Giant Handlebars too Skinny. Advice Required.

photonic69

Hi. Being fairly new to road cycling and only having my first road bike since April this year I need some advice.

My bike is a Giant Defy 3. Love the bike but feel the bars are too skinny (26mm I believe). I've thought of double wrapping them but now I've bought a Garmin 500 and accessories off the classifieds here, I've found that the Barfly mount won't fit. I've currently got it fastened to the stem with the rubber bands though I really don't like it there.

I'm now looking at new bars, and consequently a new stem to fit. Having never bought road bars before I find it a bit of a minefield due to the drops flaring or not, and the different radius of the drops and other things. I quite like the width of the current bars - 420mm. These don't flare so the drops are 420mm too. Is a bit of flare a good thing? Does it make it more comfortable whilst on the drops? I like a quite relaxed riding position and only ride in local club Sunday outings or the odd solo extended sessions. Any advice in bars and stems greatly received. Budget a consideration and don't need carbon, so something cheap and reasonable would fit the bill.

Guidance most appreciated

Nick.

Salsa

The Deda budget range stuff is really nice for the money..
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-parts/headsets-stems/deda-elementi-zero-2-stem
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-parts/handlebars-ends-grips-tape/deda-elementi-rhm-02-handlebars

trailflow

These may work for your Barfly mount
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=26+to+31.8+shim&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=f_j_VfzTK8X0UJ_QtcgO

Also are you sure they are 26mm ? Is it possible you are not clamping the Barfly mount close enough to the stem ?

All 31.8 road handlebars taper down to 24mm to allow the shifters to be attached.

All the Giant Defy's i've seen use 31.8 bars. Which year is it ?

Or is it possible you have bought a 35mm Barfly mount designed for Deda 35mm bars ?

photonic69

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19707467#p19707467]trailflow[/url] wrote:

These may work for your Barfly mount
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=26+to+31.8+shim&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=f_j_VfzTK8X0UJ_QtcgO

Also are you sure they are 26mm ? Is it possible you are not clamping the Barfly mount close enough to the stem ?

All 31.8 road handlebars taper down to 24mm to allow the shifters to be attached.

All the Giant Defy's i've seen use 31.8 bars. Which year is it ?

Thanks for the reply. This is the bike:

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2013.giant.defy.3.red.black.white/11833/56803/#overview

Very skinny bar. I tried mounting the Barfly right up against the stem mount but its waaay too skinny. Looking at the web spec above it seems to say the stem/bar is 31.8 but I really don't think it is. I'll have to get the bar off and measure with my calipers.

Found these:

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Connect-XR-Drop-Road-Handlebar_74864.htm

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Connect-Stem_74809.htm

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Specialized-S-Works-Roubaix-Bar-Tape_52098.htm

Do you think these might do the trick? I'm not sure about the shapes of the bars and drops though. There seem to be big variations on drop, reach, hook, compact, ergonomic etc etc.

Thanks

Nick

trailflow

i dont see why you would not just buy the shims unless you really want to buy some new bars

Watch out when buying Giant stems as some are 1 1/8th steerer clamp size and some are 1.5 inch. The stem you have linked to doesn't say.

The bars that are on your bike (If same as the picture) are call ergonomic shaped bars and have a straight flat section. Bar shape is very personal thing and only trial and error can tell you what works best for you. They all come in slightly different variations. I didn't like ergonomic bars as they can leave a gap between the palm when you grip the drops. I much prefer compact bars. They seem to be the most popular.

Your current bars look to have quite a long reach measurement so be aware if you buy compact bars that will effect your position on the bike and bring your arms closer to your body. An option is to buy a longer stem to counteract the shorter reach measurement if you want your postion to stay the same.

As a general rule. If you are short in height it may be best to buy the shorter reach/drop option. And longer reach/drop the taller you are.

luv2ride

I'm afraid that it can be a little trial and error. I'd check out eBay for bargains when people start swapping out components such as bars and stems. I managed to get lucky when I bought some FSA Wing Bars for about 18 quid off Chain Reaction Cycles. Their compact drop and slightly flared bar ends work a treat for me, but might not work for you. As I understand it the width between the hoods should equate to your shoulder width (if I've got this wrong others will quickly correct me). My first road bike had "ergo bars", but I changed to compact bars and found the shallower drop and reach suited me much better. Most tend to have a 31.8mm "oversize" centre section to interface with stems, but will narrow down to 24mm where your hands sit (as others have posted). One thing you could try (as well as getting the right spacer for your mount) is to put gel pads under the bar tape. That'll beef them up if you feels their too think to hold comfortably, but won't help with your garmin or light mounts.

fenix

Double wrapping seems the best option - its going to add up otherwise. Bars Stem tape.

I have my garmin on my stem and its fine there. You're only meant to glance at it occasionally anyway.

dj58

The bars on your bike should have a dia. of 31.8 at the stem clamp as says in the spec. unless the spec. is wrong and it is as you say 26mm dia.

If you don not like the shape or width/diameter of those bars I suggest you look at the current range of Giant handlebars e.g.
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/gear/product/2015.giant.connect.xr.drop.handlebar/572/62016/

You don't need to replace the stem to fit those, however this will match the above bars.
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en- gb/gear/product/2015.giant.connect.stem.1.1.8.only.not.od2.compatible/584/62022/

photonic69

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19707605#p19707605]Fenix[/url] wrote:

Double wrapping seems the best option - its going to add up otherwise. Bars Stem tape.

I have my garmin on my stem and its fine there. You're only meant to glance at it occasionally anyway.

Yup, I think that's the way forward at the moment. Double wrap the bars and use the shims for the barfly.

I had a look and measure this evening. Definitely a 26mm straight through bar! Seems to be a 1 1/8" steerer (28.5mm or there about) which seems against all specs I've seen for that bike. Odd.

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19707605#p19707605]Fenix[/url] wrote:

I have my garmin on my stem and its fine there. You're only meant to glance at it occasionally anyway.

...unless your name is Froome

dj58

The steerer tube will be 1 1/8" (28.6mm) and correspondingly the stem attachment clamp. I think that on the 2013 model Defy bikes 3, 4 and 5, the Giant sport stems and bars were 26mm dia. were as the 2, 1 and 0 had Giant connect 31.8 stems and bars. See the specs. for the Defy 4 below, I think that is a typo error on the Defy 3 specs. page you linked to.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2013.giant.defy.4.triple/11833/57501/#specifications