Hi y’all, I’m Ginger checking in from my bike storage room slash living room slash home office in my sweats. We’re going to talk a little bit today about handlebar fit and stem length and how to find it.

So, if you buy a bike complete, chances are the bar and stem are not going to set up perfectly for you but that, along with the saddle, can be replaced on a budget and make a really big difference for your comfort level while riding.

EC90 SLX

These handlebars I love so much. On the road bike, they’re super comfortable, super light but my favourite thing is that they come in a size 38. For the longest time I was riding a 42mm handlebar, which is probably what comes stock on most 54 bikes. That’s obviously way too big for me for the width of my shoulders so then I would ride a 40 because that was the narrowest I could find. When I discovered Easton, I was like, “Oh my god, I’ve never seen a 38mm bar in my life.” I put those on and immediately felt so comfortable.

Once you figure out the perfect length of your stem and your handlebar width, one thing that can make a huge difference in your fit – and I don’t think a lot of people don’t know this – is the fit of your shifter hoods and brake levers. I think a lot of women say this in general, and maybe some men too, but if you feel like when you’re in the drops, you can’t reach the brake, and that makes you feel less stable on descents so you prefer to descend or to ride crits in your hoods, you can actually pull the brake lever in closer to your hand so that when you’re in the drop, you have more control, you can reach the lever with your entire hand.

EC70 AX

Last thing I want to talk about is my gravel bike – on this bike, I run the EC70 AX, which has a flare that’s designed for gravel. It’s the most comfortable handlebar I’ve ever had on a bike. Though they don’t go down to a 38, they only go down to 40 mm, that’s okay because generally when you’re riding dirt you want a little bit of a wider stance so you have more control over more surfaces. This flared bar, when I’m descending, literally, I feel like I’m in a truck. I feel like I could hit any turn and I have so much control. If you don’t have a separate performance road and then a gravel bike, you just have one touring/all-road/gravel type of rig, I think that flared bar would be so comfortable and give you all the control and comfort you would want on gravel, on turns, on descents, and long road rides.

Hi y’all, I’m Ginger checking in from my bike storage room slash living room slash home office in my sweats. We’re going to talk a little bit today about handlebar fit and stem length and how to find it.

So, if you buy a bike complete, chances are the bar and stem are not going to set up perfectly for you but that, along with the saddle, can be replaced on a budget and make a really big difference for your comfort level while riding.

EC90 SLX

These handlebars I love so much. On the road bike, they’re super comfortable, super light but my favourite thing is that they come in a size 38. For the longest time I was riding a 42mm handlebar, which is probably what comes stock on most 54 bikes. That’s obviously way too big for me for the width of my shoulders so then I would ride a 40 because that was the narrowest I could find. When I discovered Easton, I was like, “Oh my god, I’ve never seen a 38mm bar in my life.” I put those on and immediately felt so comfortable.

Once you figure out the perfect length of your stem and your handlebar width, one thing that can make a huge difference in your fit – and I don’t think a lot of people don’t know this – is the fit of your shifter hoods and brake levers. I think a lot of women say this in general, and maybe some men too, but if you feel like when you’re in the drops, you can’t reach the brake, and that makes you feel less stable on descents so you prefer to descend or to ride crits in your hoods, you can actually pull the brake lever in closer to your hand so that when you’re in the drop, you have more control, you can reach the lever with your entire hand.

EC70 AX

Last thing I want to talk about is my gravel bike – on this bike, I run the EC70 AX, which has a flare that’s designed for gravel. It’s the most comfortable handlebar I’ve ever had on a bike. Though they don’t go down to a 38, they only go down to 40 mm, that’s okay because generally when you’re riding dirt you want a little bit of a wider stance so you have more control over more surfaces. This flared bar, when I’m descending, literally, I feel like I’m in a truck. I feel like I could hit any turn and I have so much control. If you don’t have a separate performance road and then a gravel bike, you just have one touring/all-road/gravel type of rig, I think that flared bar would be so comfortable and give you all the control and comfort you would want on gravel, on turns, on descents, and long road rides.