What is it with these wide bars....

toasty

Someone needs to invent sturdy lockon grips that add 2-4cm to each end, so people can try different sizes without commiting or requiring hacksaws Can't see it being hugely lethal, surely they wouldn't add any more force than someone with bar ends.

IT66T

Good idea Toasty but while theirs bigger bars to be had out there then i can't see it catching on as all you need to do is go out and buy some new bars 4-8cm bigger and cut them to suit if need be .

Red.Devil.Ghost

I was in the Harz mountains recently and had to use a certain bike. It had a very narrow bar. The climbs were ok but I didn't enjoy it so much going down, but it did fit between gaps nicely.

My normal bike is a Ghost 5900. TBH, I don't know what width the bars are or the length of the stem, but they are really comfortable and I don't feel any need to change anything. All I have had to do is move the saddle slightly further forward on its rail to make getting off the back a bit easier and now its spot on. It's still as it was built and I love it.

IT66T

Well Red.Devil.Ghost ,

The narrower bars don't suit every one but as you've pointed out they can make certain situations easier and if you've never had to change or alter yours then you've been fortunate in your choice of bike or it could just be the case that you new what you were after when you bought it lol .

YeehaaMcgee

Toasty wrote:

Someone needs to invent sturdy lockon grips that add 2-4cm to each end, so people can try different sizes without commiting or requiring hacksaws Can't see it being hugely lethal, surely they wouldn't add any more force than someone with bar ends.

People can try different (narrower) sizes without using a hacksaw - just move the grips inboard.

.blitz

Toasty wrote:

Someone needs to invent sturdy lockon grips

ODI have their Wingtips but you need their Flight Control bar as well. Have run lock-on grips 10mm outboard in the past just to get an idea of the extra width.

Red.Devil.Ghost

Sorry just to remove any confusion - the narrower bars were on a different bike. Overall I didn't really like it that much. I am much happier with my Ghost.

There may be better options out there, but at the moment the ones I have are comfortable and not causing me any problems so why change them? The only thing I want to change from stock is the tyres.

IT66T

No Confusion Red.Devil ,

I do understand you were on about a different bike regarding the narrower bars but hadn't realised i hadn't metioned it in my post lol .

sandy771

10mm shaved off either end now so down to 760mm - will pop out for a spin this afternoon and see how it feels.

Anonymous

We've got dropper seat posts, we need adjustable bars. Shove in a bit of hydraulics and a button on the end, then you can have those bars adjust to suit the terrain

toasty

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Toasty wrote:

Someone needs to invent sturdy lockon grips that add 2-4cm to each end, so people can try different sizes without commiting or requiring hacksaws Can't see it being hugely lethal, surely they wouldn't add any more force than someone with bar ends.

People can try different (narrower) sizes without using a hacksaw - just move the grips inboard.

My point being that almost all bikes come with 660-685 style bars. The idea of spending £30+, to then have to potentially use a hacksaw to turn your new purchase into exactly what your old purchase was seems stupid. You could swap them between bikes in seconds for a play as well.

I have a few stem lenths kicking around for similar faffing.

chez_m356

styxd wrote:

And I didn't realize that riser bars are a fashion either - they seem to be perfectly functional to me

Of course they're a fashion. If you want to have higher bars, then the obvious engineering solution is to make the bars flat and give the stem some rise.

what an amazing idea, maybe you should contact one of the big names about this, then they could stop making all the ones with silly 5 and 6 degree rises etc, or maybe someone should have a word with god/evolution, whatever your belief, on why they made people different shapes and sizes, what the hell were they thinking

99thmonkey

I cut all mine down to about 640mm but am tempted to goto 600-620 on the 29er

sandy771

Toasty wrote:

[The idea of spending £30+, to then have to potentially use a hacksaw to turn your new purchase into exactly what your old purchase was seems stupid.

OK I'm stupid - except I spent 28 quid to cut a 780mm bar down to 760mm which is not quite exactly what my old purchase was (690mm). After trying the bars at 780mm and then taklng them for a 760mm spin today I may cut them down to 750mm but not sure I would go much shorter - I like 'em.

the phantom pieman

wide bars mean you cant get through narrow gaps (720s)
So I found out the other day

780 is just daft.

Lets see how many people are riding over 680 in three years time ...

bennett_346

the phantom pieman wrote:

wide bars mean you cant get through narrow gaps (720s)
So I found out the other day

780 is just daft.

