COCKPIT SUT UP

Bar height

Handlebar height has a big influence on handling. A lower bar helps centre your weight between the wheels on climbs and lowers your centre of mass, aiding control, while a higher bar helps prevent that nervous, ‘over the front’ feeling on steep descents. You can change bar height by moving spacers from above the stem to below it, and vice versa. If you want to go even higher, you’ll need to buy a high-rise bar.

Brake levers

On steeper descents you may find a more horizontal lever position helps keep your wrists behind the bar, aiding with pushing the bike over obstacles and lowering the risk of your wrists rolling. Use lever-reach and (if present on your brakes) bite-point adjustment to get the pads hitting the rotor at a comfortable point.

Bar width

There’s no hard and fast formula for bar width – it’s a case of trial and error. Buy an 800mm bar, then slide your lock-on grips inboard by 5mm at a time to simulate narrower widths (with end caps fitted!). Ride until you find a width you like, then trim the bar. A narrower bar tends to make it easier to get the front end up in the air, while wider bars suit bigger riders and those who like to plough through terrain.

Shifter & dropper seatpost lever

Many brake-lever clamps now double as gearshifter or dropper-lever mounts, for a tidier cockpit. Get the levers close enough to the bar and grips that you’re not straining for them when you’re on the limit, but not so close that your knuckles rub on them when gripping hard. Don’t roll them too far under the bar, either.