New Hope stem arrived in the post this morning and turns out I’ve ordered a 35mm length AND 35mm bar diameter.

To be honest, I wasn’t even aware that was a thing (this is the first mountain bike I’ve built up for a few years).

Bought the stem from a decent online retailer so won’t be an issue to return it and swap for a 31.8 but having had a look around there seems to be some bargains out there on 35mm bars.

Now, what I’m asking myself (and by extension STW) is do I keep it..?

On one side, I’m buying new bars anyway so the good deals are worth having (£40 saving over 31.8). Seems like a new funky standard so won’t get laughed off the trail in a few years with my skinny “oversize” bars and all the reviews on line seem either positive or a bit meh.

On the flip side, Ive never felt the need for more bar stiffness from decent set of normal bars. My main reservation is will everything be a pin in the backside to fit to it? Lights and Garmin would both need new mounts and so would every future set bought.

What do you reckon? Worth going 35 or not..?

If it makes a difference, bike is a Pace 127 with Revelation 140s. Riding will be Glentress and local East Lothian trails. XC/Trail Riding/Exploring.

One of my bikes has 35 the other has 31.8

Both work find. The best thing about 35mm stems is that they fit 35mm bars.

I’m going to take that as a vote on the “not worth the hassle of stuff not fitting” side…

More a case of, if you’ve got the stem and the bars are cheap, why not.

Presumably the minimum stem length for 35mm bars isn’t quite as short?

New bike just came with these. That’s cost me another £20 for an exposure mount. Not sure I’ll notice a difference in stiffness.

I’m a bit meh on the subject. Last few bikes have been 31.8, current bike is 35mm. I don’t actually feel quite as comfortable on my current bars as the last ones but the bike is longer and the handlebar has a little less Sweep / is 20mm shorter.

I’ve just bought some new 35mm bars in a 780 width and 20mm rise for £13 from on-one to see if the longer bar / slightly more sweep feels more comfortable – I had almost exactly the same bar on my last bike, just in a 31.8mm clamp.

I think the People On The Internet Who Haven’t Tried It unanimously decided it was too stiff. Meanwhile the Military Industrial Bike Complex wasn’t all that committed to it, because it doesn’t require you to replace enough parts. But then the only time I’ve ever felt a new bar provided a real benefit, was because it was much less stiff.

Decide whether you like it or not now, and get your bullshit lined up, then buy it.

My RaceFace SixC is was an upgrade from a 31.8mm bar and tbh it has made a noticeable difference to the bikes handling for the better, but it’s also 20mm wider and the stem has changed. It’s definitely less comfortable too, but I’d sooner try new grips/gloves than go back.

I can’t say i noticed much difference, but then i moved to wider bars when i moved to the 35m dia stem, so who knows!

I suspect there’s more relative stiffness adjustment due to bar material and thickness (and layup direction for car-bone-ium ones) when it comes to the deflection vs load characteristic right at the bar ends where we put out hands, than from the change in dia in the middle bit………

Right, thanks for the replies.

Easton Haven 35mm bars now ordered for £20, I feel all modern and cutting edge (yes, I do appreciate 35mm bars have been around for years).

Reckon this bike may be a bit of an eye opener. Coming from a rigid forked, 26″ wheel, 90mm stemmed aluminium xc bike to the Pace, dropper post, 27.5 wheels, bolt through each end and bang on trend holdy on bits. Should be interesting…

Pro: Stops you from wasting time messing about swapping bars and stems between your bikes.

Con: Stops you from finding out what fit and feel’s best by swapping bars and stems between your bikes.

I do really like my SixC 35mm bars but I wouldn’t have bought them (they came with my Bird).

Main reason was to support longer bars without adding more weight – less to do with stiffness. If you have a 31.8mm bar it’s harder to make it longer without increasing the thickness of material

A 35mm bar that is longer needs less material in the middle. So if you run your bars long then go 35mm (tho really – an extra 40-80g isn’t a lot)

If you’re near Reading I’ve got a set of 35mm bars you can have

I have a normal 31.8 setup on one bike and 35 on the other.

