There are many ways of adjusting your bike fit, but handlebar reach is often overlooked.
As explained in our guide to road bike geometry, reach is typically described as the horizontal distance between the bottom bracket axle and the top of the head tube.
However, just as stems come in different lengths and angles, the different types, shapes and sizes of handlebars can also affect your bike fit.
In this guide, we’ll define what handlebar reach is, how to measure it on your bike and, crucially, how to ensure you have the right amount of handlebar reach for your bike and riding style.
What is handlebar reach and why is it important?
Handlebar reach is the horizontal distance between the centre of the stem-clamping area and where the shifting and braking controls are placed.
Handlebar reach is important because it determines the distance to three of the key controls on your bike – the handlebar, shifters and brake levers.
All else being equal, a handlebar with greater reach will place these controls further away – just like using a longer stem.
In contrast, a short-reach drop handlebar, or a flat handlebar with backsweep, will place them closer to you.
As such, when buying a bike or a new handlebar, it’s worth checking the detailed specs to find out the handlebar reach and make sure it’s right for you.
How to get the right handlebar reach
In a general sense, the ‘right’ handlebar reach enables you to easily access the handlebar, shifters and brake levers at all times.
There’s no one ‘correct’ figure for any rider, though – as with many bike fit-related things, you need to strike a balance.
When setting your saddle height correctly, for example, there’s a balance between it being low enough for you to comfortably reach the pedals, and high enough to utilise your muscles effectively and produce optimal power.
On a road bike, handlebar reach involves balancing having the critical controls easily and comfortably accessible and not being sat bolt upright in the wind, potentially slowing you down.
On a hybrid bike or mountain bike with flat handlebars, where aerodynamics are of less concern, handlebar reach is primarily used to fine-tune your bike fit and weight distribution.
The effects of changing flat handlebars will be smaller compared to adjusting stem length and/or saddle setback, though, because such bars typically don’t add (or subtract) as much reach as drop handlebars.
Everyone is built differently and has different bike fit requirements, so the optimal balance of comfort, aerodynamics, weight distribution and so on will vary between riders.
However, it’s important to remember your handlebar reach works in tandem with the other reach-affecting components on your bike – the frame, seatpost, saddle and stem – to create the overall reach from the saddle to your bike’s controls.
Many professional road and track riders, for example, make use of long-reach bike frames and components to help them achieve stretched-out (and potentially more aerodynamic) riding positions, but this is unlikely to be comfortable or sustainable for many amateur riders.
PRO’s Vibe Aero Alloy Pursuit handlebar, for example, has 101mm of reach – among the longest available from a mainstream component manufacturer.
Conversely, many endurance road bikes and gravel bikes have short-reach handlebars with only 60 to 80mm of reach.
As well as putting the controls within easier reach, short-reach handlebars may also help with keeping a more even weight distribution, because they shift your centre of gravity back slightly. This can help relieve pressure on your hands and make the front end of the bike feel more lively.
The effect of handlebar width on reach
It’s also worth noting that handlebar width impacts the effective reach to the controls on your bike.
All else being equal, a narrower handlebar will typically reduce reach slightly, for example, whereas a wider one will increase it.
If you switch to a substantially narrower or wider handlebar on your bike, then, you may need to change your stem length if you wish to maintain the same effective reach from the saddle.
How to measure your handlebar reach on a bike
Drop handlebar
On drop handlebars, as you’d typically find on road and gravel bikes, handlebar reach is the horizontal distance between the tops and the hooks of the drops.
As with frame reach, the figure is taken from the centre point of each part of the handlebar.
Practically all drop handlebars add reach to a bike – typically between 60 and 100mm – increasing the effective distance to the controls.
As already noted, though, how much reach is added depends on the shape and intended use of the handlebar.
Flat handlebar
On flat handlebars, as found on hybrid and mountain bikes, reach is determined as the horizontal difference between the centre of the stem-clamping area and the centre of the handlebar ends.
If the bar is truly ‘flat’, there may be no added reach. Typically, though, on mountain bike handlebars, it’s more common to see ‘backsweep’ quoted rather than reach, which reduces the reach to the controls, rather than extending it.
How do you know if your handlebar reach is too long?
Although a professional bike fit can help you determine the optimal reach for your needs, there are some clues that you may have too much reach on your bike’s front end if you’d rather take a DIY approach.
For example, if you find yourself regularly placing your hands behind the shifters, on the ramps of a drop handlebar, that may be an indication the shifters are further away from you than is comfortable.
Likewise, overextending yourself to reach controls that are too far away may lead to increased muscular fatigue and/or aches and pains in your upper body, especially over longer rides.
What you can do about it
In these cases, it may be possible to reduce the effective reach to the controls at no cost, simply by rotating the handlebar and/or by moving the shifters further up the ramps of the drops, for example.
If this affects the orientation of the drops or the shifter angle to a degree you don’t like then, alternatively, you could purchase a shorter stem or a handlebar with less reach.
Of course, if you have a bike with an integrated front end, you may need to replace both at the same time, because it’s often not possible to rotate integrated handlebars or change the handlebar independently of the stem.
On a bike with a flat handlebar, adjusting the bar reach can be as simple as rotating the bar as desired, although you’ll likely need to purchase a new stem for larger changes.
If you’re not sure, a professional bike fit is a good way to sense-check any changes before you make them.
