Do riser bars change your ride to a more MTB feel?
 

Quick question..my body may hate race bars on this bike. I noticed that when I was trying out track bikes, 50 sizes were too small and felt cramped, but 54s with risers felt more natural to me. My MTB is bigger than my road bike by a little bit yet more comfortable. I never have had any lower back pain or wrist pain, but had some after a ride yesterday on my 54 with road drops.

I am wondering if the wrist pain (just on my right wrist with some tendonitis that doesn't flare up on the MTB) is from road vibration and the back pain is from being stretched out over the bike more than I am used to.

I'm going to the lbs to get the fit checked again as well, but I was curious what you folks thought. I do seem to feel more comfortable on risers since I commute so much on this bike.

with risers there is usually less weight on your hands because you're in a different riding position

i don't know what you mean by "mtb feel" though.. the handling will be similar, you'll just be in a different position

I dont know what I meant either upon rereading..lol.

What I meant to imply was MTB riding position. I think maybe it is easier on me to ride upright more often. I am still figuring it out. Being new to drop bars it would be silly to not give them more of a chance.

I just know I ride a slightly bigger MTB bike, and have logged 30 miles on trails in a day and not felt any discomfort besides being tired out. I have also ridden a BMX bike that I only sat in to coast and could do about 5 miles on it pretty easily.

when i transitioned back to road biking i had a helluva time w/ elbow pain, wrist pain, neck pain and back pain. My body had grown accustomed to sitting more upright (mtn biking) and so it was having to adapt to it. You might be encountering this right now, but if you want to go to a flat or riser and shorter stem you'll definitely achieve more of a mtn bike fit. and then work your way down to drop bars ;)

Drop bars arent inheriantly lower than risers. On the same stem the flat part of road drops will be lower. But you could have the drop bars in the same possition as the risers, by either raising or changing stems. That way when riding on the tops you can be in the same possition, and still have access to the drops.

Thakns fellas. I think the first move is to chaneg stems as you are saying. Then get some risers so I can alternate both bars to see what works. I just have to watch my wrist for a while and don't want to irritate it until it's healed up.

Fit is tough.

Every gearhead needs an arsenal of stems... I've got a very wide range of them. Many are vintage cheepos I pulled from cannibalized ten speeds.

Ultimately leg clearance while stopping is why I choose risers over drops.

I've been experiencing some wrist pain as well since using risers on the road... I think perhaps I need a longer stem?

any risers or flat bars where they are swept back slightly give me really bad wrist pain. if you hold your arms out in front of you and hold a fist, your wrists will be at an angle with the thumbs on top pointing together. but risers and mtb flat bars are shaped so that your outter part of the hand is on top.

i flip flat bars around so they go lower instead of rise.. never tried it on risers

get a tape measure and measure the distances from the pedals to the seat to the bars and try to get everything as close as it is on your mtb

Risers feel better to me for riding around town/in traffic. I'm just more aware and ready to quickly maneuver. I like the sort of kid on a bmx bike feel they give to my fixed gear.

For longer rides where I want multiple hand positions and want to stretch out a bit I like bullhorns.

I also just got back from 6 days of touring on a geared road bike with drops and found that it takes a few days to comfortable and then the hand, back and *ss pain goes away. Talked to some people who've done longer tours and they confirmed that the first three days or so you've got some aches and pains and then it just goes away and the only thing you really contend with is chafing.

Any new position is going to take some getting used to. You also might need to build up some core muscles and stretch out some tight hamstrings and psoas muscles which tend to pull on your back.

Well I rode around today on brick and noticed a few things:

You guys were right about being new to it..I really enjoy the road bars and they look more classic than risers. So I spent more time at the top of them like I normally would anyway. I did a quick .5 mile run up to the pool and felt it in my back from that. So while I was laying out, I stretched my hamstrings out and the pain went away rather fast. I then rode for another hour around town.

I made sure to stay on the bars and not grip so hard. what hurts my wrist is grabbing the hooded brakes..that position is the one that gets me, and I don't really like it. I decided I will just use a front brake, and move the lever to the top of the bar near the stem. When I climb or want to go faster, I get into the drops for a bit and the bike just flies. So I am hoping that I am figuring this all out, I dont need a smaller frame, and I don't need to put risers on a killer 80's steel road frame.

Use your core to hold yourself up more and the pain while on the hoods will go away.

Also, slight angle changes can make a big difference in joint pressure: If you feel more stress on one side than another (particularly wrists) you can rotate the bar to compensate.

Did you try the sizes between 50 and 54? Maybe the 54 is still too big for you and you're stretching too far forward because of that, not the bar type. Just a thought.

Yeah the 54 could be a little big. There is no doubt of that possibility. When I go to the LBS I will see what he thinks again. I am just happier today because I was pretty much pain free and I like this bike as it is. If I end up having to get a new frame, that will set me back a lot for a commuter bike since I will need to buy cranks as well. The guy I bought it from was maybe 6 feet and could not ride the bike as he said it was too small. So the seat was far back as well. I have since moved it forwards, and that seems to help. When I ride upright, I do not feel far from the bars and can ride without using much pressure at all when i grip.

On a side note, I have a real crappy origin 8 Classic Lite saddle that is not really that great on the rear. Knowing this is a personal thing, would a selle italia turbo saddle generally be considered an upgrade? It seems like it may be much better for me seeing the shape and reading about it.