I can’t tell any difference other than it’s a pain for mounts.

The bars on my dirt motorbike are Renthals, they’re narrower diameter than current 31.8mm stuff let alone 35mm bars…. I’ve no doubt the forces going through the motorcycle bars are many many times that of the MTB ones but marketing dictates it must be time for a stem/bar change as we’d pretty much done all we could with stems down to 35mm and bars out to 800mm…

…..cynical? Moi?

I’m waiting for Fox or someone to actually bring to market a fork with a larger diameter than those found on a proper 450cc Moto-x bike…can’t be too many years away.

I can’t really tell the difference whilst out riding, I’d happily have either although I wouldn’t see it as an upgrade.

Pain for mounts.*

No noticeable benefit**.

Wider bars can be had***.

*exposure I’ve was easy. Hope qr not so, O ring type light mount also not. I now have one light on each bike and don’t swap.

**i lie, 35 was significantly cheaper

***though I’ve 820s on my 31.8 and 780 havens in 35mm so go figure.

My RM has 35mm Raceface bars/stem. I didn’t know til I read it on the spec.

I can’t tell any difference other than it’s a pain for mounts.
Except it’s brill for mounting a Garmin.

Is this thread the reason STW have just recycled an old story on Facebook for Eastons NEW! 35mm standard from 2012?!

(I’d never heard of 35mm by the way)

My bar lights didn’t fit a 35mm bar.

The bars on my dirt motorbike are Renthals, they’re narrower diameter than current 31.8mm stuff let alone 35mm bars…. I’ve no doubt the forces going through the motorcycle bars are many many times that of the MTB ones

How much do they weigh?

My new bike is coming with 35mm bar stem.

Was gonna upgrade to on one knuckleballs in the Xmas sale, but they only come in 31.8

Which is annoying if 35mm limits my bargain upgrade choices

My Occam came with 35mm stem and bars so I’m still using them. It’s difficult to compare them to my other, 31.8mm barred, bikes as thge bikes themselves are so different.

Northwind pretty much nailed it way up ^^^

The original reason for 35mm was that Easton claimed they couldn’t achieve the safety numbers they wanted for 31.8 handlebars above about 720mm. Clearly they had much more stringent standards than the rest of the industry (tongue not necessarily in cheek, I actually respect Easton). Everyone else jumped on board and it was discovered that apart from being stiffer, 35mm bars could actually be made lighter for a given strength and length too, because Engineering.

The current situation is that there are very good 35mm bars and very cheap rubbish ones. Third party things you fix to your bars will need to be replaced.

I went 35mm accidentally because I was being a tart about silver bars in a sale and got a stem cheaply enough to make it worth while. I’ve since just stayed 35mm on further builds. I don’t see a downside, at this point it’s like arguing QR skewers vs TA’s in my book. Both Work, one allows more precise control at a point where the other is getting a bit ragged.

My conclusion is:

Alloy Bar 31.8mm

Carbon Bar 35mm

woodster – Member

My RaceFace SixC is was an upgrade from a 31.8mm bar and tbh it has made a noticeable difference to the bikes handling for the better, but it’s also 20mm wider and the stem has changed. It’s definitely less comfortable too, but I’d sooner try new grips/gloves than go back.
Forgive my cynicism, but you’ve changed both your bars (wider) and your stem for different ones, but its definitely the bar diameter that has made a noticeable difference to the bike’s handling?
*chinny reckon*

Confusingly 31.8 was referred to as “oversize” so I ordered 35mm by mistake a few months back.

Confusingly 31.8 was referred to as “oversize” so I ordered 35mm by mistake a few months back.

It is if you still use 25.4 which isn’t that old, ceased to be ‘standard’ 2004 ish?