“I’ve Got Arms Like a Crocodile!” - Dakotah Norton Explains His Unique Bar Height

Remember the guy who made the raised reversed stem maybe there’s something to this riding more upright thing.

I remember starting out in mtb back around 2009 and everyone was on a 640mm low rise bar and 180mm xt crankset. Seat angles were super slack. I picked up a mongoose xc dually from my lbs for first bike (canaan). Coming from BMX I went with what was considered an outlandish setup for an xc bike with a 700x40mm bar, 50mm stem and used a 165mm BMX crank with a single chainring. People had no idea what to do when I rocked up at the trails on it. Fast forward to 2024 and wide bars are the status quo with rise coming back, 1x setups are normal and crank arms are shorter. My setup has stayed pretty much the same over 15 years except I'm now on a 760x50mm bar and have 150mm travel. Still on the same crank size and a 1x setup.

Such a cool thing to hear casual discussions the pros are having about their setups, personalization given their body types, and realize that the fears and hangups they have are the same as anyone else's (given the fact that they're light speed fast and 10x capable compared to the rest of us)

I've run 60mm bars for over a year. I'll never ride a bike with lower bars. I love the BMX feeling

Super cool to hear the process and thought. Obviously the setup is working for the dude. Love to see it.

The evolution from Stack Norton to Chopper Norton - I can dig it! 🤘 But seriously, nobody can tell him what works for him and what doesnt. And he got the results to prove it.

It was awesome meeting you at The Rock but even more so at Bakers and seeing how "normal" you are, keep killing it brother!

I run 60mm bars. I'm actually thinking about 80s. I'm a tall guy. I like being more upright, and not all hunched over. Doesn't affect my climbing abilities either.

Love it when I get validation from a pro that my setup is not completely stupid. I have been running 75mm risers on my trail and enduro bikes for a few years, having worked up from the oem 30mm, then 50mm first. I am 195cm tall and found that the increased stack height gives me a more balanced feeling on the bike. With lower rise bars I always felt like I was falling over the front of the bike and struggled to un-weight the hands. Now I am able to transfer all my weight to the front wheel through my feet and keep the hands light where I need to. When you compare my seat height to my handlebar height, the seat is still higher than the bars, and when you compare that to smaller bikes they all have similar set up i.e ratio of rider height to stack height is made more equal when using the higher rise bars. People mistakenly think that the higher bars make climbing more difficult, but i does not. If you think about it, you don't apply weight to the front wheel through your hands when climbing, it's through your seating position. With higher bars, all that changes is that your arms might be a bit closer to your chest, but I find it no more difficult than if I had lower rise bars. An added benefit is that I gain a few mm of reach as I run my bars fairly vertical, and this also benefits the steering feel.

I’ve been saying this for a long time. Long legs and short torso/arms requires tall bars to have the same back angle as average people. I’m all legs and always struggled to get my weight off the front axle. Getting tall bars (40mm) with a long headtube and a bunch of spacers finally got me in a right position.

I ve been running 80mm riser bars on my mtb for the past few years, i have the same problem long legs, normal arms, and a neck ache if i run normal bars, on ya Dak for doing whats right for you❤

Bar height from BB would be a great fitment measurement. RAD fitment really.

I knew this clip would be a clip... Ive been running hi riser bars for years as well 50mm + running 40mm with spacers on a one up ebar now and wish it was 60mm

I love all the in depth discussion about body position, front end loading, geometry, suspension, etc. Bottom line, if Dakota doesn't feel like he's going over the bars, he'll go faster. It seems to work. Maybe he should put a shroud over them so nobody can tell what exactly is going on in there...

I ran Cowan hi rise 2006 to 2010 then Dartmoor hi rise from 2012 to today. 3 inch and 3 and a half inch respectively. Loved the rise but dirt jump bars don't have enough back sweep. Take the steepest chutes with ease probably lose some front end control in the corners but saved my life getting thrown out the front door hundreds of times. I have a high ape index but not much power so the extra leverage for lifting the front is also a bonus. Also better for table tops as the top tube is effectively lower. As far as aesthetics go it's more BMX and less road bike which is a win for me.

back in 2008 the same thing started in bmx. we went from tiny little handlebars to "perfect 10". it will happen in mtb and btw: chris moeller needs to hook up dak with custom s&m handlebars!!!( edit says: i really like the optics btw <3 and i run 50mm rise^^)

Dakotah seems like a cool guy

Been running 60mm rise for years I have tRex arms I used to get hand pain this fixed it for me would not go back actually thinking opf going higher.

We really need to stop perpetuating this myth of high bars reducing front pressure. Pressure distribution should always be handled by your bike's geometry and go through the bottom bracket. That's the exact reason why recent geometry development favors longer chainstays. Longer chainstays put more pressure on the front tire because they place the rider's overall weight, which is pushed through the bottom bracket, further towards the front in relation to overall wheelbase. If your bike has a properly balanced geometry, there should be no need whatsoever to apply more or less pressure through the bars, except for changes in motion of course. But these changes are miniscule on a properly designed bike. So as we get ever closer to the perfect geometry, higher rise bars are a logical conclusion. They allow a rider to remain in control, with less upper body movement and allow the rider to expend a lot less energy. Just take a look at Dakotah's riding and how that bike floats under him in rough sections, while his upper body remains super calm. It's the most natural position for going down a hill in a bicycle. The only thing which held us back from achieving it so far has been flawed geometry. Now,im not saying everyone needs to run 75mm risers, that's obviously on the extreme end for those guys with T-Rex DNA, but maybe consider trying a 40-50mm riser. It made a huge difference for me. Also, what Dakotah is describing about not wanting to contort your neck in order to look ahead and not wanting to ride in front of the bottom bracket is EXACTLY why I made the switch to higher bars. I can't really describe how game changing this is, especially on bikes with very low inherent stack height. It allows for so much freedom of movement in your upper body and arms and takes away so much strain from your neck and upper back muscles it's really insane. So even if we were to lose a miniscule amount of control with the higher bars, the benefits we receive from a body mechanical perspective are more than enough to make up for it and imho outweigh any negatives by a lot.

coolest Bar that i have seen in a while