit. Handlebars come in flat, low rise, medium rise, and high rise, all of which are available with varying degrees of upsweep and backsweep. Alternative bars are also available with bend configurations that seem initially more stylish than functional. Lengths are typically longer than my admittedly narrow 560mm, ranging upwards of 700mm and longer. While aluminum is still the material of choice, carbon fiber handlebars have entered into the realm of affordability.
My initial thoughts are an 80mm stem with 6 degrees of rise paired with a 650mm low rise handlebar. This combination seems like it would bring the bar up and back, thereby relieving some of the pressure on my hands while not drastically altering the handling of the bike. I still have no idea whether I will go with aluminum or carbon.
This is going to be a process of trial and error. I suspect it may be a while until I am able to settle on a combination that fits my needs. Until that time, I will keep you informed of my progress as long as you agree to make some suggestions along the way (I do not want to get lost in a sea of choices).
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