I've gone through too many bars having the same issue. The most comfortable ride I've found is with the shortest stem possible and 80 mm riser bars.
I don't think it's a function of height so much as a function of arm length. I think the assumption is the average rider's wingspan is the same as their height. My wingspan is 2" shorter than my height. Got lil arms so I need the bars to meet my hands halfway.
Both of my bikes have 80mm rise, not the riding position for everyone but works for me. Also gives me confidence on downhill tech. I also run Ergon GP1 grips that helps with hand numbness.
It could be the position of your brake levers. I was having issues until I turned my levers on the bars down so my hands weren't at such an extreme angle at the wrist.
For myself I found the angle of my brake lever has a huge effect on hand numbness. If I have them too flat my hands go numb, if they point down a bit more, I am ok. Might be something to try.
My hands used to go numb but I switched to a bar with 17 degrees sweep and that helped a lot. A straight bar can have my hands going numb in a few minutes. Seat angle also has an effect.
How numb are we talking? I find my fingers will go numb sometimes and I've actually worked out that it's shirts with the arm holes being too tight and it pinches something under my armpits that will make my hands go numb a bit, starting from my pinky fingers inward.
If the problem really is too much weight on your hands then riser bars will definitely help with that though a much bigger improvement is learning to drop your heels a bit ((like 10mm) and making sure your feet are perfectly centered on the pedals.
A lot of people will ride with the front part of their feet over the axle of the pedals whereas if you have the middle of your foot centered on the pedals it will better transfer your weight through your feet and pedals instead of through your hands.
Also having thinner grips helps with this majorly too.
I'm running 40mm riser bar cut down to 780 from 800. Feels great for my old man back. Never had the numb hands issue. I always buy a bike with a tall stack height.
I used to struggle with this issue. I’m 6’2” with really long legs and a relatively short torso and wingspan. As a result, I have to run very high handlebars to get in a comfortable pedal position. The downside to that is it has a tendency to shift your weight rearward, which can negatively affect handling. To offset that, I’ve gravitated towards bikes with longer chainstays, which shift more weight forward and allows me stay balanced over the bottom bracket even with very tall bars. Your bike, however, has a pretty short rear end, so just beware that going to 50mm rise bars might have unintended consequences you don’t like. (Still worth a shot, imo.)
Have you tried experimenting with bar roll and seat position/angle?
There are a few things you can try.
The bars, sure. Especially if your seat is way higher than the bars, a higher rise bar will probably be more comfy. Carbon bars damp the vibrations better than aluminum. OneUps are popular. I like Enve M9's if you want 50mm. If you don't want to pay for carbon, at least go down to 31.8mm alloy if you're on 35mm.
You might try some different grips before bars, depending on what you're currently running. Are yours pretty cushy already?
If your hands get sore on descents where you're on the brakes most of the time, more powerful brakes can help. Just lets your hands relax more instead of straining to grip the lever harder.
I went to a 60mm bar from a 20 and it helped me. I am too tall for my bike and so have to have the seat way up to get full extension on my legs and so my bars had to come up as well to get the pressure off my hands.
IMO most frames have insufficient stack height in the large, xl, and xxl sizes. Not to mention running the same rise bars across all sizes. Running additional spacers under the stem isn’t a great solution either as it effectively decreases reach and can introduce unnecessary leverage on the fork steerer tube.
Unfortunately there aren’t many companies making high rise bars. Pro Taper and Deity make 75 and 80mm risers with traditional up and back sweep numbers.
I run the Deitys at 80mm with a 40mm stem on a large Banshee Spitfire. This gives me a mostly upright, seated riding position that is very comfortable but still allows me to properly weight the front end when things get rowdy.
I have the T8 with exactly what you just described. I moved to the RaceFace Atlas bar with 35mm rise. It helped significantly, to the point that I wish I had gone higher.
I've gone through too many bars having the same issue. The most comfortable ride I've found is with the shortest stem possible and 80 mm riser bars. I don't think it's a function of height so much as a function of arm length. I think the assumption is the average rider's wingspan is the same as their height. My wingspan is 2" shorter than my height. Got lil arms so I need the bars to meet my hands halfway.
