New handlebars width, shape. Carbon or alloy?

MattFalle

Oh - Prime Doyenne or Primavera - very recommended.

pilot_pete

You have received plenty of advice, NONE of which is recommending a reduction in handlebar width. That will NOT be the source of your aches and pains, almost guaranteed.

Your weight distribution is wrong. It’s either saddle position forcing too much weight forwards, bar reach (combination of stem length and bar reach) wrong, saddle to bar drop too great and/or bar/hood rotation making you c.ock your wrists, or a combination of all of them.

You are experiencing shoulder/ neck pain. It is highly unlikely that bar width is to blame for that. Sit at your kitchen table with a tape measure and put your arms out like you are holding your handlebars. Feel the difference between 44cm and 38cm positions of your hands. It’s minimal in terms of shoulder joint rotation.

Now lean forward like you are on the bike and move your hands closer/ further away from you as if you are using different stem lengths. Feel how much difference there is not only in your shoulder rotation, but in your neck, traps and rhomboids? That’s just sat at the kitchen table. Now imagine the differences if you are holding some of your weight up on your hands. Imagine the difference doing that with your hands closer to you, then further away. Again, moving your hands closer or further apart will make virtually no difference.

A number of us have offered to look at your position if you post pictures on here but you haven’t, you are continuing with this red herring bar width questioning. Now you are asking about bike fit value for money.

You can pay a fortune for an all singing and dancing bike fit using laser dots and a computer. None of it is necessary. You can pay the bare minimum, but if the fitter has a clue about what they are doing then his/ her fit will be just as good.

I’ve done loads of basic bike fits for friends, fellow club members etc. I’m no bike fitting guru and certainly no expert with injury specific adjustments etc, but the basics are just that - simple adjustments to get your weight distributed correctly and bars/ levers/ hoods adjusted so your wrists are straight where you hold hoods/ drops and lever reach so it all comes naturally and you are not straining. Most are amazed at the difference in feel and ride comfort. So far I have not told anyone they need to get narrower bars and none of them have. You can get perfectly comfortable whatever the bar width is - changing the bars for narrower is a tweak for steering/ aero/ aesthetic reasons, rarely ever for solving neck pain.

I could tell you more adjustments you should make by looking at some side on pictures of you on the bike that will go a darn sight further in relieving your neck pain than you will achieve by randomly buying components.

If you are willing to spend what, £50-£100 on a pair of handlebars, plus the labour charge of a bike shop fitting them, then you would be better off spending that money on a bike fit, which will almost be the cost of a cheap one.

And as for riding 5hrs on your second ride of the year -
1. You aren’t riding enough if you have only done two rides since Jan 1st. There is no way you are going to be comfortable.
2. It is no surprise that a 5hr ride has you suffering afterwards with so little basic ‘bike fitness’.

And I have done quite a bit of riding this year, on perfectly fitted bikes. I’ve been building towards my summer fitness but have aches from my biggest ride of the year thus far -150 solo miles on Monday. Riding for a long time tires muscles and I have tweaked something in my neck which is referring pain down into my left shoulder blade. I’m going to spend £40 with the chiropractor rather than buy narrower bars though....

rick_chasey

denispearl said:

rick_chasey said:

If it makes you feel better, back in 2014 I was on the hunt for 36cm bars and I really struggled to find any that weren't track bars or uber cheap super heavy bars meant for single speed run arounds.

To the point where I gave up and am still on my 38cms.

Thanks. Would you recommend to. Go for 38 down from 42

Well I'm pretty small at 170cm so I wanted the smallest available - at the time that wasn't that narrow.

World has moved on and you see pros on 34s or even smaller.

I have narrower, I think 36s on my single speed, which I have roughly 20,000km on.

If I'm honest, one isn't really more comfortable than another. It's mainly psychological - I feel faster on the narrower bars, but I doubt I am.

denispearl

pilot_pete said:

You have received plenty of advice, NONE of which is recommending a reduction in handlebar width. That will NOT be the source of your aches and pains, almost guaranteed.

Your weight distribution is wrong. It’s either saddle position forcing too much weight forwards, bar reach (combination of stem length and bar reach) wrong, saddle to bar drop too great and/or bar/hood rotation making you c.ock your wrists, or a combination of all of them.

You are experiencing shoulder/ neck pain. It is highly unlikely that bar width is to blame for that. Sit at your kitchen table with a tape measure and put your arms out like you are holding your handlebars. Feel the difference between 44cm and 38cm positions of your hands. It’s minimal in terms of shoulder joint rotation.

Now lean forward like you are on the bike and move your hands closer/ further away from you as if you are using different stem lengths. Feel how much difference there is not only in your shoulder rotation, but in your neck, traps and rhomboids? That’s just sat at the kitchen table. Now imagine the differences if you are holding some of your weight up on your hands. Imagine the difference doing that with your hands closer to you, then further away. Again, moving your hands closer or further apart will make virtually no difference.

