On changing handlebar reach

[TunaAndBikes]

Anyone go from 80 mm to shorter and notice a difference?
What about the drop, does 3 mm really show that much?

Thinking about going 75 or shorter with a shallow drop to see if i might be a little comfier on longer rides, but i started wondering about things like hand placement and if it was actually worth dropping the $$ and potentially not noticing a thing.
a few contenders would be the pro plt ergo, Ritchey WCS curve..

[RowanB]

Depends where you have your hands most of the time.
You might be able to achieve the same results with a shorter or higher stem.
That said, when I'm racing I'm about 50/50 between the hoods and drops, and with a short shallow bar my upper body position doesn't really change between the 2 hand positions. Works for me.

[carpediemracing]

3 mm I probably wouldn't notice. Well I might but I may not be able to point out what the difference is. I might think "is this bar tape extra thick?" or something.

3 cm I noticed and got a custom stem to put the drops back where they belonged.

My current/new bars have 3 cm less reach, 3 cm less drop than my old bars. When I changed the bars I didn't account for the change in drop. I got back most of the reach (2.5 cm) with a new stem but the 3 cm less drop was bad. When I got the custom stem my bike suddenly felt "normal" again.

[TunaAndBikes]

Depends where you have your hands most of the time.
You might be able to achieve the same results with a shorter or higher stem.


My hands are mostly on the hoods or in that general vicinity. I would go for a shorter stem but
1) my legs would hit the handlebars when standing on the bike
2) I'm not too prepared to go any shorter than 90 mm

[marciero]

My hands are mostly on the hoods or in that general vicinity. I would go for a shorter stem but
1) my legs would hit the handlebars when standing on the bike
2) I'm not too prepared to go any shorter than 90 mm

The absolute simplest thing is to raise the bars. This reduces reach more than it would appear from the head tube angle because your arms move in an arc away from the bars as you raise them.

Some bars seem to be more amenable to hand placement in a given place than others. In other words, it may be that you would be more comfortable on the ramps or tops on a bar with a different profile, even if the reach and drop are similar, with the result that you would ride more often with hands closer, and ride more in different positions-also a good thing. Just an idea. Hood placement and bar tilt can also have similar effect but your probably know that.

[owly]

Add the Profile Design 1/ZeroFive to your list.

[ColonelJLloyd]

*

[kramnnim]

I went from Ergosums (lots of reach) to PRO PLT something or other and was not happy at all.

[CampyorBust]

I loik it a lot and won't go back!