Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 9:23 am
Also, stem width has decreased to partially off-set the effect of the increase in bar width so be prepared to possibly play with that.
And later stem lengths have gotten even shorter to allow for longer front centers/reaches of mountain bikes. A sub 50 mm stem can feel twichy and hard to hold on to when going fast in choppy terrain. Here a wider bar will also facilitate control.
I'd also add, that choosing a bar may be made dependent- to a certain degree - of the type of riding and terrain. The faster you go on rough single tracks, the more a rather wide bar will make riding easier, less tiring and also safer.
With ape like arms (just measured - 193 cm from finger tip to finger tip) broad shoulders and 182 cm tall; on 2 of 3 of my trail bikes I use a 760 mm wide bar with 9°/ 4° and 50 mm stem. One's a bit of a specialist (also ssp) and I ride it with a 32 mm stem and 780 mm rather than 760. My everyday bike (also ssp) has a 760 mm bar. When I started riding ssp on a very cheap second hand bike, the bar was 700 mm wide and I found it hard to crank up the hills on it. More leverage helped much. When on a long flat and smooth section in headwind, I have many options to hold the bars inwards of grips and brakes. For off road touring, like my last 4 Iceland traverses, I had bar tape between the brake levers.
Then there's the clearance issue - rocks and trees may get close and despite not racing, I do rarely clip my little finger when opting for tight lines.
Wider bars bring you into a preferable position for control, poise and contenance. Especially when things get steep. Yet, with my size and arm span I feel uncomfy on long flat rides with anything beyond 780 mm (given it's a bike with a reach beyond about 480 mm). I guess this is where my suggestion to make it also dependant of terrain mostly ridden comes from. Loads of riding in the woods will likely influence the width too, compared to riding mostly above the tree line (clipping).
Wide bars can be annoying when pushing. But only if you hold the grips on both sides.
When I push, e.g. on the left of the bike, I have my left hand on the grip, my right hand between the stem and right hand brake lever.
I remember changing bars on my brothers bike for a day of bikepark riding and whilst he said he wouldn't know the difference because he rides rarely - he was really surprised how much more control and less fatigue he felt.
We changed from 680 to 720 mm.
ozboz wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 1:19 am
reduced them to 640mm ish would it affect the handling ?
Yes, of course. Question is, will it have more of a positive effect on your riding or not?
I too see lots of riders, especially women, with bars that bring them in an awkward position - too stretched out, like 160 cm tall with 800 mm bar. Some dealers - following every current fashion to sell more and because it's cool - will let their customers know what the last hype is and convince them that the 800 mm bars are just perfect. Looking at bar widths of worldcup DH and Enduro world series racers (the 'going fast in choppy stuff' kind of riding) many bike fashionistas would be surprised to find their idols often not riding super wide bars.
https://m.pinkbike.com/news/handlebar-w ... -wide.html
If you stick to smoother tracks, rarely ride rough stuff - chop them down.
Of you, like me, like downhills, ride lots of choppy tracks and live in mountainous topography - give them some more time to make sure you're not comfy with them before shortening.
Then simply move the grips inside, before turning to the saw. Make sure the bar ends are closed when you're riding with grips moved inwards. This way you can ride the bars at a given width yet still go back to the wider position when you feel the position is too narrow. Once you found your sweet spot, cut.
New bars take a while to stop feeling strange. After all they are one of only two (when stood) or three (when sat) contact points to the bike. Like a saddle, it can take time to getting used to a new one.
