Saddle to Bar Drop 29er XC Hardtail

[Cusco]

Just curious what other people are running in terms of saddle to bar drop on their xc hardtails. I just flipped my stem (- 6 degrees) so I now have a little less than 1" of drop from the top of my saddle to the top of my bar (when I flipped my stem I inserted a 5mm spacer below the stem). Had to move to a 10mm shorter stem to compensate for the additonal reach triggered by flipping the stem. Will give it a whirl tomorrow to see whether the 1" of drop works for me. Felt good just spiinning around in my back yard.

How much drop are you running and what advantages do you think you gain by setting your bar height below your saddle height (or parallel / higher as the case may be)?

[Noclutch]

Some good fitment stuff should come from this thread. subscribed

[mvi]

I recently lowered my bars 60 mm and now have a drop over 120mm. I expected back-neck pain and gor dramatically better handling. Can ride for >2 hours before the back acts up. Worth it for XC racing. 6:5" rider/

[motorbacon]

I recently lowered my bars 60 mm and now have a drop over 120mm. I expected back-neck pain and gor dramatically better handling. Can ride for >2 hours before the back acts up. Worth it for XC racing. 6:5" rider/

stretch more. work on flexibility.

[mvi]

stretch more. work on flexibility.

I am already too flexible in the low back. core strengthening might help more , but at 53 y/o bodies are starting to fail as you one day might find out.
I was just surprised by the better front end loading and improved handling with the low bars.

[dru]

I've got my bars around 2" lower than my seat on my 29er. I too am 6' 5" and am not flexible at all, but can touch my toes. I run my 26er bars at the same height which is a super comfortable position for me. On both sizes I've got just enough weight on the front to make the tire stick and no more. I'd never consider running the bars anywhere even with the seat.

Drew

[canyonrat]

0 drop is happy land lately for me. Fit is very personal and changes over time, fitness level, age, riding style, and preferred terrain... All good if it feels good to you.

[mopartodd]

I have right around 1.25" on my 29er which is a little less than what I have on my 26.

[Holmes]

I generally run the bars with zero drop or a skosh above the saddle. On a rode bike I have no issues with neck / back pain running lower, but off-road where I am up out of the saddle a lot my lower back gets pretty hammered after awhile.

[Mr Pink57]

I'm almost even maybe a little lower bar but I have tried going lower and the bike seems sluggish when it turns. I have gotten too comfortable at this position.

I was under the impression that if you get back pain you should try lowering as you may be trying to support yourself upright too much and not getting the proper flat back.

[Mojo Troll]

I'm almost even maybe a little lower bar but I have tried going lower and the bike seems sluggish when it turns. I have gotten too comfortable at this position.

I was under the impression that if you get back pain you should try lowering as you may be trying to support yourself upright too much and not getting the proper flat back.

Do you happen to ride with a hydration pack most of the time?

[Xrodie]

I tried at least 6 different length/ rise/ bar combo's on my new 29er. My LBS has great service; if you don't suff it up you can try different combo's until you find what you like. I took a lot of time to swap out stems every two laps on three different courses before I found what worked best; the time was well worth it. Nailing the right fit makes a huge difference in how the bike handles. 580 to 620 length bars were far more stable in technical terrain than wide bars, but 680 bars we're more comfortable. The narrow bars were better for trails with narrow passing between tree's, and we have our fair share of those here.

I demo'd on cheaper alloy bars but ordered Easton EC70 with a 40mm rise, which is what I need to get my hand contact height to the best position, which is within mm of saddle height. I'll cut them down to 630mm and ride that for a while, but from what I've learned so far, I'll most likely cut them down to 600-620mm in the end.

For technical riding with rocks and drops, each time I increased the height of the bars I got faster and more stable handling on the rocks/ drops/ roots/ logs. Bars are now even with saddle. I'm 6'2" with long legs/ arms. For less technical single track around a .5 to 1" saddle- bar drop seems to work well, but not that much better than bars even with saddle.

I was pretty diligent with my trials, noting feel of stability deep into berms, control on turn in and exit, climbing/ descending switchbacks, and climbing descending steep rocky stuff.

[bootsie_cat]

I am around zero drop- might actually be something like 5mm rise.
When I got my 1st 29er I was convinced that I needed to match position from my 26 inch bike. (I was about 4cm drop on 26 inch). Mainly I thought the front end would squirm on steep climbs if my bars were higher.
Tried that and 29er rode like poo. Worked my way up- now I am riding a -6 degree stem with low rise bars- Syntace Vector- 1cm or less rise. No spacers under stem.
Bike works perfect- very easy on my body. I may bend my elbows slightly more than I used to but position is powerful and handles great.
I think many people tend to overthink this.