I've been riding 16° on all my bikes and swapping them onto test bikes. I don't notice any negatives at all descending - just a bit of a learning curve to get used to them but I'm way beyond that.
The only bike I was recently happier with the 12° was swapping bars around on the carbon Chameleon and that's because I was testing a medium which already has a fairly short top-tube and reach compared to what I'm used to now.
The 12°is the safe bet since it's much less change from 7-9° but most the riders I know who've taken the plunge have gone straight to 16°. If you know for sure you want more than a standard bar it's the easy choice I think.
July 25, 2019, 6:37 p.m. - Andrew Major
I've been riding 16° on all my bikes and swapping them onto test bikes. I don't notice any negatives at all descending - just a bit of a learning curve to get used to them but I'm way beyond that. The only bike I was recently happier with the 12° was swapping bars around on the carbon Chameleon and that's because I was testing a medium which already has a fairly short top-tube and reach compared to what I'm used to now. The 12°is the safe bet since it's much less change from 7-9° but most the riders I know who've taken the plunge have gone straight to 16°. If you know for sure you want more than a standard bar it's the easy choice I think.