Lets see how many people are riding over 680 in three years time ...

I will be.

chez_m356

the phantom pieman wrote:

780 is just daft.

are they even wide? try taking a look at superstars yard stick a full 915mm, now those you can call wide

ilovedirt

bennett_346 wrote:

the phantom pieman wrote:

wide bars mean you cant get through narrow gaps (720s)
So I found out the other day

780 is just daft.

Lets see how many people are riding over 680 in three years time ...

I will be.

+1 potato, 680 bars are silly narrow. I've only had a couple of accidents involving clipping trees with my bars since i've been running wide bars (750mm). They could have ended badly, but that's two crashes out of god knows how many I've had over that period (a LOT), and this is riding some silly tight trails. If you can't get your bars round trees, then either the trail is crap and too narrow to begin with, or you need to work on your technique. (this is of course my opinion).

That said, I've only started clipping trees as I've started riding faster... :roll:

toasty

780mm bar down to 760mm which is not quite exactly what my old purchase was (690mm)

Not quite what I meant, 760 is staggeringly different to 690 :P to be honest I bet most riders can tell the difference between a set of 710s and 685s.

sandy771

Toasty wrote:

Not quite what I meant,

Try being clearer then

toasty

use a hacksaw to turn your new purchase into exactly what your old purchase was

780mm bar down to 760mm which is not quite exactly what my old purchase was (690mm)

I thought it was fairly obvious, not even vaguely the same then. :roll:

Red.Devil.Ghost

deadkenny wrote:

We've got dropper seat posts, we need adjustable bars. Shove in a bit of hydraulics and a button on the end, then you can have those bars adjust to suit the terrain

That is actually a genius idea! Make it work and you are on to some money there!

The adjusting needs to be done in the middle to avoid issues with the grips and controls in the wrong place but it could be done.

I expect to see these in production within 12 months now! Get working...

the phantom pieman

chez_m356 wrote:

the phantom pieman wrote:

780 is just daft.

are they even wide? try taking a look at superstars yard stick a full 915mm, now those you can call wide

For FR or XC?

I can understand wide if you hacking down alpine tracks
In the uk, trees seem to be quite common

supersonic

To me choice of bars has nothing to do with gaps you go through - but how the bike handles and feels. Or what suits you ergonomically. I would 99% of people run between 600 and 800mm. I would say 99% of people also have 40-110mm stems, and 99% have 12.5-23 inch frames. Like wheel sizes now, just seems a normal range to me.

YeehaaMcgee

It is strange how much of a range there is in handlebar widths, when people's shoulders don't have such a vast range.

Thewaylander

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

It is strange how much of a range there is in handlebar widths, when people's shoulders don't have such a vast range.

yeh but then i would guess there is a natural set to the shoulders too, so they naturaly sit at slightly different angles which would provide for a larger range of sizes?

Just a thought?

YeehaaMcgee

Thewaylander wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

It is strange how much of a range there is in handlebar widths, when people's shoulders don't have such a vast range.

yeh but then i would guess there is a natural set to the shoulders too, so they naturaly sit at slightly different angles which would provide for a larger range of sizes?

Just a thought?

hmm, you might be right.

Thewaylander

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Thewaylander wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

It is strange how much of a range there is in handlebar widths, when people's shoulders don't have such a vast range.

yeh but then i would guess there is a natural set to the shoulders too, so they naturaly sit at slightly different angles which would provide for a larger range of sizes?

Just a thought?

hmm, you might be right.

Holy shaz, this is gonna be my new signature!!!

sandy771

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

It is strange how much of a range there is in handlebar widths, when people's shoulders don't have such a vast range.

Don't know about the yard stick, but I would say my shoulders are a good 10cm wider than some of my riding buddies who are on bars of about 690mm so my 760's when looked at that way seem quite reasonable.

YeehaaMcgee

sandy771 wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

It is strange how much of a range there is in handlebar widths, when people's shoulders don't have such a vast range.

Don't know about the yard stick, but I would say my shoulders are a good 10cm wider than some of my riding buddies who are on bars of about 690mm so my 760's when looked at that way seem quite reasonable.

10cm? you reckon?
I haven't ever thought of measuring, but I'm seemingly far wider than my best mate, but I doubt there's an actual 10 or 20cm measured difference.