Bicycling - Road and Mountain

Join

Advice about adapting riding position on MTB

Options
fknlardarse
fknlardarse Posts: 234 Member
edited February 20 in Social Groups
Hi! I have a 'giant' 29er MTB, I am a total newbie to cycling, took it up last year and LOVE it but have no knowledge about parts or anything. I cycle about 10miles twice a week so I'm not exactly racking up the miles but need advice on what to buy to alter my riding position.
I do mostly gravel tracks, some fields, some Tarmac, no steep hills. My ride position has my back at about 45 degrees and is comfortable most of the time. But when I'm on a road I really want to stretch out forwards to get some speed up, should I buy bar ends as a cheap solution and bolt them on the end of my straight handlebars? Or get different handlebars?
Thank you, sorry if this all sounds dumb I love cycling but have no clue about anything technical!

Replies

  • TheBigYin
    TheBigYin Posts: 5,686 Member
    Bar ends may not be "fashionable" these days on MTB's but I come from the era where they were pretty much "de rigeur". That said, on my current MTB i've got a pair of the Ergon Grips with the "integrated bar-end horns". The one's i've got are discontinued, but these are something similar...

    ergon-EG42400-med.jpg

    Personally, I wouldn't be without them, they give me a chance to vary my hand positions, and for me, they are much better for road-climbs. For getting down and out of the wind, I sort of generally dind myself just holding the bars themselves inside the brake/gear setup - pretty similar to the "on the tops" position I'd adopt on a road/cross bike.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I use bar ends on my road only hybrid but I've mounted them inboard of the handgrips and lever mounts to improve my aero a little (back and neck issues mean it's hard for me to get lower/flatter). A bit like mini / stubby tri bars I suppose.

    Slightly lower riding position and with arms in front of me instead of to the side seems to make about one gear difference on long fast stretches.

    Might work for you but not off-road!
  • TheBigYin
    TheBigYin Posts: 5,686 Member
    I use bar ends on my road only hybrid but I've mounted them inboard of the handgrips and lever mounts to improve my aero a little (back and neck issues mean it's hard for me to get lower/flatter). A bit like mini / stubby tri bars I suppose.

    sounds a bit like the old Cinelli Spinacci bars for the roadbike...

    img_spinaci_light.jpg
  • cloggsy71
    cloggsy71 Posts: 2,208 Member
    sounds a bit like the old Cinelli Spinacci bars for the roadbike...

    img_spinaci_light.jpg

    A mate of mine has just bought these for his Hybrid; he has back issues and runs them as 'tall' as they'll go, so he can sit with a straight back... It looks odd, but apparently it works for him!
  • fknlardarse
    fknlardarse Posts: 234 Member
    Great! Really appreciate all the advice. Thank you!!! :smile:
  • retrobyte
    retrobyte Posts: 169 Member
    I've got bar ends on my MTB. Most of my riding is on paths and roads and the ability to vary hand position and stretch out makes a huge difference to my comfort levels.

    bike_zps25b40810.jpg

    Edit: Not sure why the forum is not liking my Photobucket link. This is the URL of the photo, and I enclosed it in the required and tags -

    http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a57/mdeayton/Miscellaneous Stuff/bike_zps25b40810.jpg
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Here's the view from the saddle of my middle mounted bar ends.....

    20140429_092422_resized2_zps686a30a9.jpg




    Direct link as I'm struggling to resize the image!
    http://s1277.photobucket.com/user/sijomial/media/20140429_092422_resized2_zps686a30a9.jpg.html
This discussion has been closed.

Categories