Brompton handlebar upgrade questions.
 

I’m casual Brompton rider mostly for recreation.

I have an H model and my hight is 183cm. I lean more towards comfortable riding position and not sport one. As far as I know to avoid back pain the handlebars shouldn’t be either same hight or not be higher than 10cm than seatpost.So I measured the hight. My seatpost is about 103cm from the ground and handlebar is about 106cm. About 3cm higher which I assume is fine.

Now there are two things which I think may be improved. Stock M bar feels a little short as I believe I have wide shoulders for what the M bar width is. And I believe Joseph Kuosac handlebars angle will stress wrists less sincere they have 2 degrees angle to ease stress on the wrists.



Now the dillema is which JK handlebar to try. Stock Brompton M handlebar has 13cm rise. JK middle rise has 71.5cm rise which will make, 5.5cm shorter than stock M bar which will translate into handlebar being about 3cm lower than seatpost. Full rise JK is 14.3cm, 1.3cm higher than stock M and will make handlebar about 4.3cm higher than seatpost.


My questions are:

1. Will the brake cables fit fine if I’ll go with full rise assuming it may also be a little wider than stock?

2. Will going with mid rise be too low?

3. Is there any other alternative to have a 13cm rise bar (same as stock) but with angle for wrists as JK one?

4. will the carbon fiber handlebar be good idea? Lighter but is there a risk of braking it? I understand torque value of tue handlebar bolt will need to he different.



Thanks.

First off, the question with wider bars is will they clear the floor.

I would not let buying more cable determine the fit. Fit is too important. The question is which bar will fit you best.

Ergon grips can help, as they ease the angle somewhat and distribute the weight to your hands over a greater area.