Bar angle and hood position

[thirdgenbird]

This came up in another thread. How do you all determine bar angle and hood position? It obviously varies by a tremendous amount from person to person.

I have two different methods depending on the bar type:

My approach on modern bars is to set the hood/bar transition first and then rotate the bar as-needed to bring the whole assembly to the right position.

On traditional bars with flat drops, I set the bar angle first and then adjust the hoods to the appropriate position.

In both cases, I feel like I end up with something that works well. Examples below.

Now if all bar manufacturers could provide us with marks to make sure the levers are the exact same height. The more ergonomic the levers get, the harder they get to measure.

[robt57]

Each bar is different for me for the most part. Newer bars all do have a lesser ramp to the shifter. How severe the drop away is how I start out, as I'm not always using new/modern on all the builds.

I have a Deda One piece for example which I put and extra 1CM spacer under the built in stem. More so for the height of the shifters mounted being low due to the radius and arch on that particular bar.

[reuben]

The first pic is my preference, by far.

Plus, that's a damn good lookin' bike.

[tv_vt]

Trial and error on the road is my method. Changing the angle just a hair makes a big difference in how it feels to me.

I only use one model of handlebar on all bikes, which helps a bit.

[ColonelJLloyd]

I agree with what you've written.

On a lot of bars using a straight edge along the bottom of the drop to set the lever tip is a very good place to start (see your Tomassini above).

You say that it obviously varies tremendously from person to person, but I don't agree that it should. I see a lot of bar/lever setups that deviate grossly from what is intended/designed.

I see a whole lot of bar/lever setups and think "that person has never ridden more than 30-40 miles on that setup and they never, ever brake or shift from the drops". There are some truly bad aesthetic bar/lever angles I see on bikes.

[Tandem Rider]

I use a trainer to set the bar angle first, I set the angle of the drops so that my wrists are comfy. Then I set the levers so that it's all good on top. Go for a test ride, tweak if necessary and then tape.

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by reuben

The first pic is my preference, by far.

Plus, that's a damn good lookin' bike.

The first is without question my preference on a true road bike. On mixed surfaces, the yeti feels right between the ramps and hoods.

Thank you. My dad was the original owner of the frame (and wheels)

Originally Posted by ColonelJLloyd

You say that it obviously varies tremendously from person to person, but I don't agree that it should. I see a lot of bar/lever setups that deviate grossly from what is intended/designed.

Even within a reasonable range, I’ve found quite the variation. I messed with the yeti for an embarrassing amount of time before landing on what is shown. Interested to see why some may prefer things outside of my “acceptable” range. It seems sram hydro hoods are often pulled back at a pretty extreme angle.

[Velocipede]

I've always done a level or 5 degree up from level on the bars. For brake levers, level with bottom or 5 to 10 degrees up. It depends on the bars and levers.

[ColonelJLloyd]

Originally Posted by thirdgenbird

Even within a reasonable range, I’ve found quite the variation. I messed with the yeti for an embarrassing amount of time before landing on what is shown. Interested to see why some may prefer things outside of my “acceptable” range. It seems sram hydro hoods are often pulled back at a pretty extreme angle.

Don't misunderstand me. I see a wide variation for sure. I'm just saying there's a narrower range of how the bars are intended to be setup than what I see. "Whatever works for you" and all that I understand.

I've seen that with SRAM HRD levers. Probably much more with Shimano integrated levers, but I have to assume that's because they are just much more prevalent.

I prefer bars with drops closer to parallel to the tops than a lot of modern bars have and it's probably easier for me to come to a bar and lever angle with that combo that looks "right" to my eye and my upper body.

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by ColonelJLloyd

Don't misunderstand me.

Pretty sure we are on the same page

I should note the sram comment was more in regards to ASX hydraulic levers. They seem to be rotated back at a higher percentage than others. Alternatively, I’ve seen quite a few Campagnolo levers rotated too far forward.

[Peter P.]

My old way: Set the tips of the levers flush with the bottom of the bars. Set the bottom of the bars parallel to the ground. Maybe tilt them pointing down just a bit, but still looking "pro". Gotta look pro!

Seriously; it was a compromise because when in the drops, I would have to move my hand along the curve to reach the levers. Not ideal, but it worked. It did however, put the hoods in a high enough position that it sat me up just a bit more upright and I enjoyed that position.

So there were trade offs.

My new way: Once I bought newfangled anatomically curved bars (I use Ritchey stuff), I rotated the bars until my hands found the part of the drop curve that felt like the best weight dispersion. Turns out it's imperceptibly tilted with the ends pointing down.

The brake levers started with the tips flush with the bottom of the bars. I brought them down until they met where my hands "found the part of the drop..." (see above). This was an experiment; the first time I tried this. Turns out I had to lower the levers about 5mm.

The result is, the hoods are a tad lower that what I'm used to (and prefer) but for the most part it works and most of the time I forget about it.

I can't keep spending money on finding bars that match my levers and make the best of riding on the hoods and the drops. I'd probably go back to plain ol' round bars with the lever tips flush and call it a day.

I agree with thirdgenbird and wish the mfrs. would print a scale on the drops to easily and accurately line up brake levers.

[John H.]

I agree that most bars and shifters need a unique setup rather than following specific rules.

I will also say that modern shifters mostly set up terrible on older bars- especially classic bend bars.

Nothing pains me more than seeing classic bars tilted a bunch to try to get the downward ramp out of them. They weren't designed to be used like that. They were designed to be used with about 10 degrees of downward ramp and with older shifters or even brake levers without shifters. The bars were designed to have the lever lower than the tops of the bars. Look at old videos of Lemond, Fignon, Hinault, etc. if you want to know what's up. These guys rode on the tops far more than riders of the current era do.

Classic bars are cool looking, but not really that ergonomic. They need to stay with classic components and setups.
As much as I used to be a classic drops guy, I feel like a modern compact bar is better in every way.

Lastly- Your Tomassini is set up proper for classic bars and shifters!

[isaacneff]

It seems like a lot of the newer shape bars are almost less adjustable. Set the drops so you don’t slide off the ends, then set the hoods to they have a good transition to the hoods and you’re good to go!