How are swept back bars on a gravel ride? The ride is a Double Scoop of the Los Angeles Invitational with 40 miles, 4,000 feet, 50/50 road/dirt. It is not a race but I do tend to push it now and then during an event. What are the pros and cons of these Billie Bars? Any warnings you can offer?

Swept back bars look fine but the angle of your saddle looks horrible.

My issue with swept back bars on a longer ride is lack of multiple hand positions.

I set up some Swept Back Bars on a vintage mountain bike last year. It was a tall bike for a 6'3" rider and it worked out quite well. It was a Sterling (Stump Jumper knock off), and rode well. I did not take it out for a single track ride. Just riding around the neighborhood it brought back memories of riding my Dad's Navy Schwinn American from the base. I was 6 years old and that one was big for me too...


1980s? Sterling

Reach looks too short based on the saddle height. Those old mountain bikes were meant to use long stems. Get some bar tape on those forward hooks so you can stretch a bit.

Reach to the stem clamp is the same as my road bikes which will be nice when I eventually put drop bars on it and go 2X9. I do find myself often on the front of the bars. The sweep back on these Billie Bars is quite long by design and I noticed this morning that could be a problem on trails with sharp turns and the bars hitting my knee.

That was my first thought, you could cut 2 inches off and still have a good sweep and that would put your hands closer to what the hoods would be on drop bars

That saddle tilt is all wrong.

Aside from gripping the grips normally, many swept back bars also offer an aero position, rest your elbows on the grips, grab the bar on either side of the stem. This generally works best with ergonomic grips.

Climbing with the Billie Bars was fine with my hands on the curve at the front. I managed to keep the bars from tangling with my knees, but Descending is not so good with my hands back on the grips. I’ve done similar down hill segments in the drops of road bars and feel much more part of the bike. ALSO, the bar/stem clamp could not be tight enough with so much leverage at the grips. The bars needed adjusting on two occasions with the Technomic Deluxe bolt as tight as I dared. I do not plan on doing anymore serious gravel rides with these bars. (The L.A. Invitational is a hard but fun ride.)