Besides fit, I think swept back bars take a certain kind of frame to work well. But I’m not sure what it is.
In my case, I tried them on my BMC Monster Cross, and I really didn’t like the handling with my hands back on the grips. It made the front end much too light and nervous. Not enough weight on it. I started putting some thought into stability vs uprightness vs front center here, but this is still a work in progress for me: https://bikingtoplay.blogspot.com/2025/09/bike-stability-feeling-vs-rider-position.html?m=1 Eric On Thursday, November 20, 2025, Jay <[email protected]> wrote: > Whether drop bars, flat, or swept-back, I believe I've figured out the two > factors that must be present. First is the bar has to work for the rider > (size/style/position of the bar, given the particular bike, complementing > the saddle position, etc.). Second is you have to adapt to the bar based > on your body/fit needs, and taking into account any trouble areas you have > (e.g., pre-existing aches/pains or worse). > > If you can't adapt to the bar, somewhat easily and repeatably, the bar > can't work for the rider. For example, I once bought a new mountain bike > and the stock bars were like 800mm wide. I couldn't adapt to them. I > don't think I ever could. My road bars at the time were 380mm at the hoods. > > What's more difficult is when you have a bar that could work, but it may > take a long time to dial in the height, reach, tilt, grip selection, > placement of controls, minor saddle position changes given how upright or > tilted forward you are, etc. > > I've had VO Granola bars on by Fargo for the last 8 months. They're still > not perfect, but getting there. Last two rides I focused on how I contact > the bars in terms of my hands/arms/shoulders. It didn't spoil the ride, > dwelling on this, but I would check in frequently and ensure everything > felt good and would make corrections, say if my wrist angle was awkward and > would later lead to post-ride pain if unchecked (as has happened many times > before). Both rides, zero pain. And they were fun, off-road rides. My > hope is that I can go on a ride and barely have to check in on fit, but for > now, maybe it's necessary (for me). > > I think age is a factor. When I started riding serious, in my late 20's, > and probably through my 30's, I don't recall ever having any fit issues. > Or, perhaps, I had major fit issues but they didn't bother me...until mid > 40's and up to now. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/ > msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/0b0aa28b-8b5c-40a3-947f- > 758963104915n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/0b0aa28b-8b5c-40a3-947f-758963104915n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAHFNW5C%2BAg%3DPRO%2BxwnOzfZMM7YTsePvFmMdOuBWbfdovkgmXag%40mail.gmail.com.
