Wider Bars Buying Help

OllyGunn

Hey, I currently have 680mm bars on my hard-tail and would like to upgrade to wider bars as i feel like i would much prefer them. The problem i am having however is how wide should i go? I know it's all down to preference and ride style but i thought i'd get the opinion of others. I am a fairly aggresive rider whenever going on level ground or downhill. I ride more steady when going up hill however.

I am 14st 2 and at a height of 6ft 2, 18 years of age and i ride trials such as Dalby but also like urban type riding like jumps and tricks at a local marina. Some of this includes a little bit of downhill and a large amount of stairs xD.

I have seen these bars as they are fairly cheap and are on offer. http://www.wiggle.co.uk/easton-havoc-dh ... handlebar/. I know at a width of 750mm i would need a shorter stem (I'm running a 90mm at the moment) so any help with the stem would also be a great help.

Thanks very much.

supersonic

Get 780/800 and if they are too wide, cut them down. Can't add to them!

OllyGunn

Ok thanks, I will browse some websites. Would you recommend lo or mid?

supersonic

Not one anyone can recommend, is purely personal preference on how high you like the bars.

.blitz

Would recommend a bit of caution if going wide and cutting down. Shortening a wide bar means you are effectively holding it closer to the middle, altering the geometry and in some cases removing some of the butting. Little things but they make a difference and i've ruined three wide bars in this way by cutting them down.

FWIW I'm the same height as you and have settled on 750-760 mm

ginjadave

Havocs are great bars, i have some on my stumpy evo and evrything about them feels spot on. Ive had quite a few bars over the past couple of years ranging from 720 to 760mm, It depends what you ride but ive come to find 750mm to be perfect for me at 5'9 with fairly broad shoulders riding pretty knarly stuff (Scotland, wales, forest of dean uplifts, alps etc). In any scenario youll never go back to 680 once you try a wider bar.

Rise depends on how you feel on the bike, if your currently too high buy a lower bar and vice versa, i like a lower bar as it gives you more weight over the front wheel to rail corners, downside is its not as confidence inspiring as a higher bar when it gets really steep and Knarly.

Id go 750mm bar 70MM flat stem if i were you but thats just going off me, its all down to how your built really, took me ages to find my sweet spot. Ive got some 720 bars in the garage that came on my stumpy Evo, ive never used them and never will, you can have them for the price of the postage if you want to see what a wider bar feels like.