Shortening bars

WierdBeard

I recently changed my 120mm stem and 620mm bars to a 85mm stem and 711mm bars. Handling has improved greatly and my cornering has improved dramaticly. I cant decide whether my bars are too wide or not and was wondering what method was used to cut them down. I am not gonna hurry into the decision of cutting them down just yet as i understand there will be no turning back. More a curiosity question really.

Thought id better mention they do have marks for shortening them so no measuring reqiured.

Andy!

carbon or aluminium?

If you have an old lock on grip ring you could use it as a hack saw guide.

konadawg

711 is not wide, then again depends on the type of bike you have and hence the type of riding you do. Considered quite an all-round width nowadays for anything other than pure XC. Allow time to get used to the width however before you do anything, wider bars tend to make the steering feel slower, but the bonus is that you have more leverage over the direction of the front wheel so rocks and stuff won't result so much in the bike equivalent of steering kickback.

If you decide to cut you have two common options - a hacksaw or a pipe cutter. The first requires you to tape a guide so you cut straight, (or as recommended above) and a bit of attention, but if you don't get it quite perfect it's not critical anyway. The second option will generally result in a straight cut without fiddling, but will tend to flare the cut so you will spend a couple of minutes with a file smoothing down the flare.

I tend to go for option 2 - the pipe cutter - simply because it's a lot easier to cut with the bars in place, it's somewhat fiddly with a hacksaw unless the bars are in a vice.

The Rookie

Before you cut, move the controls and grips in and be sure you are happy, if you are, then cut, if you aren't, worst case you have some light scratching on them!

Simon

Anonymous

If you do decide to cut them down, then I find a goor hard bite with your teeth works well.

WierdBeard

Thanks guys. Pretty much how i thought it was done just needed clarification. I ride bit of everything really. Not gonna be hasty and go straight in and shorten them. A fellow rider has some 685mm bars which im gonna borrow for a bit and test. Definatly prefer wider ones, seem to have alot more control over the front of the bike and go alot faster.