Bar Reach for MTB vs Road

[I Want Sachs?]

What do you use for difference of reach between MTB and Roadbikes? The reach in road bike usually notes the distance between the saddle nose and the center of bar. However, most of us spend lots of time on the hood or in the drop. How should a MTB bar reach positioned relative to the top bar of the roadbike, or should it be relative to the hood? How about the drop, and relative to top bar or drop bar? Thanks.

[vqdriver]

good question.
for some unknown reason, my mtb reach is 2 inches longer than my road bike, which is counterintuitive for me.

[Nautilus]

If you're new to mountain biking and you're trying to set up your body position to be similar to that of your road bike you'll probably be quite uncomfortable if you get into any terrain that's more technical than a dirt road.

Relative to your road bike you'll want much less reach so that you can get your weight over the rear wheel for descending, clearing obstacles, bunny hopping ect...

Hope this helps?

[I Want Sachs?]

If you're new to mountain biking and you're trying to set up your body position to be similar to that of your road bike you'll probably be quite uncomfortable if you get into any terrain that's more technical than a dirt road.

Relative to your road bike you'll want much less reach so that you can get your weight over the rear wheel for descending, clearing obstacles, bunny hopping ect...

Hope this helps?
Is the shorter reach compared to the top bar of the road setup, or compared to the hoods?

vqdriver noted that his setup is 2 inches longer, which translates to 50mm. That is smaller than hood reach of most bars. So in essence, the MTB position is half way onto the hood?

[vqdriver]

i'm comparing to the tops, not the hoods or drops.

btw, my mtb setup is WAY less specific than for my road bike. it just ended up that much longer. there's just too many position changes for it to be that meaningful to me while i'm actually riding.

[John H.]

The reach on an MTB should be longer than the tops of a road bike but shorter than the hoods. Drop should be somewhere between half of road drop and level with the saddle.
One should have to experiment a bit- does not have to be as 100% dialed in as road reach.
Too short and too high- you will not be abe to keep the front end where you want it on steep cimbs.
Too long and too low- bike will be a handful on decents. Also will hurt your back after riding for a bit.

[Pegoready]

Relative to your road bike you'll want much less reach so that you can get your weight over the rear wheel for descending, clearing obstacles, bunny hopping ect...

Not exactly. It may seem counterintuitive, but the reach from saddle tail to bar/stem center should be longer on a mtb. 2 cm is a good starting point. That's because you don't have the drops and hoods to stretch into on a mtb.

The reach on an MTB should be longer than the tops of a road bike but shorter than the hoods.

Yes, exactly.