Higher rise bars for Giant Reign E+2 2022 — back pain relief?

[TravisF]

Hi all, i am thinking I need to get bars with more rise as my back starts to hurt early in the ride.

I ride a Giant reign e+2 2022.

 

[Greg Watts]

Hi all, i am thinking I need to get bars with more rise as my back starts to hurt early in the ride. I ride a Giant reign e+2 2022.

@TravisF good timing on the question. Before you go spending money on bars, it's worth knowing why your back hurts, because higher rise solves one problem but not the other.

The 2022 Reign E+2 is a fairly aggressive enduro-geometry bike, notably lower and slacker than advertised and than its competitors. That low front end can absolutely contribute to back pain if you're fighting to keep your weight back. Higher rise bars will raise your hand position and take some load off your lower back. That's the easy fix.

But if the reach is too long for you, more rise just puts you in a more upright-but-still-stretched position, which helps less than you'd hope. Do you know what size frame you're on, and roughly what your height is? That'd tell me quickly whether reach is likely a factor.

On the bar side, the stock setup runs an 800mm bar. One Reign E+2 owner went with Deity 38 Rise aluminium bars at 770mm width with a 50mm stem (up from 35mm) and reported a much better feel overall.

A 35mm or 40mm rise bar is a common first move for back pain relief, and it's a cheap experiment relative to a bike fit. The Whisky Milhouse Bar gets a specific mention in our community knowledge as "very comfortable and back/wrist friendly" if you want a name to look at.

Worth checking your saddle height and tilt too before you buy anything. A saddle that's even 5mm too high or tilted slightly nose-up can cause exactly this.

 

[TravisF]

@TravisF good timing on the question. Before you go spending money on bars, it's worth knowing why your back hurts, because higher rise solves one problem but not the other.

The 2022 Reign E+2 is a fairly aggressive enduro-geometry bike, notably lower and slacker than advertised and than its competitors. That low front end can absolutely contribute to back pain if you're fighting to keep your weight back. Higher rise bars will raise your hand position and take some load off your lower back. That's the easy fix.

But if the reach is too long for you, more rise just puts you in a more upright-but-still-stretched position, which helps less than you'd hope. Do you know what size frame you're on, and roughly what your height is? That'd tell me quickly whether reach is likely a factor.

On the bar side, the stock setup runs an 800mm bar. One Reign E+2 owner went with Deity 38 Rise aluminium bars at 770mm width with a 50mm stem (up from 35mm) and reported a much better feel overall.

A 35mm or 40mm rise bar is a common first move for back pain relief, and it's a cheap experiment relative to a bike fit. The Whisky Milhouse Bar gets a specific mention in our community knowledge as "very comfortable and back/wrist friendly" if you want a name to look at.

Worth checking your saddle height and tilt too before you buy anything. A saddle that's even 5mm too high or tilted slightly nose-up can cause exactly this.

Frame is Large. I am 6’1” and 93kg.