I
ride this hardtail, the handlebar is "Ritchey COMP Rizer 20mm * 620w * 6° Alloy DIA:31.8Aluminum 6061 T6", which I assume means 20mm of rise, 620mm of width, and 6deg of backsweep.
I find that after 5 miles or so, I get numb hands a lot, and that I always have all the pressure of the bar on the outsides of my palms (not the thumb-side).
Thus I feel like I need less backsweep; if the bars were swept forward-to-flat instead of the 6deg back they are, then it would align better with the way my palms meet the bar.
OR, do I need (or would I be able to get equivalent relief) with a wider bar? If my arms rotated out to the ends of a wider bar, then maybe my palms would naturally align with the bar at a 6deg sweep.
In this old thread at mtbr, everybody seems to agree that most people 'need' more than 6deg of sweep, and indeed the OP has the opposite problem from me (pressure on the thumb-side)
I have pretty wide shoulders though, so it makes sense to me that, compared to most bikers (smaller buys with bird-skeletons) my arms are reaching the bars more straight ahead, and not as much splayed out from a central point.
Looking at cheap options to try off of eBay, it seemed that 620-700 was kind of the range that was available, but then I saw that Niner specs most of its bikes with a monstrously wide 780!
Any thoughts what I should try?
(I want to experiment with putting a broomhandle through my stem and riding around a parking lot, see how it would feel to have a truly flat bar)