I’m seriously tempted to get some silly handlebars for my big bike. I currently have uncut Easton EA50s on there which are a tidy 685mm but I was riding the other night and they just felt a bit… meh.

Is there such a thing as too wide bars? Anyone out there had a “eureka” moment after fitting some Ride Wides or Dirty Thirties?

I’m about 5’10” and hardly possessed of simian reach, and I have to admit that part of me wants to do this so I can look back fondly in 20 years’ time at the ridiculousness of the fad…

seems an odd thing to me, short stem to speed things up, wide bars to slow them down again.

“seems an odd thing to me, short stem to speed things up, wide bars to slow them down again.”

I agree that they seem to cancel each other out in terms of slow-speed steering. I think you just feel freer to move yourself and the bike about with big bars. But the really wide ones look overly cumbersome to me, esp with skinny stems.

Short stem makes it easier to pick the front end up.

I’m a skinny 5’10” and went from 685 EA70s to 710 Bonty King Earls and love it. Huge amounts more leverage and control. It’s made a massive difference to my cornering abilities. It just feels far more natural to push the bike over with my inside hand and it then just carves beautifully.

I’ve gone wide recently on my big bike (Easton Havoc 711mm) and wouldn’t go back, so much more control in the rough stuff and it’s easier to lay the bike down in the corners. Wouldn’t go much wider as I’d be scared of hitting trees with them…

‘shorter stem to speed things up’ – If you’re ‘steering’ with the handlebars then you’re doing it wrong!

If you’re ‘steering’ with the handlebars then you’re doing it wrong!

I know what you mean, but that still reads like a classic addition to the STW big book of bullshit. 😉

you XC boys should stick to Lycra and bar ends …… wide bars indeed 🙄

What about these bad boys? http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=28533 😛

Been thinking about this myself for Alps/Mega duties – got 660mm bars on my PItch at the mo.

Btw congrats Adam! 😉

got a set of these on the 5 grr lush 😀 http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=7152

Take a look at the crucifiction width bars being used by the guy in the video on the home page. They obviously work for some. Perhaps for those who habitually feel at ease with arms wide for balance.

Low rise Sunline V2’s

Sunlines look good but I have a weird hankering for some white ones. 😳

I’ve just started using some onza 30″ (762mm) carbon trials bars. I had them from an old trials bike so thought i’d try them out. I don’t really think it makes much difference although I was coming from fairly wide azonics. I do notice that trees, gates, cars, passers by etc. have become a damn sight easier to hit!

find my newish 690mm (previously 645mm) allows more control. doesn’t work on all bikes though. i would think it’s good for ‘big’ bikes/gnarly riding, not so much xc/general duties.

never had a prob with 645mm on sanderson but on the alpine they weren’t much cop. both bikes had a 55mm stem.

now with wider bars the alpine feels more stable and controlable on techy sections that didn’t previously phase the sanderson.

don’t go so wide that you are unable to ride switchbacks properly. good advice told to me when looking for bigger bars.

just felt awkward to me, then again i ride BMX’s and road bikes so maybe im just more used to narrow bars.

Part of the wide bars thing is that they open out your chest a bit more, bringing more of your upper-body muscles into play when pulling the bike around. It’s a similar effect to using risers vs flat bars.
Have found a set of Easton CNT DH bars to be awesome on the 456 Ti – really encourage you to pull the bike around! Probably sounds like a load of BS but makes my grin a bit wider every time I ride it!

Cheers Grum! Had a great weekend with your bro and wife this weekend btw.

Mr. Agreeable I agree! Bit of a flippant comment but you get the gist…

I used to cut down my bars loads, it’s the inner BMX rider in me, but I’m now a convert to big bars, I’m sure I’m faster too.

The width of my bars is dictated by narrow tree gaps and gate posts.

i have some reverse fli xxxl at 760mm from mtb direct, love em, they took a bit of getting used to but now i feel like i have a lot more control at higher speeds and in the air.
not everybody’s cup of tea tho so mayb try b4 u buy..

‘shorter stem to speed things up’ – If you’re ‘steering’ with the handlebars then you’re doing it wrong!

Genuinely not taking the michael, but what do you mean?

bluebird – Member

‘shorter stem to speed things up’ – If you’re ‘steering’ with the handlebars then you’re doing it wrong!

Genuinely not taking the michael, but what do you mean?

STW bollox speak.

This thread seems to crop up about once a month at the moment. Basically there’s no right or wrong answer, I ride very wide bars because I like the extra leverage it gives, the increased sensation of control etc.

However a few points of fact – people don’t shorten their stem to make their steering feel more lively, they shorten it to change their weight distribution on the bike so that you’re not arse in the air wheel on the front nose or is that the other way around…..? Anyway, the fact that widening the bars compensates for the shortening of the stem probably just makes it more ‘right’, now your weight is in the right place, you’ve got more leverage and the steering is not super twitchy.

