Wider bars More Stabillity?

Gazzaputt

I have 42cm on my new road bike but I just don't feel stable enough cornering etc. This may stem from not riding a road bike for a few years but using wide bars (660mm) on my MTB.

I'm thinking a a 44cm will give me more leverage and feel stable.

Any advice gratefully received.

Bugly

road bike tend to be less stable then mtb. to do with frame geometry. The bke stands more upright with less rake to the fork and less trail on the front wheel. Racing bikes (xcept for TT bikes) are an extreme of this. The bike is designed to corner and change direction quickly, to be very resposnive to your centre of mass and respond to changes.

Accepted handlebar dimensions (going back to old roady rules) you select handlebars that are the same width as your shoulders. The reason is that you try to minimise the frontal area exposed to the wind. Wide bars cause your frontal area to increase therefore increasing drag. TT bkes and triathlon bike have ars that bring the arms in to further reduce your frontal area (but TT bikes traditionally steer like trucks).

At above walking pace its all about lean really not leverage.

YMMV

Bugly

heavymental

You'll probably just get used to the bike and how it handles. Agree with Bugly that its all about the lean but guess it may feel more familiar/comfortable with wider bars given what you're used to. See how it goes for now though. I really like narrow bars, wide bars feel like riding a cow in comparison! I'm small framed though so it suits me.

ricadus

It depends how broad your shoulders are. Personally a 44 feel too wide for race riding – I feel like I am catching too much air also that I can't pull as hard on the bars on a steep (like 15-20%) climb – but they might be more comfortable for me on a touring-only type bike.