After you buy a complete bike, you might feel a little bit off when riding the bike. There are tons of specs that could be causing this… but one of them is often the handlebar height. Many people ask me: “What bar height is right?” The answer to that is really thought because it is ultimately a matter of preference.
I am super tall and ride average-height handlebars while some of my small friends ride crazy tall bars. It would be best if you found bars that feel comfortable to you. I’ll explain exactly what small vs. tall bars do to help you on your journey of finding the right bars.
Average Bars
Back in the early BMX days, the bar height average was around 7-8″. Now in 2022 the average is around 9″. Taller riders will choose to ride taller than 9″, while smaller riders will ride less than 9″ bars. But the average height we see on complete BMX bikes is 9″ rise.
EVERYONE should start with “average-sized” parts to understand how it feels for them and how they want to proceed in the future with upgrades. In the big book of BMX specs, I explain how different heights affect the overall control of your bike.
Smaller Bars
If you opt to ride smaller bars, you will have less leverage over your balance point. The distance from grip to the pivot point on the back wheel is shorter with smaller bars so you have to apply more effort to get the front wheel up.
The upside of this is that you can lift the front wheel higher before the bike tries to tip.
Taller Bars
With taller bars, the distance from your grip to your pivot point on the back wheel is longer which means that you get more leverage which makes it easier to get the front wheel up.
The downside is that your bike can feel really unstable when leaning back since it is easier to “loop out”
Conclusion
Whatever bars come on your bike, ride them for a while and think about how they feel and what you would change about them. Once you have ridden them and given them a fair shot, decided if you still want to swap them out.
If you decide to swap them, do so in moderate increments. For example, if the bars feel too small at 9″, go from 9″ to 9.5″ but don’t jump all the way up to 10″ or 11″. The problem with this strategy is that you may buy 3-4 different bars before you find the right ones.