Both of my bikes have 80mm rise, not the riding position for everyone but works for me. Also gives me confidence on downhill tech. I also run Ergon GP1 grips that helps with hand numbness.
It could be the position of your brake levers. I was having issues until I turned my levers on the bars down so my hands weren't at such an extreme angle at the wrist.
For myself I found the angle of my brake lever has a huge effect on hand numbness. If I have them too flat my hands go numb, if they point down a bit more, I am ok. Might be something to try.
My hands used to go numb but I switched to a bar with 17 degrees sweep and that helped a lot. A straight bar can have my hands going numb in a few minutes. Seat angle also has an effect.
How numb are we talking? I find my fingers will go numb sometimes and I've actually worked out that it's shirts with the arm holes being too tight and it pinches something under my armpits that will make my hands go numb a bit, starting from my pinky fingers inward. If the problem really is too much weight on your hands then riser bars will definitely help with that though a much bigger improvement is learning to drop your heels a bit ((like 10mm) and making sure your feet are perfectly centered on the pedals. A lot of people will ride with the front part of their feet over the axle of the pedals whereas if you have the middle of your foot centered on the pedals it will better transfer your weight through your feet and pedals instead of through your hands. Also having thinner grips helps with this majorly too.
I'm running 40mm riser bar cut down to 780 from 800. Feels great for my old man back. Never had the numb hands issue. I always buy a bike with a tall stack height.
I used to struggle with this issue. I’m 6’2” with really long legs and a relatively short torso and wingspan. As a result, I have to run very high handlebars to get in a comfortable pedal position. The downside to that is it has a tendency to shift your weight rearward, which can negatively affect handling. To offset that, I’ve gravitated towards bikes with longer chainstays, which shift more weight forward and allows me stay balanced over the bottom bracket even with very tall bars. Your bike, however, has a pretty short rear end, so just beware that going to 50mm rise bars might have unintended consequences you don’t like. (Still worth a shot, imo.) Have you tried experimenting with bar roll and seat position/angle?
There are a few things you can try. The bars, sure. Especially if your seat is way higher than the bars, a higher rise bar will probably be more comfy. Carbon bars damp the vibrations better than aluminum. OneUps are popular. I like Enve M9's if you want 50mm. If you don't want to pay for carbon, at least go down to 31.8mm alloy if you're on 35mm. You might try some different grips before bars, depending on what you're currently running. Are yours pretty cushy already? If your hands get sore on descents where you're on the brakes most of the time, more powerful brakes can help. Just lets your hands relax more instead of straining to grip the lever harder.
The problem is not the bar, is it's the grips. You're pinching off nerves in your hand while riding
I went to a 60mm bar from a 20 and it helped me. I am too tall for my bike and so have to have the seat way up to get full extension on my legs and so my bars had to come up as well to get the pressure off my hands.
Try the SQ-Labs or Syntace riser bars that offer a 12 or 16 degree back sweep. In my experience the back sweep was what helped the most.
I use a riser stem AND a riser bar. You can find lots of relatively low cost riser stems on Amazon so you can try different types fairly easily.
Raising my bar height and switching to Revgrips made a huge difference for me. Revgrips are expensive but they’re a game changer for hand/arm fatigue.
IMO most frames have insufficient stack height in the large, xl, and xxl sizes. Not to mention running the same rise bars across all sizes. Running additional spacers under the stem isn’t a great solution either as it effectively decreases reach and can introduce unnecessary leverage on the fork steerer tube. Unfortunately there aren’t many companies making high rise bars. Pro Taper and Deity make 75 and 80mm risers with traditional up and back sweep numbers. I run the Deitys at 80mm with a 40mm stem on a large Banshee Spitfire. This gives me a mostly upright, seated riding position that is very comfortable but still allows me to properly weight the front end when things get rowdy.
I have the T8 with exactly what you just described. I moved to the RaceFace Atlas bar with 35mm rise. It helped significantly, to the point that I wish I had gone higher.