Why Your Handlebar And Stem Are More Important Than You Think

That was a LOT of information.

Thank you for your video🙂🙌

Yeah Good Video common sense!!!😀

Will any of this stop me being crap at riding a bike?

We are all profoundly different. For example, I built a a high power e-mtb from Cannondale XL frame which came with about a 50mm stem. I don't ride knarly trails. I am a roadie. I can't stand a cramped position. I like to ride stretched out. Many at 6'1" would ride a size L frame with 50mm stem. Not me. I ride a XL with 130mm stem as long stems and narrower bars used to be the norm 30 years ago on the mtb'ing scene.
Go with what feels best. Because I come from the world of riding a roadbike stretched out, riding cramped to me feels awful and I can't get my glutes into my stroke.
Yes, stem length and handlebar width matter 'a lot'.
PS. for those interested, many believe the greatest mountain biker of all time was John Tomac. He rode with a very long stem with rise FWIW.

L u ❤

Thank you. I just started riding in September and this video and your very clear step by step breakdowns of what each change may do was so helpful. This video helped me pinpoint what I was feeling out on the trail and enabled me to select a bar that now feels amazing. I went with a Deity Racepoint 38 rise and I slightly narrowed my bar width to really dial in my cockpit for my riding style. I have played slightly with bar roll as you described and it can make pretty amazing changes in feel. I focused on one change at a time. First rise. Then bar width. Then some roll changes. I have found my nice balance point.

Currently 70 hours through my 75 hour internet binge on bike geometry and bike fit. I wish I had found this video sooner, it would have saved me at least 30 hours! 😂

I'm really struggling with the new wide handlebar norm. As a 5'11 male it takes everything in me not to go even shorter than 760mm

Informative 🙏

Christina love your tutorials, straightforward and to the point.

You are the best making these very detailed videos!

Absolutely love my Deity black label bars. I run 760 though. I have them on my Commencal Tempo Öhlins Edition and it's amazing

Great Video. Thank you

Great video thanks heaps

Great rundown on this. Took me 2000+ miles to realise what a difference these components can make!

I subbed because of this video. Excellent information and delivery.

The bar roll doesnt make sense to me. In the video, she demonstrated it, but rotated the forearms with brake lever that werent adjusted. I get that rotating the bar forward should create a higher and longer setup, and rotating back makes it lower and shorter reach, but shouldnt have that trex image if you rotate brakes to correct for rider position. What am I missing here

Christina really nails it! Covering all these overlapping adjustments and breaking it down in digestible form. It takes time to absorb these little changes we make on our bikes as we strive for the ideal. This vid reminds me these little changes are important and we can hone are position to our current riding style.

I knew all this stuff sort of but this instruction really brought it home for me.

Thanks beautiful. Love the tips.

I changed my 70mm stem to 50mm and it changed my riding big time. Thanks!

By far the best explanation of handlebar and stem geometry.
A must subscribe to this channel🍀

I was known as captain nosedive on drops before a friend suggested to get a higher rise bar.

Seems stems don't offer much variation in rise / angle much. To get weight back and off the hands, changing a stem is a cheaper option than a changing to a higher rise bar , no?

Great video!! Never realized how much of a difference it makes! I’ve been having trouble with numb painful hands. Gonna play around with different stems and angles. Thanks

This is an excellent comprehensive video!

I believe in height (cm) x .44 for the bar widths. 😊

Raised-reverse stem guy is going to be PISSED

Thanks for this. I've been playing around with these things for a while, still have yet to find my ideal setup. Another thing that I spent a good bit fussing with that wasn't covered here is sweep. Like the PNW range bars back sweep. I've found it helps with wrist and body position personally, and I liked it a lot more than the shorter stem which I wasn't a fan of.

I wish this video had been out a year or so ago when I was just starting to learn about all of this (and I'm still learning) because you've summed up much of what took me weeks to read about in 12 minutes.

Wow, so good explaind! Thank you!

This is like a university level course on geo, thanks!

Finally someone got the details right. Great job!!!!

Keep these coming CC all of these setup tips are super good, THANKS!!!🤠

So much more than roadie bike fit…as roadies don’t move around and are mainly stuck in one position

"is it really that simple" 👍🏾

Progi w 159 ruda zjada od środka szczególnie przy tylnych nadkolach, to co widać na filmie to jest do natychmiastowej naprawy, bo reparaturki kosztują po 1000 na stronę.

Very educational!!

nice content. and no ads in the middle.

This is probably the most important thing to figure out for yourself as a mountain bike rider. I’ve accumulated many bars and stems over the years to figure this out and it was the best money spent to improve my riding comfort and general riding ability.

whats that yellow bike ur using?

simple but effective ways to dial in a poor bike geometry based on your body shape and riding style.
you forgot one thing tho, how steering is affected at differing rates of speed related to the fork's OFFSET.
and also, crank length is prolly the biggest industry oversight. at least, 5 dev, hope, and canfield have figured this out.

Lots of info there, worth another watch or two even. I've always been surprised with how much the smallest change of bar position completely changes the feel of the bike.

Everyone needs to consider a professional bike for from an experienced fitter. It is an essential component to progressing in the sport. Trying to "feel it out" by yourself will not work.

That said I always slam my stems! No nerd spacers here. Let's gooo

Incredible video. I have always had a nagging curiosity about making some of these tweaks to my setup to better fit my frame. I’m in between L/XL frame size, i went with the L frame and haven’t had any issues and love my bike but have always felt like I could make a few tweaks to get it more suited to me, but never really understood what effect each tweak would have! Thank you so much for this video!

Great job, first video I've seen that brings it all together.

Can you say all that again please?

Very helpful!!!

On Point Video!