Sheesh, flat bars vs. riser bars. Everybody's into fashion, some to a greater extent than others, but dammit, double-bend "downhill" or "riser" bars are a viable design, period. Since I initially read KB's "downhill bar" rant I've noticed he's toned it down a bit, and having recently re-read it I figured I'd take the opportunity to spew our logic and get a little surly about the whole thing. Since KB produces some of our favorite and oft-used riser bars, we're glad he's sold out for the sake of "fashion" and, of course, profit. We are a little confused that his own new single-speed appears to be sporting some risers, though.
Keep in mind that we don't care what kind of bars you ride. We like all handlebars, as long as they're getting used. Whatever's workin' for you rules. We ourselves make a now-being-copied cro-moly flat bar. So though we feel compelled to defend our bar of choice, don't get weird and ride what you like.
IN DEFENSE OF THE FASHIONABLE RISER BAR:
1. Riser Bar Adjustability. True, you can achieve an identical riding position with any given stem and flat-bar combo as with any stem and riser-bar combo. But dissenters are quick to dismiss the added adjustability of the riser bar setup as negligible. We completely disagree. The ability to make fine adjustments to overall length, up-sweep, and back-sweep is an invaluable tool for fine-tuning and personalizing your ride. On a typical 40mm rise handlebar, there is easily 20mm of usable fore-aft adjustability and several degrees of sweep adjustability available by simply rotating the bar. One cannot dismiss this!! Furthermore, the more rise, sweep and width a riser bar has, the greater the potential for adjustment (or maladjustment) your riding cockpit has. Depending on the design, some features will be more or less sensitive to changes with rotation than others, but there are enough design variations available to satisfy exactly what you are looking for. Some riders like up-sweep, some like down-sweep, and some don't know what they like yet, but you have the freedom to make changes easily with the riser design. Obviously these length and sweep adjustments cannot be made independently of each other, but risers allow you to do more experimentation and fine-tuning for less money and hassle than with a comparable long-stem, flat-bar setup. Geometrically speaking, riser bars make a lot of sense for the discriminating rider who places fit, function, and versatility ahead of weight savings, tradition, and technical fluff.
2. Riser bars look kewl. Of course this matters, but don't hold it against our bona-fide argument.
3. Riser Bar Strength. True, it's cheaper to make a good, strong flat bar than a good, strong riser bar. And true, flat bars made from the same material will have a better strength-to-weight ratio than their doubly-bent counterparts. But who the hell (besides us) makes a decent quality, wide, readily available flat bar for the aftermarket that will take a real beating? Be it for reasons of fashion or function, there are a multitude of extremely strong riser bars made for the DH market that cross over for us Joes quite nicely. And us Joes aren't sweatin' another 150 grams for the piece of mind that comes with not wondering when your bar is gonna snap. As far as strength is concerned, the bottom line is that while flat bars may be stronger in theory, the laws of supply and demand have provided us far more available varieties of really strong riser bars than flat bars.
4. Riser Bar Width. Its hard to find flat bars in widths that aggressive, technical, non-racing oriented riders want and need. See our flat bar if you still want one, we got that covered.
5. Riser Bar Sweep. Its hard to find flat bars in sweeps that aggressive, technical, non-racing oriented riders want and need. See our flat bar if you still want one, we got that covered.
6. Motocrossers use riser bars, and Roger DeCoster still rips. The factory bros don't be puttin' no long-dog CNC billet double-clamp stem and a flat bar on McGrath's factory ride, either. You can't sneeze at all that air time. I have to believe there's a million good reasons off-road motorcycles have held on to riser bar technology since long before the days Ossa and Bultaco called it quits, and that most of these same reasons apply equally to bicycle handlebar design. It certainly isn't a materials issue, MX bars are way high-tech nowadays. Do I really have to write 'em all down?
7. Riser Bar Value. We've already acknowledged that it is more difficult and costly to make a strong riser bar than a strong flat bar. And we've pointed out that that many manufacturers actually make really strong DH bars as opposed to an almost non-existent selection of burly flat bars on the market. It follows that if you only need to buy one pair of more expensive bars every couple of years rather than counting on it once or twice a season, you save money. And as described in the 'adjustability' section above, putting a pair of risers on your ride might save you the need for a spendy custom flat bar or custom stem. Enough said.
8. Riser Bar Weight. They're heavier. So? They need to be. We want them to be. We don't like riding tanks on wheels around, but we're realistic about our expectations for product performance and longevity, too. There's always a middle ground. See Rant #1.
9. BMXers don't ride no stinkin' flat bars, and they're extreme!!
10. Actual Positioning. Rider positioning is of course very relative to each individual's style, but still important to the context of our argument. Higher bars typically put you in a more upright position that is more back friendly, promotes better breathing, and lets you be better prepared for trail obstacles. A higher handlebar position is much better for very technical riding, too. If you're not trying technical trails we still love you but you're missing out on one of life's sweetest treats. This more upright position is most easily and affordably achieved through slapping a riser bar on your setup, and only requires you to buy a bar instead of a bar and stem. If you run a 150mm / -5 degree stem right now you've read way too far by now, and we're sorry to have offended you. Off to that training ride.
11. What else? Send us your schpiel. Oh yeah, we don't make a riser bar because Bontrager, Salsa, Azonic, Answer, Control Tech and others already make damn fine riser bars in a multitude of materials (including cro-moly, our fave), shapes and sizes. We DO make a monstrously tough, very affordable, derby-rated (not light), cro-moly steel flat bar, though, that addresses many of the shortcomings of typical flat bar design. Thanks.