as titled, i’ve cut down over the months from 760mm to 710mm and even now still felt like a bus in the trails, in a smooth fast flow downhill(ish) its fine .. but when the trail goes twitchy and lots of small trees from off piste trail I dont have the same agility as the 685 bars. any similar experience?

Nope. I’m 5’6″ and really happy with 740mm bars. Did go 780 for a while last year, but that WAS too wide.

I still have 680 on my lightweight hardtail but 750 on the big rig (5’8).
This is slightly because I haven’t made any changes to the hardtail for ages. But I also think wide bars matter less for xc.

Gone down to about 740mm from 780mm and it feels much more manageable. Still clip my bars/hands on trees occasionally though.

Cut my Hussefelts down to 670, now I can pass right through the gate at Ashton court coming over from Leigh woods without stopping. It’s noticeably sketchy compared to the 7?0s on my other bike but not too much of an issue when i’ve used them at FoD or Rowberrow where wider bars would have been nice.