New to wider bars when speccing up new bike. Too much changed at once to know quite why it feels so right but the bars feel good. I got some FSA Gravity Carbon Rise Bars (710mm) from On One at a silly price of £50 (rrp about £150).

Jumping on my road bike now feels weird though. I’ve got 44cm bars on my race bike which is wider than normal and used to make me feel really planted on fast descents but now feels ridiculous!

Ant,
Wide bars work they are great on fast or rocky stuff or on switchbacks…..but having run 700mm wide bars (Seven) on the Kinesis for a couple of years I do find tight and twisty through trees gets a bit of a purposeful/methodical exrcercise rather than a fast flow though.

THE worst thing for me is fast descents with brambles to the side. I’m running cane creek ergo bar ends on hte end and have managed to hook a loop of bramble a couple of times! Luckily they’ve so far all been young shoots but one of these days I’ll hook a tough one which won’t snap resulting in a rapid bar spin and forward dismount at speed…..eek :o(
Neil

geetee1972 got it right. It’s all about how you feel on the bike and getting your bits in all the right places to make for a comfortable and productive ride. The majority of us are using off the shelf bikes and tweeking things by moving and adjusting the riding position is how we get the most out of cookie cutter bikes.

Ok, I’ll try to explain myself…

‘shorter stems make the steering quicker’ sounds, to me, like you ride a bike by turning the bars in the direction you want to go, when in fact it’s mostly about using your body weight to lean the bike over. I don’t think the advantage of a shorter stem is steering.

Does that make me sound like a pedant?

Adstick – not a pedant just misguided. You initiate the lean with the bars. for sure body language has a significant effect but try riding a slalom no handed and you will see how slow the bike changes direction without imput from the bars.

Gyroscopic precession and countersteering and stuff. You turn the bars in the opposite direction to that which you wish to go initially. This does 2 things – moves the front wheel from under you so the bike topples and by gyroscopic precession leans the bike. You then bring the bars back to centre to maintain the cornering/ lean angle. at the end of the corner you steer into the corner which then lifts the bike up.

You are correct in that its the lean that provides the cornering ( via camber thrust) but its the steering imput via the bars that provides the lean.

Apart from very low speed when you do steer like a car.

i have 710mm salsa bars on my bigger bike. great in general use, but in the alps i just wasn’t able to make tight switchbacks, as one arm was at full stretch while one was almost in my stomach… never been a problem in the uk though

I put wider bars on the tandem which deffo helped. gave more leverage thus more control but I do have issues now with the bars hitting my knees on full lock

Mr A – I clobbered my eastons on a tree the other day on the narrow traverse at the end of rocky horror/don’t look down, where you’re skirting the top of the quarry. I’m seriously considering cutting them down a bit, and possibly taking a change of shorts on the next ride.

I can’t believe i once rode that pissed.

TJ, Yes you initiate and control turning with small movements on the bars often in a counter intuitive way, but I honestly don’t think stem length would have much an influence on this and I don’t think short stems make the steering twitchy. I maintain that you don’t steer a bike by turning the bars – you do a load of different things, of which one is make small adjustments with the handlebars.

Anyway hasn’t someone shown that gyroscopics don’t play a part? 😉

See I do sound like a pedant now.

I agree with you that stem length make very little difference but the main steering imput is from the bars. try the no hands slalom and also try the gyroscopic precession test. Get your front wheel out and hold it from each side by the spindle. start it turning and then try to twist it as you would from the bars. It will tilt to the side.

You sure talk a good ride tj…. 😉

What bars would you have on a motorbike? Wide as **** or not? I like Warner’s idea that it’s today’s version of mine is bigger than yours .

Jambo – I understand the science just too fearty to go any faster

hungry monkey – Member
i have 710mm salsa bars on my bigger bike. great in general use, but in the alps i just wasn’t able to make tight switchbacks, as one arm was at full stretch while one was almost in my stomach… never been a problem in the uk though

that’s what i said, sort of.

the gyroscopic thing is more pronounced with motorbikes due to the increased weight….

shorter stem does quicken the steering at ~ running speed and helps on the downs by keeping the weight off the front. certainly made a big difference to my old bike going from 100mm stem to 55mm stem.

long stem and narrow bars on the fixed gear though. felt like i was driving a bus when switching between road and mtb. now feels like i’m in control of a tank with the bigger bars.

and another nod to the near-misses with wider bars. had one a few days back where i had to stop and have a re-think about how to approach that section next time round.

Just fitted funn fatboy 750mm bars and they feel spot on ❗

richc – Member
seems an odd thing to me, short stem to speed things up, wide bars to slow them down again.

Do you actually ride an mtb?

with fatma hubbard… reverse fli bars wide and flat.. so wide i cant ride the bike into the kitchen anymore.. and the xc course at Sherwood is out of bounds not because it’s too flat.. cant get between the trees….