Telescopic Steering Post

[yz250_]

Sorry to go off topic a bit here but Please explain how lower bars equals more control. I see people say this quite often but the logic to it doesn’t make sense to me unless you’re shorter than average, not the case at 6’5”.

You mentioned you get less leverage and puts you in an uncomfortable position with lower bars. Which is true, less leverage means more effort to do the same work, uncomfortable position means your arms/upper body position aren’t in their most efficient position, eg; you’re hunched over and probably wrists are bent rather than being aligned with your forearms meaning you have less strength to deal with an unsuspecting movement in the sled or to physically move sled.

When sidehilling and the sled is on its sides, the bars stay lower instead of sticking the upper bar up into your chest when trying to manuever it.

When climbing, the tall bars push your weight up high which relates to leaning back and causes more wheelies.

When hitting things and going over your bars, you don't rake your thighs and shins. I always where motocross knee / shin guards.

There is a reason why the professional backcountry riders have switched to lower bars. The old M sleds, yes i had to run a tall bar for the leverage, but the newer chassis sleds don't really need that much leverage. With ski and throttle control you can manipulate the sled a lot.

It does completely rely upon where you are riding. If I didn't do a lot of tree and steep hill riding, I would run taller bars also.

 

[Cinno]

Higher bars are very comfortable but offer less control when sidehilling, and traversing off-camber hills. You need to keep your arms and legs bent so you can let the sled and bars move underneath you, high bars will force your arms to over extend which will force you to shift your entire body which takes more time and effort.

 

[thump426er]

I gave low bars a chance but I’m a mess with them, all I ride is steep, tight, and tech trees, if I’m not in them I’m on my way to them lol. But the low bars, with knees slightly bent, just has me hunched over, straining my neck to look up ahead, wrists bent, no power when I need it. I must be an odd duck, run the higher bars and all of a sudden I’m smooth and effortless again with less energy output. The years of motocross racing has it ingrained in my head to have an attack position of elbows up and aligned with arms for strength and responsiveness, drop your elbows (via wrists) and that’s out the window.

Was just curious on the theory of low bars for taller people, at the end of the day it’s whatever works for someone I guess!

 

[bnorth]

Personally, I think telescopic posts are great, esp for tall people. High off trail and lower on trail when sitting. Raise on trail if trails are rough to enable easier standing.

True they probably are not as strong as risers, but I haven't had any issues in 4,000 miles of boondocking. Just be aware of that limitation and try to limit the amount of force which may be applied when trying to roll over a sled, etc. For example, you wouldn't want 3 guys pulling/pushing the bars to try and roll or level a sled.

If I had to choose between a telescopic post and a non-adjustable riser, I would choose a riser which allows you to stand upright with a slight bend in the knees and elbows.

As for leverage, the taller the bars, the more leverage the rider has to hold the sled on edge. That is physics. The longer the lever (ie: risers) the more leverage that can be applied by the rider.

If you're using your bars to hold the sled on edge you're working harder than you need to. Use weight transfer on the running boards. Remember your sled is 3x heavier than you so if you have more leverage with high bars the sled has more leverage over you with high bars too.

 

[Vern]

you shouldnt need the leverage on the bars to maneuver these modern sleds. Body position and throttle control should do 90% of the work. I'm 6' and the last two years I've been riding bars 2" lower than stock and technical riding has been much better. Yes, there is a trade off though, meadow mashing or normal stand up riding situations can get bothersome after a while so you gotta really look at what type of riding you do most. If your into technical sidehilling you should at least give lower bars a try.

 

[Coldfinger]

I think whether a sleds bars are considered high or low and what works best depends upon the skill of and height of the rider, and which sled they are on.

 

[thump426er]

100% agree on body/weight positioning, foot positioning, throttle control, brake control, all are the prime users to control the sled in tech situations. Part of body positioning for me is upper body position/efficiency and comfort,,,,,,,,, anywho,,,,, didn’t want to derail this,,,,, pass on the telescopic!!! Lol

 

[evandaigneault]

I put one on my 2020 alpha with the bdx aftermarket bushing kit. I’ve also upgraded my past 2018 mountain cat and 2016 limited the same way as well. I love the adjustability. Took about 2 hours in all to do the swap.