A number of us have offered to look at your position if you post pictures on here but you haven’t, you are continuing with this red herring bar width questioning. Now you are asking about bike fit value for money.

You can pay a fortune for an all singing and dancing bike fit using laser dots and a computer. None of it is necessary. You can pay the bare minimum, but if the fitter has a clue about what they are doing then his/ her fit will be just as good.

I’ve done loads of basic bike fits for friends, fellow club members etc. I’m no bike fitting guru and certainly no expert with injury specific adjustments etc, but the basics are just that - simple adjustments to get your weight distributed correctly and bars/ levers/ hoods adjusted so your wrists are straight where you hold hoods/ drops and lever reach so it all comes naturally and you are not straining. Most are amazed at the difference in feel and ride comfort. So far I have not told anyone they need to get narrower bars and none of them have. You can get perfectly comfortable whatever the bar width is - changing the bars for narrower is a tweak for steering/ aero/ aesthetic reasons, rarely ever for solving neck pain.

I could tell you more adjustments you should make by looking at some side on pictures of you on the bike that will go a darn sight further in relieving your neck pain than you will achieve by randomly buying components.

If you are willing to spend what, £50-£100 on a pair of handlebars, plus the labour charge of a bike shop fitting them, then you would be better off spending that money on a bike fit, which will almost be the cost of a cheap one.

And as for riding 5hrs on your second ride of the year -
1. You aren’t riding enough if you have only done two rides since Jan 1st. There is no way you are going to be comfortable.
2. It is no surprise that a 5hr ride has you suffering afterwards with so little basic ‘bike fitness’.

And I have done quite a bit of riding this year, on perfectly fitted bikes. I’ve been building towards my summer fitness but have aches from my biggest ride of the year thus far -150 solo miles on Monday. Riding for a long time tires muscles and I have tweaked something in my neck which is referring pain down into my left shoulder blade. I’m going to spend £40 with the chiropractor rather than buy narrower bars though....

Thanks. That's a solid comment

daniel_b

When i started proper road riding back in 2007, I ended up buying a bike that was slightly too big for me.

It was a 56, with a 560 top tube, had 44cm c2c bars, and a 110mm stem.

Queue regular discomfort - way too stretched, so much weight on the handlebars, not a good experience.

I have gone to narrower bars, usually 40s or 42s, I do have narrow shoulders, and they definitely suit me better.

The initial way I made the bike fit me better, and it was a revelation when I did, was to fit a 60mm inverted stem, instant large reduction in reach & drop, and the ride was transformed.
I also fitted an inline seatpost - I know that's not necessarily a solution, but in that situation it helped.

Over the years I have bludgeoned myself on the turbo though, and now ride that bike with a non inverted 90mm stem and a set back seatpost, so my flexibility has improved a lot, as well as time in the saddle helping of course.

My sweetspot for a road bike is pretty well cemented now, it's a 54cm frame, with a 545\550ish top tube, and a 110mm or 100mm stem, and normal 25mm setback seatpost.

I got there by buying cheap parts either new or second hand, and tinkering with it myself - found the whole process quite interesting it has to be said.

As has been mentioned many times I think, a side on picture would probably help people give you some advice as to your position on the bike.

As an aside, and out of curiosity, I paid for a pricey bikefit last year, the chap was great, and very knowledgable, but as I have spent so long tinkering with my position, I was interested to see what came out of it.

I took two bikes along, on one he simply had to slide the saddle forward a few mm.
And on the other one, when he compared all of the measurements, he said it was set up exactly as he would have advised.

I'm not slagging off bike fitters at all, they have their place, and I think for a beginner it's potentially even more of worth - although, you could also argue, if I had had a fit way back then, yes I would have been much more comfortable at the time which is definitely a good thing, but as my body adapted it would fairly soon have been out of date.

If I was the OP, I would post some pics, and then perhaps look to get a cheap stem or two potentially, see if they can be inverted, and or if he can tinker with spacers above or below the stem to see if the position can be made more comfortable.

I've no idea if he is a competent home mechanic (willing to learn if not), if he is then that's a piece of cake (youtube videos), otherwise it might all get rather expensive.

webboo

The reason the op is in discomfort is that they have gone from nothing to 5 hours in two rides.

denispearl

Thanks all. I've decided to carry on as it is for now. To see whether the future rides will stretch me enough to be comfortable again. Plus booked a bike fitting to get a pro advice and then to fork our for a new stem or bars if needed. Hope this will solve the issue. Thanks for your comments again. Nice rides. P.s if someone rides in richmond park and wouldnt mind to check the position on my bike there - happy to meet.