Flat bars

[welshwhit]

Recently swapped my riser bars to some flat bars and have to say I'm really enjoying them!

I have the on one flat bars and the only thing I miss from the risers is the width!

The on ones are 600mm.

I'm considering some 685 ones or maybe even wider!

Are there any I should look at/consider?

Thanks
Drew

[Zippy]

Ritchey WCS, Syntace (Duraflite 318s is what I roll with), or USE Atome Flattie

[johnnystorm]

Salsa Motos, you can get them in a nice 11 & 17 degree sweep at 710mm. Ritchey 10 degree double-bend 660m flats were £15 from Charlie.

I couldn't go anywhere near a bike with 600mm bars anymore!

[restlessshawn]

I'm really liking fleegles just now, not as swept as marys but a good sweep and a nice 716mm wide. 600mm would be far too narrow for my liking, not had a bar like that since the 90's!

[24tom]

USE Atoms are lovely - good shape to them. Wider than you are looking for, but can always chop them down. Give them a go first though, you might be converted. I actually swapped them because they were too narrow for me. Now have some Kinesis Struts, which are 750mm wide and all round ace

Superstar do some good cheap bars too. Can't remember if they have a completely flat one, but definitely have a very low rise option.

[welshwhit]

All look good, thanks all for the suggestions!

Led me to a thought though, will I / do you really notice the difference between a 660mm bar and a 700mm bar?
what benefits are there to going longer?!

I'd like to have a nice balance of control/fun/real estate from my bars, any advice great fully received!

Drew

[Bearbonesnorm]

I think sometimes people forget that bar width does have a bit to do with the riders physical size. At present (and maybe always) fashion is dictating bar width... I once coached a 10 year old who was convinced he needed 780mm bars because Nathan Rennie used them*

You will notice a difference between 660mm and 700mm if you try them back to back but the 700mm bar may not be the best one (for you) and remember, sweep plays a big part too**


*Nathan rennie is 6'4" this young lad was 5'5"

**most people only remember Sooty

[welshwhit]

Cheers for that, it's true I'm no giant, but unfortunately quite wide too!

At the minute I'm looking at only a small sweep, about 10 degrees, what are the benefits to a larger sweep? Is it a more relaxed hand position?

Thanks
Drew

[Bearbonesnorm]

At the minute I'm looking at only a small sweep, about 10 degrees, what are the benefits to a larger sweep? Is it a more relaxed hand position?

It's a personal thing ... I find extra sweep does put my hands in a more natural feeling position. Salsa Pro-moto with 17 degree sweep work well for me.

[welshwhit]

Thanks for that, think I've got my head around it all now!

Time to look test an and feel I think!

Drew

[Cheeky Monkey]

Spank Spoon bars, £31 on CRC with bugger all rise.

[didnothingfatal]

What size stem do you have? Might be a fleegle in the shed, know I have Mary bars. PM me I prefer wide bars being 6'4", just removed Salsa bars and fitting Thomson setup to the Spearfish.

[FLV]

Can I resurrect this thread?

what bars were purchased in the end?

I'm looking at swapping to a set of flat bars. Out of all the ones I like and am willing to spend my money on I can go for either 750 wide with 6degree sweep, 730 wide 6 degree sweep or 730 wide 9 degree sweep.

I have low ish (20mm) risers on at the moment, I think they are 8 or 9 degree rear and 4 degree up sweep and are about 730 ish wide.

I sometimes, on very long rides can get sore hands on the outside of the palm, this may be just poor grip choice / a function of riding for 8 to ?? hours and not having enough hand positions to choose from.

Do people have any strong opinions on bar sweep? I know its a pretty individual set up though.

[gairym]

I've got 3 pairs of Nukeproof 'Warhead 760' flat bars on each of my MTB's and I loves 'em!!!

From CRC site.....

Nukeproof Warhead 760 Flat Bars Specifications:

Width: 760mm
Clamp diameter: OS 31.8mm Ø
Sweep: 9° back-sweep
Material: 7075 aluminium
Rise: Zero rise

Here's a shot of them in action (well at least out of the house!):



As I think you can see I've got them coupled with a silly short stem and the control feels lovely to me (though I've heard it described as 'twitchy' but I'm not sure what that means??? Maybe that some can't control the power :? ).

Hope this helps.

Gairy.

[Ian]

Twitchy = prone to involuntary response with comparatively little input. E.g difficult to hold the front end straight in techy stuff

I've dabbled with normal flat bars, but having ridden with something with much more back sweep, everything else just feels wrong now. Do Jones bars count as flat?

[welshwhit]

I got these in the end and I've been very happy with them!
Thought were over a tenet cheaper when I got them!

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/east ... -prod47025

I use them with ergon grips and them seem great, but I've been toying with the idea of putting some bar ends on them too.

For me the width of 685mm is great, but at 5'5 I'm no giant!

Drew