Its official: BMX Basics is the most influential column in the world. How do I know? Simple. Long time readers may recall my October, 1997 column where I described attending a Wynton Marsalis club date. In that column, I compared the skills necessary for racing to those a jazz artist possesses. You can imagine my surprise, then, when I recently saw an add for the NBA featuring, you guessed it, Wynton Marsalis, and comparing the skills of basketball players to those of a jazz musician. I don't know whether to be flattered that I am apparently providing the world with ideas, or upset that it isn't paying me anything.
Now that my credentials as a creator of national opinion have been duly recognized, you have no reason not to read the rest of this month's column and benefit from the knowledge within, right? Well, what if I beg you? Okay. Let's begin.
We all know, or should know, that BMX is a fashion driven sport. And in the same way that fashion causes ties to be wide, then narrow, and wide again, BMX fashion has dictated throughout the years that we move our handlebars forward of vertical, then back, then forward, and back again. At the present moment, wide ties and laid-back bars are in fashion. The difference between BMX and men's clothing, however, is that while you'll never catch Hugo Boss claiming that a particular tie width prevents heart-attacks or improves breathing, the average racer can come up with ten wacky reasons why his bar positioning is best.
I spoke to a lot of riders about bar positioning during the Nationals. Here are the comments offered to me by a couple of pro-level riders. We'll call them Pro #1 and Pro #2. Although I interviewed them at two different times, I'm putting their comments together for instructional purposes.
Pro #1: "When I put my bars forward of vertical, what they call 'Chicago Style', I get a better start."
Pro #2: "Leaning my bars back helped my start tremendously."
#1: "Of course, I have better power down the first straight
with my bars forward."
#2: "The best way to get more power is to move your bars
way back."
#1: "Putting my bars forward lets me lean forward in the
turns and dig my front wheel better."
#2: "With my bars back, I corner way harder."
#1: "My jumping has improved."
#2: "My jumping has improved."
I could go on, but I think you have the point. It would only confuse you further. I think, to tell you that Pro #1 is shorter than Pro #2, and that he rides a longer frame, but I'll tell you anyway. I could tell you which rider is "faster", but they've beaten each other several times, so that wouldn't help either.
What's the lesson we should learn from the above claims? Only this: Bar positioning is mostly a matter of fashion. Were there an incontrovertible advantage to either "Chicago" or "laid-back" angles, you wouldn't have two pros claiming to receive the same benefits from opposite setups. My best guess as regards the two fine gentleman above is that both of them expected to receive certain benefits from moving their bars a certain way. It's called the "placebo effect". If you expect something to help you, it will. That's why two-hundred pound riders believe that saving eight ounces on a new frame will help them. It's ninety-nine percent mental.
Does the "placebo effect" mean that there is no "right" way to position your bars? Yes and no. There are some broad guidelines that you should observe, but there is a lot of variation permissible in bar positioning. Before we take a look at that, however, I want to deliver the knockout blow to the "Chicago" debate. To do that, I'll have to reintroduce our old pals, Rider A and Rider B.
You probably remember that Rider A and Rider B are identical twins. This means, naturally, that they have the same birthday. To prevent jealousy between them, their parents got them identical, name brand, $350 complete race bikes as birthday presents. Both of the bikes were delivered with their bars perfectly vertical. Several days later, Riders A and B had a little conversation about their new scoots.
Rider A: "You know, this bike feels a little short. I.m
going to move my bars forward an inch or so."
Rider B: "You geek! That's 'Chicago', man. I'm buying an
XXL stem. Then I'll lean my bars back a bit. That'll be cooler."
The next day, the brothers met again. Rider A had knocked his bars out an inch, which did make it look 'Chicago'. Rider B had bought a stem with two inches' more reach and leaned his bars back an inch. Question: Who had more room? If you think about it for a minute, it will become clear that both Rider A and B now have the same amount of room. Rider B has the "cool" setup, but he also spent more cash and added more weight to his bike. Which was the right way to go? It depends on which fashion you prefer. If your buddies are pushing you to bring your bars back, remember that it's purely a matter of fashion.
What, if any actual consequences are there to choosing a long stem and laid-back bars? There are two major issues to consider. A longer stem can add up to half a pound to the front end of your bike. This can add stability in certain jumping situations, and it can help dampen impacts coming up through your bars. On the other hand, it is extra weight. A long stem also slows your steering, in much the same way that a kicked-out fork does. A longer stem lets you lean on your bars a little harder in the turn, but dulls your steering response. The physics behind this is simply that a long stem adds leverage to your steering, so you have to move the bars farther for the same result.
Let's look at Riders A and B again. Although they now have the same amount of room, Rider B's bike, due to its heavier, longer stem, will steer more slowly and surely. It's probably safe to say that Rider B's setup is better for trails, while Rider A's bike will do better in a race. The increased popularity of long stems and laid-back bars has to be the reason why more and more riders today play "follow-the -leader" in turns and try to pass over jumps. At the risk of sounding crotchety, I should also point out that, in my youth, I spent a couple hours a week working on turns, which is something modern riders don't want to do.
I think we've learned that there isn't always a great reason to pick one bar positioning over another. How do you fit your bike to your riding if there's no "best" way? Start by picking the right frame. Fifteen years ago, when I started racing, most riders were on bikes that were far too short, so they kicked their bars wayyy forward of vertical. Almost any picture of a pro rider's bike taken in the eighties will reveal handlebars that are three or four inches forward of vertical.
Today, I think that many under-six-foot riders are using frames and stems that are too long. It's not uncommon to see 5'8" riders on frames with 20.5" top tubes, which is a bit too long to begin with. Add an XXL stem, and it's not hard to understand why so many of them are kicking their bars back.
In a perfect world, we would all have frames that fit us perfectly, we would all have medium-length stems, and we would all run our bars perfectly vertical. Since we don't live in a perfect world, get a frame that isn't too big if possible, avoid the temptation to run a super-long stem, and don't rock your bars too far forward or back. Now you go ride. If you find yourself leaning too far forward over the bars, move them forward. If your front end is too hard to steer and pick up for bunny hops, move your bars forward. I know it sounds wacky, but moving your bars forward often helps you pick the front end up. On the other hand, you can move your bars back if the bike feels skittish in turns, or if your front end comes up too fast over jumps.
If small corrections don't fix the problem, you should look at your riding technique. If you aren't doing anything really wrong, take a look at your frame and bars. Shorter riders should consider 6" bars and shorter frames; riders who are tall or who have a long torso should use taller bars. Again, don't follow the fashion blindly. I admire Todd Lyons, but it would be stupid for me to set my bike up the same way as his, since I'm quite a bit taller. Take the time to see what works best for you . I guarantee that your perfect setup won't look exactly like anyone else's, but don't let that bug you. After all, it's hard to win a race when you don't have any advantages.
Do yourself (and me) one more favor. If your pals snicker at your setup, or even if they don't, take some pictures of your bikes as they are now. Ten years from now, bring those photos out, and you can all have a good laugh. Hey, it worked for me. I can't believe I used to run bright aqua pads. Wait a minute...right after I stopped running aqua pads, didn't some NBA team come up with aqua uniforms? Hey, everybody out there in the non-BMX world, get your own ideas! Or, at least, could you pay me for mine?