HANDLEBAR GUIDE

Handlebars are one of the most overlooked and underrated components on the bike. They help define your posture, support your hands, and determine the ease of reaching your braking and shifting controls, yet often they only allow for comfort in any given hand position at the expense of another position. The hand comfort and postural comfort can be ensured in all positions with just a little time finding the handlebar that best matches the rider.

Many riders (and even bike shops) neglect to appreciate the variability of handlebars and how customized a bike can feel based on the variations. Often widths are compared, but not the relative angle of the drops, or how the top of the bar leads into and intersects with the brake/shifter hood, or the reach and depth.

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The reach is especially critical. In bikefitting terms, a handlebar with a 90mm reach compared to another of only 70mm has the same effect in arm extension and torso posture as the difference between a 56cm frame and a 54mm frame. Very few cyclists don't care what frame size they buy, but most don't know the reach of their handlebars, or even that the reach is worth their consideration.