Flat or raised bars?

[whisperdancer]

It's time to buy a new bar, but I can't decide if I go for a flat bar or a raised one. I once had a flat bar many years ago, but I can't remember how I felt with it. What I remember is that I traded it for a raised bar because the bar extensions smashed the ends of it. I now have the original Titec Hellbent bar, which I cut a few years ago to make it narrower. FOr that fact, I can't use bar ends.
I want to use bar ends again and want something a bit lighter. Everyone seems to use raised bars nowadays.
What do you think is best? Does the flat bar causes more fatigue? Does the raised bar provide more control?

Regards, Ricardo.

[Ziggy]

Risers with barends are VERY wrong.  I'd go with a higher rise stem if you need the height...  But that said, whatever works best for you!

[Ade]

I had always used flats with barends and a long stem which I liked because it streches you out for climbing, but I always found it hard to lighten the front or get back downhill. Admittedly my technical skills aren't great.

So when I had the 957 built I decided to try (on advice of LBS) a slightly shorter stem with a mid rise bar (that I didn't cut down) and no barends. I prefer this set up now I've tried it. It feels more controlled downhill, there's lots of leverage over the front and the width means a good climbing position plus I find it easier to pedal circles properly when standing up.

No noticeable difference in fatigue between the two - it still happens sooner than you want.

cheers
Ade

[Tel]

Hi Ricardo, I still prefer to ride with a flat bar and bar ends as I find it very easy to find different possitions on the bar or bar ends.
I think myself bar ends are more suited to riders who stay in the saddle to climb with the saddle set high, and lose a little time on the downs.
I almost allways climb gripping the bar ends which are set pretty flat, not poining at the sky and on steep downs get my backside behind the saddle. Also most flat bars have a degree of sweep to play around with to get comfortable.
Whatever you do dont put bar end on risers it just looks so uncool.
Cheer, Tel.    

[orange]

I have raised bars AND barends (sorry!) but I need them because of my height!

[jeffhop]

how about the new bontrager satellite elite bar?

http://www.bontrager.com/Road/Components/Handlebars/21369.php

dunno why they are in the road section of the bonty website though but they got a good review in `what mountainbike` mag here in the uk.

[Matno]

Riser bars are usually wider, which gives you more torque, and usually have more "sweep," which is more anatomical for most people. Personally, I bought a bike with bars that had been cut to 24" and I tossed them. For pure X-country type riding (i.e. slightly bumpier than a road ride), low narrow bars are okay, but for any kind of trail riding, I miss the loss of power that wider bars give (both for steering and for cranking on the pedals - I can't even imagine riding my single speed with narrow bars).

As for using risers with bar ends... Well, if you can handle being made fun of and don't mind losing a couple inches of bar width, who's to tell you what to use? (My mother-in-law uses that setup, and it looks like cow horns). I've found that a bike usually feels better to me if I think it looks good, which is probably purely psychological, but real nonetheless...

[whisperdancer]

Well, I bought a flat handlebar for testing. It's lighter (120g) than my Titec Hellbent Handlebar. Let's see if it works for me. Plan to use it with risers, or else I will go back to the older one...