When did riser bars first make an appearance?

Kell · Oct 14, 2015

First off, I'll make it clear that I'm not a fan of riser bars. In fact, on one of my early MTBs I flipped the stem to drop it even lower.

However, that was 20 years' ago and these days, 'what with my back' and all, I think having a bit of height on the front end would be a bonus.

But I don't want to do it if it's completely wrong for the bike.

I have a 2000 P7 which I'd be happy to do it to, but not so sure on my 94/95 P7.

Any ideas?

13 · Oct 14, 2015

Re:

Club roost, azonic and answer had riser bars for 94/95
Not much rise though.

DH guys like Mike King ran 20 deg stems plus the riser bar to get the height. could be an easier option to change the stem, good nic old risers are hard to come by.

hamster · Oct 14, 2015

I recall they started to make an appearance again around 1996, largely for DH.

Of course risers were on earlier bikes but were overtaken by a fashion for flat bars in the late 1980s.

M-Power · Oct 14, 2015

Re:

I put my first ever low riser carbon bar on a 1990 Fat recently, for the same reason, a bit more comfort. Works really well especially with the flexstem but it looks wrong.

mattbrown · Oct 14, 2015

Re:

I fitted risers to my Kona in 1995, and everyone asked why anyone would have bullhorn bars on their bike.

amedias · Oct 14, 2015

Re:

When did riser bars first make an appearance?

Mountain bikes started off with risers, should be more like "when did we get over the narrow flat bar fad" ;-)

But to answer your question, they started becoming a 'thing' again in the early 90's

FluffyChicken · Oct 14, 2015

Re:

For me I would ask, when did they start fitting them as original equipment to the standard everyday mountain bike?
(In Retro 90s terms)
When did they take over as the norm?

longun · Oct 14, 2015

Early 80s for production bikes, then fashion etc dictated late 80s and 90s that straight bars were the norm. Iirc, club roost came out 94 and azonic 95 .from what I remember late 90s is when some companies fitted risers as standard to some models.

To be fair though, as long as your not fitting bar ends to risers you can fit them to any bike 1980 onwards

LikeClockwork · Oct 14, 2015

Re:

'what with my back' and all

Join the club, mate....

I have my 'bible' here, a 1996 Bikenet catalog, and they're in there. Just sayin'.....

Ductape · Oct 15, 2015

Joe's Series 1 Breezer comes to mind. What goes around comes around.

When did riser bars first make an appearance?

Kell

Retro Guru

13

Retro Guru

hamster

Retro Wizard

M-Power

Old School Grand Master

mattbrown

amedias

Senior Retro Guru

FluffyChicken

longun

LikeClockwork

Ductape

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