Flat bars - help!

HamishD

OK – so I’ve got a new winter bike: my missus isn’t riding to work in the cold so I’ve got hers. I’ll stick some full mudguards and spds on, all good. It has hydraulic discs too – nice. The only problem is that it’s a hybrid and as such has these horrid flat bars.... I could live with them if only they weren’t so sodding wide.

What should I do? Do they sell narrower flat handlebars that I can swap out or is it hacksaw time?

lost_in_thought

There are approx. 1 bazillion options for bars... you just need to find out the diameter of the clamp, usually 31.8 or the other one.... I forget what it is... but I think 31.8 is 'oversize'... and then browse t'interweb for bars appropriate to that clamp size.

Don't forget, though, that a swap from flats to drops will likely necessitate new brake levers, unless you're not planning on using the drops/hoods, which would be a bit of a waste of time... Different bar shapes, although funky, often come with their own issues.

roger_merriman

flat barred roadies etc tend to have narrower bars I would expect the wiggles etc of the world to have a selection. plus your local bike shop.

jonnyboy77

Aero bars?

roger_merriman

lost_in_thought wrote:

There are approx. 1 bazillion options for bars... you just need to find out the diameter of the clamp, usually 31.8 or the other one.... I forget what it is... but I think 31.8 is 'oversize'... and then browse t'interweb for bars appropriate to that clamp size.

Don't forget, though, that a swap from flats to drops will likely necessitate new brake levers, unless you're not planning on using the drops/hoods, which would be a bit of a waste of time... Different bar shapes, although funky, often come with their own issues.

his borrowed bike has hydraulic discs getting levers for them that fit drops is hen's teeth. give it a few years it is coming, but not yet.

Jay dubbleU

Take a look at On One - they have use drop bars with discs and do a lot of CX bikes now

bails87

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Take a look at On One - they have use drop bars with discs and do a lot of CX bikes now

Not hydro discs though.

Anyhoo, yep, there are, as LiT said above, loads of ooptions for bars. And you can saw them off anyway.
From over 810mm down to 560mm and I'm sure narrower.

lost_in_thought

roger merriman wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

There are approx. 1 bazillion options for bars... you just need to find out the diameter of the clamp, usually 31.8 or the other one.... I forget what it is... but I think 31.8 is 'oversize'... and then browse t'interweb for bars appropriate to that clamp size.

Don't forget, though, that a swap from flats to drops will likely necessitate new brake levers, unless you're not planning on using the drops/hoods, which would be a bit of a waste of time... Different bar shapes, although funky, often come with their own issues.

his borrowed bike has hydraulic discs getting levers for them that fit drops is hen's teeth. give it a few years it is coming, but not yet.

Very valid point Roger...

The crux of the situation is that if you're looking to radically change the shape of your bars, you may end up in a spot of bother with brake levers. You should have no trouble getting some shorter flat bars, though!

Origamist

Hacksaw - or new flat bars with bar ends, or risers etc.

HamishD

Thanks people - looks like some cheap 560 mm or thereabouts jobbies should do the trick.

veronese68

I see a guy on his trendy single speed with bars so narrow you can't see them. They are narrower than his hands. Presumably he thinks he can get through narrow gaps, shame his lardy aris' won't get through the same gap.

Manc33

I recently put my 650mm straight bars on my road bike and found it to be far too wide. Especially when stood up, the bike feels odd like its not balanced, thats because it isn't, well not as well as with a narrower bar.

Measured my dads old Rockhopper circa 1995 and those bars are 580mm. That seems about right.

When you go from 26" x 1.5" tyres to 700c x 23 on the same handlebars, it feels like you're on super thin wheels and is harder to stay balanced, therefore energy is being wasted IMO, balancing all the time on a bike that is less stable.

3.5cm off each side should do the trick, for me anyway.

Big_Paul

If you're looking to chop the bars, buy a cheap pipe cutter from B&Q, it'll make a nicer job than a hacksaw and you can use it on steerer tubes as well.

jejv

Or, rather than cutting down the bars, use longer grips, or bar tape:

Those are BBB foam grips, sold for butterfly bars. You get 2 40cm lengths and a pair of end plugs.
That way, if you change your mind afterwards, you don't need new bars.