Bicycle handlebar a steep U-shape from the base, so that the rider's hands rest above waist-level. This style of bicycle handlebar became very popular in the 1960s after the introduction of wheelie bikes such as the Schwinn "Sting-Ray", Raleigh Chopper, and other highly stylized youth bicycles that imitated the appearance of drag-racing or chopper motorcycles of the day. Legislation in the United States introduced during the 1970s limited the maximum height of manufacturer-installed handlebars to 16 inches above the lowest seat setting; European Union safety regulations use a similar limit of 400mm. The apehanger style remained common in the US through the
Ross (bicycle company) biking industry. Its basic look constitutes "a total shift in image" for the industry." By 1989, Nyle Nims, at the time a vice president at Ross Bicycles (and later founder of Cycle Force Group), said 40 percent of bicycle sales were mountain bikes, adding "we see a lot of people who previously owned the dropped bar, 10-speed bike buying the wide-tire bikes, they are people who don't want to ride fast; they want to ride for recreation." Ross (bicycle company) Ross Bicycles Inc. manufactured over 15 million bicycles under the Ross brand, between 1946 and 1988. The company began in