Zero degree bars vs others

[catfish4767]

I see a lot of guys running straight bars or zero degree bars instead of slightly bent bars. Personally 0 degree bars kill my back and a 4 or 7 degree bar has been more comfortable with my 550 and SN. I recently purchased a RRP setup and it has 0 degree bars. I'm sure most will say keep them and ride with them but is there a reason? Does it give you more leverage when trying to toss the ski around? I'm in the process of building a bob gen 2 now and that's what this steering setup will go on. Thanks for the input

 

[yamanube]

100% personal preference.

 

[SmittySX]

^^^exactly. It's all opinion. I CAN NOT stand the 7* bars or whatever comes in the 550s.
straight bars over errythang!!!

 

[catfish4767]

^^^exactly. It's all opinion. I CAN NOT stand the 7* bars or whatever comes in the 550s.
straight bars over errythang!!!

The ones that comes with the 550 are bogus and way too tight for me. I swapped those out for 7* bars in no time.

 

[mthomps]

I love strait bars. They hurt me at first but in reality they keep your forward and widen your leverage. Riding an sold sn with stock bars vs strait is night and day to me.

Strait bars is for agressive riding! The wider the bar the more forward your stance becomes!

 

[tor*p*do]

depends on your boat, pole length, stance, body size, etc.
I like the 0 deg bars
YMMV

 

[user_error]

i like 0* on a superjet but i prefer 4* on an sxr. it all comes down to whats the most comfortable for YOU

 

[FlightPlanDan]

As above... personal preference.
But for the sake of discussion my .02...
0 degree or straight bars can have the same performance/handling benefits as a shorter pole by allowing you to get your weight a bit further forward. Especially when combined with a shorter turn plate/steering. I believe that most riders would not go back to any angle after truly getting used to straight or zero.
Zero degree seem like a "left-over" from older style steering systems with 2 clamps.
Not all, but most AM steering seems to be moving in the single clamp direction.


Riser bars are the other option. Lots of riders love them.
I love my straight bars with cold fusion steering. The riser bars don't work for me. Again just my preference.

 

[catfish4767]

I think I'm going to stick with how the RRP system is set up now and see if the straight bars are something I can get used too. I keep getting antsy and wanting to change things when I'm reality I just need the lake to thaw and just ride the ski

 

[surfjunkie]

Fwiw I developed tennis elbow in my throttle arm real bad several years ago and it still really messes me up. An old school rider asked if I used zero degrees bars which I do and he says that's the culprit. Don't know if that's true but had I heard that when it started coming on I'd have switched just to see.

It's almost impossible to get rid of unless you just quit riding which I haven't been willing to do. I ride with 4 degree now.

 

[Yami-Rider]

Im not a big fan of straight bars, I prefer 4 degree.

 

[Pro-pulsion]

Fwiw I developed tennis elbow in my throttle arm real bad several years ago and it still really messes me up. An old school rider asked if I used zero degrees bars which I do and he says that's the culprit. Don't know if that's true but had I heard that when it started coming on I'd have switched just to see.

It's almost impossible to get rid of unless you just quit riding which I haven't been willing to do. I ride with 4 degree now.

I believe there is some merit to that analysis. I have had tennis elbow as well, it does go away but you do need to be a lot less aggressive with your riding style. I would say for recovery and still getting out on the water, just go out to play and have fun, don't push yourself. You will find that going for mini cruises is quite relaxing and good fun in it's own way. I had zero degree bars on my set-up and switched out to 4 degree. I found that the zeros were aggrivating the carpal area of the wrist and also the ligaments connecting the outer palm/little finger to the wrist. About half way through last season, I was in such severe pain mainly on the top of the left hand, but also all over the rest due to a torn ligament that I ended up selling parts thinking this was the end of my riding. I was basically one decision away from going under the knife and potentially never having proper function of that hand again. I went through every test they could throw at me, finally the last one was the dye test under the CT scan. They said normally the dye should only exit the torn tendon or ligament, but my entire hand was full of dye. They didn't want to operate not knowing exactly what else was damaged. I'm still not totally out of the woods with this yet and it has been since June of last year, but the 4 degree bars really helped ease the stress and pain from that slight change of angle on the ligaments.

