Mountain Bike Mods

5 years ago this month we bought our Cannondale carbon frame mountain bikes! 

We love them! 

But... my handlebars have always been too wide for me which causes me discomfort on long gravel rides due to my joint hypermobility. 

This week we finally shortened the handlebar (by 5.5 inches) and added ergonomic side handlebar add-on grips!

We did this in two stages to make sure we weren't cutting too much off! 

Day one we took 1.75" of each side that's 3.5" in total!

Visual to give an idea of before and after arm angle:

I have really short arms so that exacerbated the issue with the original 76cm wide handlebar.

Look how tight that angle is at the wrist!

Then on day two I went on a 16km test ride and we took another inch off each side once we got home!

Original bar length 76cm, now 62cm wide!

Long handlebars might help proficient mountain bikers to navigate technical terrain, but that is never my intention, we ride these bikes pretty much like gravel bikes but really love the knobbly tires and sprung front fork for added comfort. 

It wasn't until my late forties I was diagnosed with hEDS and finally understood why comfortable bike fit for me was not the same as it is for a "normal" cyclist. But we've slowly made a ton on modifications to my bikes to minimise my pain when cycling and it truly helps a lot. 

I'm all ready for a couple of challenging rides we have planned in the coming weeks 😍

Thanks Matthew Jeffrey my fabulous bike mechanic ♥️