Ive been toeing with idea of some wider bars on my 5 for some,im currentley on 680mm,with a 70mm stem,i fancy some Renthal or Easton carbon jobs,thing is,what width & do I go shorter with the stem,or issit a myth,wider & shorter ???..thx in advance..

I am at 750mm now and would like to go a bit wider, but I reckon If I go any longer It would start becoming a problem on tight singletrack through trees were I do most of my riding.

It might be worth trying some cheaper bars first and playing with the width rather than chopping up Renthals or Eastons.

I replaced a 710 Carbon Easton with a 750 Alu Crank bros Iodine, The Iodine feels about 4x as heavy but I dont really notice on the bike.

Cheap bars to chop up

I’m at 740mm with a 50mm stem.

Depends on your build doesn’t it. It would be a bit stupid having say a 800mm bar if you are built like the bloke on mr muscle adverts.

It’s just a matter of taste. You can always cut down a long bar though (within reason). I’m messing about with a 740 again, I don’t actually like it at all but I have to admit, it might be better than my normal 710s. It just feels shit while working well.

Running 720 bars and a 50mm stem on mine at moment, feels sweet tho for me

Personal preference init?

I run 711 bars (Easton Haven)on my five with a 70mm stem. I would happily run wider bars but wouldn’t want to go shorter on the stem as I feel it would detract from it’s climbing ability.

What’s the max width you’d run with a 70mm stem do you all think ?.. I know it’s dependant on ure build riding style etc !..

wider and shorter works for me 750mm and a 35mm stem , on my 5 I had 745 and 40mm 😀

760mm Fatbars and 35mm stem on my five, feels spot on! 🙂

It depends on how compact or leggy your current frame fits you.
Also on how broad your shoulders are?
If you go too wide your arms may be so outstretched that you can’t push against the bars to stop you going over them

You’ve 2 (or 3) reasons to go shorter when going wider (or vice versa)
1 – Wider bars ‘splay’ your arms out that bit further, forcing your body that little bit further forward/down*, a shorter stem sets you back again, by quite how much you need to remain as you were I don’t know, it’ll depend partly on your body dimensions
2 – A wider bar will have a slower steering response, ie you have to move your arms further to make the wheel move the same angle. A shorter stem will offset this, less arm movement for the same steering angle with a shorter stem, the ratio again I don’t know, but the maths won’t be too taxing to work out the ratio’s between the width/length changes
3 – a wider bar is typically built that much beefier toward the middle to keep the stiffness, so it’ll weigh more, a shorter stem (unless its beefier than the longer one) will weigh less …

*dragging your body downward, you may well want to raise your stem and/or bars to try replicating your previous body position

I’m currently on a 50mm stem and 777mm bars, was previously on a 70mm stem with 710mm’s on a 10mm shorter frame. on another frame was on 85mm and 710mm, 90 or 105 with 685

Find a railing at tummy height and stand at just over an arms length away. Let yourself fall towards the railing and without thinking put your hands out and stop yourself. (obviously do this carefully).

Try to do this without consciously biassing the results as you want a bar of X length. Measure your hand separation as that indicates a good width you are comfortable with and feel in control.

Not perfect but it works for me. Could be complete bollox for others.

andyl – Member
Find a railing at tummy height and stand at just over an arms length away. Let yourself fall towards the railing and without thinking put your hands out and stop yourself. (obviously do this carefully).

Try to do this without consciously biassing the results as you want a bar of X length. Measure your hand separation as that indicates a good width you are comfortable with and feel in control.

Not perfect but it works for me. Could be complete bollox for others.

Ha…Just done this and got 760 which I reckon is really close…Good plan.

I run 740mm bars on a 50mm stem, transformed my ride, provides a lot of control which adds confidence. I have the same set up on a Five & 4x/play bike, I’ve tried wider & it’s not for me but I’m only 5″9″. The only problem with wider is you have to be cautious not to clip trees in tight spots.

Anyway if you want to try some decent bars cheap I’m about to advertise some 750mm (tbc) Renthal bars, they’re not mint and they have a few marks but structurally sound, £30 posted.

nwill1 at ymail dot com for photos.

I’ve got 780mm on a 50mm stem on my 160mm bike. Feels good to me, I put my 700mm bars back on, hated it and went back to 780. I’ve just bought another 780mm sunline bar (actually, 785 looking at the packaging) for the hardtail. I’m 6’1″

Currently running 750 with a 70mm stem, seems to feel pretty natural and works really well for me. Previous incarnations were 711 , then 720. I am 6ft 1″ though and it’s a 20″ frame.

F**kinhell,my heads spinning with all the fractions…lol,i do however see the logic,i don’t have loads of stems and bars tho,i do however have a couple of bikes,a crush hardtail and my 5,so what wont work on one mite be ok for the other, i’ll order a couple of stems & bars & play around a bit,thx guys….happy days..

currently have 750mm Easton Havoc Carbons & 60mm Raceface Turbine Stem. Very happy but if i was to change it would be a shorter stem before wider bars!