How Wide Are Your Bars?

Pufftmw

How wide are they and how wide should they be?

My old Gary Fisher has reasonably narrow bars which I find absolutely OK but both the Orange and Scott appear to have really wide ones which I find a bit unwieldy,

What is the reason that they are (now?) so wide and what should be the ideal size? Is it down to individual preference or should they be a particular width to suit your body?

The other problem I have is the gaps between trees in Thetford Forest...

paul.skibum

I think mine are 660 (uncut RF Evolves and Easton EA50's) and they suit me - I coul dgo wider but wouldn't go narrower. My mates wife rides a flat narrow bar and it feels horrific (to her as well!) and another friend has an older rockhopper which is horribly narrow in the bars.

cat_with_no_tail

Well, I have just (as in last night) fitted some Faceface Next SL flat bars to replace my old Easton EA50 Monkey Bars.

The RF bars are 560mm, the EA50s were 685mm.

I take in some really tight singletrack on my bike and I am hoping that the narrower bars will give me more of a margin without hooking a tree and killing myself to death.

Only done a couple of miles on them this morning but they dont feel too bad, just trying to adjust to the different position on the bike.

dave_hill

If your bars are narrow, you don't have as much leverage for steering. At high speed this isn't such a problem, although any input you do make will be horribly exaggerated and may leed to a speed wobble. But it means that you need to make a fairly big input on short bars to make a direction change.

If you go for wide bars, you don't need as much input to make steering adjustments.

I swapped my old 660mm bars on my Giant for a pair of 710mm Sunline V2s and what a difference it made! The low-speed steering is now much more predicatable and the bike has less of a tendency to over-steer. This coupled with a much shorter stem (70mm now as opposed to the old 110mm stem) has made a huge difference.

blister pus

700 on a 60 stem but I could live with 685 just to take that squeezing through a gap feeling out of the equation.

bomberesque

665 on the Evil
the SS has narrower ones, 650 I think (coz I forgot to check before clicking "buy" :oops: ) but I've got used to them

680 is nicer for me chest-wise but I find it a bit broad for threading through trees so 650 - 665 seems to work well for me well enough

paul.skibum

dave_hill wrote:

If your bars are narrow, you don't have as much leverage for steering. At high speed this isn't such a problem, although any input you do make will be horribly exaggerated and may leed to a speed wobble. But it means that you need to make a fairly big input on short bars to make a direction change.

If you go for wide bars, you don't need as much input to make steering adjustments.

I swapped my old 660mm bars on my Giant for a pair of 710mm Sunline V2s and what a difference it made! The low-speed steering is now much more predicatable and the bike has less of a tendency to over-steer. This coupled with a much shorter stem (70mm now as opposed to the old 110mm stem) has made a huge difference.

I hate to disagree Dave but that's just wrong - basic principal of levers means if your bars are longer your hand has to move further to make the same difference to the steering angle thus wider bars make for a more stable, less twitchy ride than narrow.

Think about it - if nothing but the bar changes then to turn right you have to push your left hand further forward to get the same angle of steerage.

Your shorter stem/wider bars combo has the effect of one cancelling or compensating for the other giving you a moderate effect. Shorter stem will sharpen handling, wider bars soften.

paul.skibum

PS - that's my understanding anyway - I am willing to be proved wrong!

cat_with_no_tail

paul.skibum, glad it's not just me who thinks this way. Part of my reasoning behind getting the narrower bars was the idea of sharpening up the handling a little.

nicklouse

it depends on which bike i am riding.

they vary.

robertpb

My NS bars are 690mm with a 40mm stem, that and I'm only 5'5".

Wider bars help keep the old lungs working a bit easier.

Also twitching in the arms doesn't have such a big effect on the steering.

And Dave_Hill your post has me confused, ie law of levers and bike over steer, I always thought it was the rider that over steered not the bike.

supersonic

620mm on the Zaskar team.

BlurRider

picked up spike 777 bars,but cut down to 27in,

grumsta

710 here - think wider bars do slow down the steering, but not in a bad way.

Kiblams

640 on my Easton EA50s, much thinner on my commuter.

Airienteer

680 on my Commencal. Any wider and they feel unwieldy and my arms tire quicker. Any narrower and it becomes too twitchy.

reluctant

685mm here on an xc hardtail. Recently changed from a 630 and the bike rides faster! It really does! More leverage = quicker turning response, and..........the longer bar exerts more downward force when banked over, increasing front wheel traction. Brilliant! It's at about the limit for my physique and riding style though.

nik young

660mm ritchey carbon feel spot on to me wouldnt want to go any less

fastandfuriousxc

680 PZ racing on a 70mm Easton Stem

ads4

Changed my 680mm racelite Bontragers for some 660mm FSA K Force Carbon bars, work great with the new 70mm stem

beastinla

760mm nickle elment flat bars.with a funn direct mount stem.feel amazing

77ric

How wide are my bras?

38DD


oh

How wide are my bars?

sorry misread that there :oops:



erm 680mm on the stock commie bars, i was going to change em for some raceface atlas bars (700mm version) when i got the commie but actually quite like the feel and don't miss the extra 20mm at all.

Mr Rowlie

560mm Exotic Scandium Flat bar.

supersonic

Mr Rowlie wrote:

560mm Exotic Scandium Flat bar.

How you finding it? I have the 620mm low riser.

rudedog

mine are 685mm

Mr Rowlie

Very nice. I think the 580 would suit better but they are much better than the stock riser i had on before. Really surprised on the weight of them too. Can't beat them for the price!
Running bar ends on them currently with supporting plugs, which i would not recommend, as they are very thin.

Also using the 80mm exotic stem, another quality piece of kit.

supersonic

I am using that stem too lol. So well made, and ten quid! Why buy Thomson?!

Sir HC

685mm on the Reign, although I have some 740mm sunline V1's to try at some point, they look ridiculous tbh.

660mm on the Inbred

swampi101

680mm with a 40mm stem for me

supersonic

Did you know a longer stem actually gives you more leverage, not less?

coxy17

711 the new sunline v2 i have just brought