So I’ve done a few rides on these new 760mm bars and 50mm stem I’ve fitted to the Patriot. Here are my thoughts:

1) Not so great on the twisty windy bits in Swinley. Keep having to swing out from lines I’d normally take to avoid trees. It’s hard work slaloming the bike.

2) Much harder to get in and out of hotel rooms.

3) Riding through traffic in town is nerve wracking, as I now need much more space.

4) Mild alarm from people on shared use paths. Two ladies today heard me coming and moved apart to let me through. I paused, thinking “you’re going to have to give me more room than that” then they turned around and saw me, and pressed themselves against the wall 😯

They are flat, so I might try again with the risers. Or I might just lop 10 or 20mm off each end.

Wide bars are much over rated, loved by persons with no upper body strength.

lol

1) YOu get used to it and are probably over compensating
2)Not your walls
3) You needed more space before, now you realise it
4) Confined shared use? Give way

You can’t have added much more than 8cm to your bars or 3.1″ give it a few more rides.

A Partriot is no XC bike,so around Swinley must feel a bit heavy until your on Red 25!! but the bars should make going quicker much more stable and feel more natural.. I ride 750 and 710 on my bikes.

Takes you a while to get used to them, so don’t go back. You should have probably run slightly taller bars though as they effectively flatten your riding position.

Anything below 760mm feels god awful these days.

2) Much harder to get in and out of hotel rooms.

Chuckling at this. I have to fit my bike in and out of quite a small elevator. Wide bars do not help.

🙂

Misread title. Am disappointed.

760 isn’t wide anymore! 😡

Superstar’s Yardstick is 36 inches wide!

After using these for a while if you try to go back to 610 or whatever horrible ones you had before you’ll cry at how wallowy the handling is and jump back on the big bars after one ride.

740 is a good mid size bar, try cutting down to that

Try cutting down to 800mm,that’s my default size now

I often ride with 740 bars around Swinley, I can’s say I have ever found the bars too wide. The Swinley trails are all pretty wide, I can’t think of any bits I even get close to clipping bars on – I have probably cursed myself now and will clip a tree and crash next time I am there!

Im sticking with my 711 bars just don’t see the need for wider. Its just a fashion thing at the minute to go wider, my previous bars were 680 and i did fine with them as well.

Its just a fashion thing at the minute to go wider,

You tried it then?

Im sticking with my 711 bars just don’t see the need for wider

What were the negative points?

It takes a bit of adjustment but the big outcome really is that people are built different, previously we were all told 680mm was wide and that we should stop there, then people tried different things and different things worked for them. It’s personal but if you don’t want to try it don’t just decree it’s all fashion.

BSI 6102 Pt1 (which covers the build of bikes) states a maximum width of 700m, so when you gouge a chunk out of someone on a shared use path expect their lawyer to come after you….

Still, wiser bars means no one will be able to overtake you.

Yes i have some 810 bars, too wide felt slumped over the bike too much. Around 700 is perfect for me just feels right.

It’s a fashion yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s without merit. I was sceptical, but I noted some handling instability at certain points on Cwmcarn and I thought a shorter stem would help. So at a tenner for the wide bars I thought I’d try. This kind of fettling is vastly cheaper than chopping and changing bikes all the time and more rewarding for me tbh.

Robj20 or anyone else, am interested in unwanted wide bars if they are risers. Pref with a little more sweep than less.

Its just a fashion thing

Just like disk brakes, dropper posts, front suspension, rear suspension…etc ?

All this sort of depends how long your arms are and how wide your shoulders are: makes comparing bar width between riders not that useful without that.

I often ride with 740 bars around Swinley, I can’s say I have ever found the bars too wide. The Swinley trails are all pretty wide, I can’t think of any bits I even get close to clipping bars on – I have probably cursed myself now and will clip a tree and crash next time I am there!

try cannock, there are a couple of places you have to wiggle the bars to get through & you can see the scars on the trees where they’ve been clipped

robj20 – Member

Im sticking with my 711 bars just don’t see the need for wider. Its just a fashion thing at the minute to go wider, my previous bars were 680 and i did fine with them as well.

So why did you bother going wider? You’re just a fashion victim too 😆

dropoff – Member

Wide bars are much over rated, loved by persons with no upper body strength.

