I’ve bought my 9 year old granddaughter her first ladies bike. It’s a tiny 14inch hardtail. However it has 720mm handlebars! Do you think I should cut them down a bit? I don’t ride with bars this wide myself. I was wondering if she would find them a bit overwhelming as she’s just coming up from her 24 inch wheeled Trek with 24 inch bars.

Yup, cut ’em down. Even a big 9 year old would find that very wide. Do it a half inch at a time until she looks comfy. Those cheap plumbing pipe cutters with a little metal wheel are very good for neatly removing little bits – no jagged burrs left either.

She hasn’t seen the bike yet but I was thinking of taking them down to about 26 inches. I’ve got a pipe cutter.

JR – what bars are they? Could do with something that wide myself & could do a swap perhaps? Email in profile

Theyre nothing special. Saracen own but look very good.

Have a look for some narrow bars, well cheap now from a tenner http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/handlebars/mtb-riser-bars?ss=2380&sort=pricelow

You’re probably best just getting the hacksaw out I guess.

Theyre nothing special. Saracen own but look very good.
I’ve just cut them down to to 660 mm. They look more manageable.