Bar Roll

[Jake From State Farm]

What constitutes as a neutral position?
For many including myself, I always thought that keeping the central markings on your stem relative to the bars would be the proper setting.
This doesn't make much sense given that the manufacturers give a 5 degree cushion for headtube angle. A few companies are even stating that to achieve a neutral setup that your rise should be parallel to the ground which would make more sense. Even stating that lining up the logo to be congruent with the ground would be your best starting point.
This becomes increasingly noticeable for downhill bikes and for difference in wheel size.
I noticed in Jackson's post today how far his bars seemed to be rolled forward on his downhill bike. However, considering how slack the 40 is I'm assuming this setup is slightly rolled forward based off the ground.
Any insight would be great to discuss..
For now I'll be basing my roll off of the ground and not the stem.

Jacksons video for reference. You can clearly see it @ 0:48 as well as other places throughout the video.

 

[steve_sordy]

I would go with what feels best, irrespective of what you think it "ought" to be. Try changing it and riding it, rinse and repeat until you find something better or give up and put it back to where you started.
I consider bar orientation to be one of the things I can change to tune my bike for me. Jackson seems to agree. But his bar orientation may not work for me, or you.

 

[Mikerb]

if you want the design shape as far as upsweep, backsweep and rise etc to be as intended then set the maximum rise of the bars perpendicular to the ground. If you roll them forward or back from that position you change all of those..........which may suit you..or not! Be aware however of the change to the angulation of your wrists if you do.

 

[Jake From State Farm]

Yeah that's what I do. I'm aware that it's a personal preference. I was referring to the referenced position the bar was designed off. As If I were to ask you if you roll your bars forward or aft, we would need to know from what universal position is neutral based off? I've always went off feel but a new rider could potentially buy a bar with a good amount of backsweep and think that the "middle" position as per the bar markings should line up with the middle of the headset. Which would be much further rolled back than than designed as a neutral roll. To sum up my long winded response. What are the manufacturers basing their rise and sweep off?

 

[Mikerb]

check out the link below. The reference for rise, upsweep and backsweep is when the rise in height between the stem and the grips area is at its maximum............ie the rise is perpendicular to the floor.

How to Measure Bike Handlebars | Road & MTB | 5 Easy Steps

Need to learn how to measure bike handlebars? This guide teaches you how to measure both road and mtb handlebars using trusted methods.

www.bikelockwiki.com

 

[Mikerb]

Yeah that's what I do. I'm aware that it's a personal preference. I was referring to the referenced position the bar was designed off. As If I were to ask you if you roll your bars forward or aft, we would need to know from what universal position is neutral based off? I've always went off feel but a new rider could potentially buy a bar with a good amount of backsweep and think that the "middle" position as per the bar markings should line up with the middle of the headset. Which would be much further rolled back than than designed as a neutral roll. To sum up my long winded response. What are the manufacturers basing their rise and sweep off?

any markings on the bars other than a centre line are just for rider reference.........there is now way any bar manufacturer knows what stem their bars will be fixed to.

 

[Jake From State Farm]

check out the link below. The reference for rise, upsweep and backsweep is when the rise in height between the stem and the grips area is at its maximum............ie the rise is perpendicular to the floor.

How to Measure Bike Handlebars | Road & MTB | 5 Easy Steps

Need to learn how to measure bike handlebars? This guide teaches you how to measure both road and mtb handlebars using trusted methods.

www.bikelockwiki.com

That's definitely not as clear as it could be for beginners. I've been riding a while and never put much thought into it until someone asked me how much roll I have in my setup. I didn't actually know how to answer that so I just went with neutral as in the rise is vertical with the ground. A lot of bars have roll markings and my headset has a roll marker but it isn't set to the middle line or they would be level with the stem.