What is the advantage/reasons for oversize bars/stems??

daniel_b

Guys,

contemplating changing my bars and stem combination, both at the mo oversized, ie 31.8mm.

My confusion stems (pardon the pun) from the fact that it is only the clamp section, I believe, that is oversized at 31.8mm, and the rest of the car is 26mm.

So can someone tell me why I should buy this and this:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 0Handlebar
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... ize%20Stem

As opposed to this and this:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 0Handlebar
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... oad%20Stem

The latter stem is cheaper, and also seems to be available in a bigger range of sizes.

is it purely a strength issue?

I see the oversize ones seem to have four bolts, where as the standard ones make do with 2.

And whilst I am on the subject, is 42cm a 'usual' width of bar for a roadbike?
Is 40 likely to feel a bit too twitchy?

I look forward to your inciteful and informative replies

Dan

maddog 2

stiffness, and to a lesser extent strength

standard bars rarely snap so strength is a minor consideration, but OS bars are stiffer, which people like generally and it means a more direct feel when honking/sprinting. Comfort might not be as good though.

The bulge is in the centre of the bars as that's where the greatest leverage is. And obviously the bar would be too fat if it was all OS.

daniel_b

maddog 2 wrote:

stiffness, and to a lesser extent strength

standard bars rarely snap so strength is a minor consideration, but OS bars are stiffer, which people like generally and it means a more direct feel when honking/sprinting. Comfort might not be as good though.

The bulge is in the centre of the bars as that's where the greatest leverage is. And obviously the bar would be too fat if it was all OS.

That makes sense - mystery explained - thankyou maddog!

Dan

smoo

Handlebars should be about the same width as your shoulder joints.

The narrower stem will come in a bigger range of sizes as it will be sold to all sorts of people for all sorts of bikes, not just road bikes. But you don't really want a stem shorter than 90mm on a road bike anyway.

daniel_b

Thanks Smoo, i found some interesting articles online.

Will get my shoulders measured tonight, but I'm pretty narrow, so I think 40 or 42 wil be the way to go - the average is 42 apparently, so I expect the 45/47's on my Felt were specced for the original buyer.

Dan

nicklouse

smoo wrote:

Handlebars should be about the same width as your shoulder joints.

The narrower stem will come in a bigger range of sizes as it will be sold to all sorts of people for all sorts of bikes, not just road bikes. But you don't really want a stem shorter than 90mm on a road bike anyway.

same with the oversize.

personally i think it is all fashion.

cougie

I cant honestly say that any of my bars have felt less than sturdy even out of the saddle.
I think OS main idea is to sell new kit.

If you ever want to fit tri bars or whatever - make sure you know which diameter you have.

campagsarge

Good for marketing, sells more units. Bet they don't eat Yorkshire Puds in Sweden.

I am not an engineer but I would guess a four bolt facing plate is more secure than a two bolt one.

nicklouse

campagsarge wrote:

Good for marketing, sells more units. Bet they don't eat Yorkshire Puds in Sweden.

I am not an engineer but I would guess a four bolt facing plate is more secure than a two bolt one.

They have something similar

MICHAELCYCLES

Standard size is gradually being phased out, in 5 years or so 31.8 will be known as standard size.

aracer

Sean Kelly used to get on fine in the sprints and Big Mig up the hills when they only had normal size available to them. I do wonder how much stronger than them are all the people who need oversize to get sufficient stiffness.

cougie

But surely a £30 alloy bar is only going to be 1/7th the strength of a £200 carbon fibre handlebar ? ;-)

dennisn

campagsarge wrote:

Good for marketing, sells more units. Bet they don't eat Yorkshire Puds in Sweden.

I am not an engineer but I would guess a four bolt facing plate is more secure than a two bolt one.

If one bolt of a two bolt face plate fails you're shit outa luck and aren't going anywhere.
If one fails on a four bolt plate you can at still, carefully, ride home.

Dennis Noward

Toledo, Ohio

aracer

Strangely enough, most of the really light stems have 4 bolts on the front (Extralite, Syntace and Ritchey certainly do). I guess it means they can donwsize the individual bolt size and helps spread the load so they can make other bits lighter. Not that that necessarily applies to the stem you're looking at, nor should it be a reason for choosing one size over the other.

Standard size is gradually being phased out, in 5 years or so 31.8 will be known as standard size.

If that's the case I'd better stock up now.