Stupidest thing I’ve read on STW this week. Or best troll, I can’t decide.

As a broad shouldered gentleman with big long monkey arms I love my 760’s (Gamut Cillos Trails) never had a problem with them round Swinley.

I’ve had a few close calls elsewhere but overall I’m very happy with the feel they give the bike and have no intention of cutting them down any time soon.

Oh also:

Wide bars are much over rated, loved by persons with no upper body strength.

What, like this guy? Yeah dead puny, get some 610’s you wimp!

BSI 6102 Pt1 (which covers the build of bikes) states a maximum width of 700m, so when you gouge a chunk out of someone on a shared use path expect their lawyer to come after you….

BS 6102 doesn’t apply to mountain bikes 😉

BSI 6102 Pt1 (which covers the build of bikes) states a maximum width of 700m

Good good, we’ve got some way to go yet then.

interesting about BSI6102…

This does not include all bikes such as mountain bikes which obviously take a lot more stress and strain than normal bikes. They have their own standard (see below).

……………

…..

These are European Standards (also published as British Standards)that have been written for other types of bike –
BS EN 14764 Bicycles for use on public roads (includes city and trekking bikes)
BS EN 14766 Mountain-bicycles
BS EN 14781 Racing bicycles

Wide bars are much over rated, loved by persons with no upper body strength.

Or broad shouldered people with plenty of strength.

Top tip- don’t ride where there are trees. I run 780’s (which I feel are probably a touch wide but I’ve got used to them) with a 60mm stem and like it. But I ride on rocky trails in open country, not twiddling around the woods.

you can see the scars on the trees where they’ve been clipped

yours truly has made a significant contribution

The other day just out of curiosity I attempted to straightline that tree gap at the end of the little ramp after the original Monkey and I can confirm it is exactly 780 mm wide 😳

I’m using 760 bars around Swinley without problem. Cut them down from 780’s after a lucky save after a bar clip at speed around a corner on Deerstalker.

So why did you bother going wider? You’re just a fashion victim too

They were on a friends bike.

I remember the good old days.
The first thing they would do in a bike test was lop an inch off each end of the bars.

try cannock, there are a couple of places you have to wiggle the bars to get through & you can see the scars on the trees where they’ve been clipped

I run my bars at 780 and am fine in all but one spot at Cannock (the little bridge on the climb after Tom, Dick and Harry). They fit everywhere else.

They felt odd at first but I do prefer them now and narrower bars feel funny. I wanted a slighty wider bar than my old 711 jobbie and bought them with the intention of cutting them down but just never got round to it.

Ed Oxley sawed the ends off my bars on a skills course. 🙂

How wide is sensible does seem to be linked to shoulder width.

I’ve found wider bars work better on a HT (for me), the extra leverage works wonders for keeping the front end tracking true…recently at BPW i found myself bemoaning my current 745 bars and wanting to go wider…on the FS bike i’m happy coming down to 711 width as the ride tends to be smoother and require less yanking about.
I should imagine i’ll end up with 760 on the HT and put the 745 bars on the FS though.

I will just add that your bike should reflect where you ride…so if you always ride at Swinley (or similarly wooded areas) ditch the need for wide bars and ride whatever fits through the trees easiest.

About 750/760 feels right to me. Anything narrower and I find myself holding the ends of the grips.
I did try some 780 Answer bars on a ride and they were just awkward. And mocked by fellow riders. 😆

I initially put narrow bars on my rigid 29er, trying to make it a fast ground covering hybrid type bike, but the larger (and rather heavy) wheels really needed a wider bar. I’ve got 680 on there and it doesn’t feel overly wide at all.

My XC race bike (26er) still has 610mm bars on it though and a 105mm stem.. it’s going to feel really weird next time I ride it!

it’s going to feel really weird next time I ride it!

That’s a fact!

Made me think of that Bontrager on the classifieds last week –

apologies to the seller 🙂

They are flat, so I might try again with the risers. Or I might just lop 10 or 20mm off each end.

Just make sure you don’t cut 20mm off the same end twice (see “Don’t know my own strength and/or stupidity…” thread)

Ed Oxley sawed the ends off my bars on a skills course 😯

with what?

I’ve got 720mm on mine, sweet spot for me.