Originally Posted by badsac
The rearward sweep is fine, but I can't work out the upward sweep at the ends? Just put your hands out in front of you like you're holding something and you'll see that it should be a downward sweep at the ends if anything. Coming from an old flat barred bike, the current sweep of the bars is killing me.
Grip a pencil in each hand and hold your arms out like you're reaching for your bars. Look at the angles. You'll see the ends of the pencils pointing slightly ahead and down. That is your neutral grip that 'sweep' is trying to meet. Everyone's neutral is different, though. But even an XC riser bar has 3 degrees of upsweep. If you are uncomfortable, you may not have your bars set right.
My rule of thumb is to set the rise bend section (viewing from the side) parallel to your fork rake and head tube angle. Then slightly tweak up or down (a degree or two) from there for your comfort.