 

[Vumad]

Been dealing with a back problem. My bars are not to blame, but I will consider 4* bars if I stay on stand ups.

No motorcycle has straight bars, they all have a rake, so not sure why 0* bars seem to make sense. Maybe because as the pole is moved to the higher positions, the rake becomes a problem?

 

[yamanube]

Hold your hands up by your waste at an imaginary 0 degrees then at an imaginary 7 or so degrees, now do the same with your arms outstretched in front of you. A lot of times when riding a standup, the bars are much closer to your waste than they would be on a motorcycle.

 

[mthomps]

If your elbows hurt cock your arms out so far it looks like youre doing the chicken dance.

If your back hurts your legs are probably stressed at the twisting joints. Prob back foot pointed directly forward or standong strait up and down with an agressive forward bend.

Take this with a grain of salt. Im just really in to body mechanics

 

[Pro-pulsion]

I'm not sure what the big fad is with zeros, everyone will have their likes and dislikes but for me, from an ergonomic consideration if the zero degree bars forces you to lean further forward it also puts more stress on the lower back. As you lean further forward, you increase the weight strain on the lower back by the weight of your head alone, by something like 3x...maybe more. Add in a helmet full of water in the padding, might was well say a minimum of 6x. I have a blown out disc in my lower back too and haven't had any issues with it on the ski. I have found that when my back bothers me I go for a good wave session and always come back feeling much better. I still have not quite figured out why the 4 degree bars feel so much better on my wrists. When you think about it, the wrists are in a straight forward position, the 4 degree bars slant them back slightly and angle the hands outward a touch. Logically that should irritate the outer ligaments but it helped mine by a huge factor.

 

[mthomps]

The forward weight from the strait bar keeps your pump in check. The pain is from forcing joints to take the grunt of the force that your hams and quads should be taking

This means having a lose pole which is another can of worms..no offense tight pole friends, but your boats hurt my back!

 

[surfjunkie]

If your elbows hurt cock your arms out so far it looks like youre doing the chicken dance.

If your back hurts your legs are probably stressed at the twisting joints. Prob back foot pointed directly forward or standong strait up and down with an agressive forward bend.

Take this with a grain of salt. Im just really in to body mechanics

with me, tennis elbow is just what they call it but it is actually my forearm that is constantly sore and losing strength. its hard for me to pick up the pillows when making the bed. i have pain and very little strength when gripping things.

pro-pulsion i also dont understand the fascination with shortened everything. poles, turnplates all hurt my back. i ride as far back in the tray and put as much weight on my back leg to keep my pump hooked when carving the face. if im too far forward, the back end just slides around.

i must be weird cause i like almost everything opposite of the masses. tightened poles are the worst! imho

 

[mthomps]

What forearm? The back or front foot's

 

[Pro-pulsion]

I love the stock length pole, I have a shortened pole and it's ok, but eventually I will be looking for a stock length replacement. I found it to be the best feel and control for me too. I know exactly what you are talking about with the tennis elbow. The loss of grip though sounds much more like the condition I am going through. Tennis elbow is usually isolated to the tendons right at the elbow joint, the loss of grip and arm strength is very similar to what I am going through. I had pain all up my arm, in the carpal tunnel area, and all around the hand. The most severe pain they couldn't isolate, but they did find the torn ligament which was the pain going up my forearm and partially messing with my grip. It was also restricting my range of movement at the wrist...shut it you guys lol. The worst pain though which has yet to be identified is the overwhelming stabbing feeling in the top of my hand. If I try to clamp onto Visegrips, I feel something snap on the top side of my hand and boom, severe pain that will almost bring me to my knees. You may have issues in your hand rather than the forearm. Tennis elbow has never caused my forearms to become exhausted like you are describing, but this current deal has.