spokewrench
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
Years ago, I got tennis elbow soon after buying a Radrunner. The pavement around here is bumpy. Each bump causes a sharp deceleration of the bike. You lurch against the bars. When I took my left hand off the bar to signal, I'd lurch against the right bar only, requiring tremendous torque with my right hand and ( and elbow ) to keep the handlebar straight. That tore an elbow tendon.
I moved the seat back for better steering control and discovered several fringe benefits. One was that my legs could help stabilize me against lurching. My tennis elbow healed.
I bought a Radmission, a one-speed that looked like a traditional 3-speed. Moving the seat back like a classic 3-speed improved handling, pedaling, and comfort, but it felt a little unstable if I took one hand off the bar. I didn't know why.
My Abound was great unless I had to take a hand off the bar. It seemed as if one day I would go into oscillations from which I could not recover. For two weeks I rode the Radmission while I awaited a replacement part for the Abound. I noticed that the one-handed instability was less severe on the Radmission. The Abound's bars were 72 cm wide. The Radmission's were 67.
I swapped bars and the Abound felt more stable. I realized why. Legs can't absorb all lurching on bumps. Most of the pressure from a lurch probably happens at the base of the thumb, about 9cm from the end of the bar. The one-handed torque I would have to apply against a lurch would vary with the distance of the base of my thumb from the center of the steering tube. With a 72 cm bar, that would be 27 cm. With a 67 cm bar, it would be 24.5 cm. 24.5/27 =0.907. One-handed, it took 9% less torsion to maintain control with the 67 cm bars.
I checked with Sheldon Brown. For road, street, and gravel riding, the standard width is 48. Longer handlebars are for mountain bikes because they offer more precise steering at very low speeds on rough terrain. In a situation like that, I can touch a toe to the ground. I'm more concerned with the possibility of being thrown on my head because I hit a bump while signaling with one hand at 15 mph.
Brown said wide bars often come with marks for those who wish to cut them shorter. I haven't seen any marks, but I will caution them shorter.
I moved the seat back for better steering control and discovered several fringe benefits. One was that my legs could help stabilize me against lurching. My tennis elbow healed.
I bought a Radmission, a one-speed that looked like a traditional 3-speed. Moving the seat back like a classic 3-speed improved handling, pedaling, and comfort, but it felt a little unstable if I took one hand off the bar. I didn't know why.
My Abound was great unless I had to take a hand off the bar. It seemed as if one day I would go into oscillations from which I could not recover. For two weeks I rode the Radmission while I awaited a replacement part for the Abound. I noticed that the one-handed instability was less severe on the Radmission. The Abound's bars were 72 cm wide. The Radmission's were 67.
I swapped bars and the Abound felt more stable. I realized why. Legs can't absorb all lurching on bumps. Most of the pressure from a lurch probably happens at the base of the thumb, about 9cm from the end of the bar. The one-handed torque I would have to apply against a lurch would vary with the distance of the base of my thumb from the center of the steering tube. With a 72 cm bar, that would be 27 cm. With a 67 cm bar, it would be 24.5 cm. 24.5/27 =0.907. One-handed, it took 9% less torsion to maintain control with the 67 cm bars.
I checked with Sheldon Brown. For road, street, and gravel riding, the standard width is 48. Longer handlebars are for mountain bikes because they offer more precise steering at very low speeds on rough terrain. In a situation like that, I can touch a toe to the ground. I'm more concerned with the possibility of being thrown on my head because I hit a bump while signaling with one hand at 15 mph.
Brown said wide bars often come with marks for those who wish to cut them shorter. I haven't seen any marks, but I will caution them shorter.
