Sorry if this has been done before.

I have some 685mm Easton Monkyebars which perform very well. Lately, I have seen a trend for wider bars and I am wondering how much difference I’ll see if I swap to a 711mm Haven bar. Maybe a carbon one even.

– Will 26mm really make that much of a difference or will I have to go wider?
– Will I notice a difference in feel/stiffness with carbon?
– Or is this like one of those Swedish made Austin Powers gadgets?

I did this and noticed a little bit of difference as you might expect but it’s not going to be a revolutionary change to the bike. I shortened my stem at the same time and the combination of the two really did change the handling. can’t say much about carbon

I went from 660mm to 810mm. It’s pretty cool. You can get bars pretty cheap, so give it a go.

Cheers, am on a 90mm stem at the moment. May swap that to a 70mm. Am told things will get very twitchy at 50mm and less. Any truth to that?

I know someone who went from 620 to 685 and she says it has changed her riding completely. More stability and control and it is evident from her riding as well.

@PeaslakeDave
What was the difference you noticed?

I now have a 60mm stem and 710mm bars. I have a 150mm fork on my BFe which may affect twitchiness but i’m not sure on that one. from what I understand, by widening your bars, it puts your weight slightly further forward and you have more leverage over turning which is an advantage in going downhill. shorter stem counters the weight by bringing it back which makes it better for going downhill again but compromises on climbing ability as well as making it twitchier and more manoeuvrable. that’s why downhillers generally have shorter stem and wider bars and xcers have the opposite. feel free to correct me if i am wrong. this is just what i understand to be true. I did notice that by shortening my stem, i didn’t overshoot corners as much. widening the bars made it feel slightly more stable and i felt more comfortable in chucking myself down hills. 😀

Get the widest you can, then you can experiment by holding them at a width that suits you. Once you have done a few rides you can trim them.

You cant make them wider, so trim them down after a while of experimenting.

As said above, bars are cheap.

Wider bars and a change of stem will alter the balance point on your bike front/rear. You many also find you want to raise/lower the stem as well.

Fiddle about lots before cutting anything. Go and find a corner and see what if feels like higher/wider, lower/narrower when you hoon round it.

Am told things will get very twitchy at 50mm and less. Any truth to that?

No. There’s no magic number where if go to it or past it everything suddenly changes massively.

I went 685 to 711 a few years back, then on to 745, where it’s plateaued. Tried 760 but didn’t find any extra control/fun so trimmed them down to 745.

I run a carbon Havoc on one bike and a Spank Spike on another. Sunline V1s are good too and come up cheap s/hand.

Suits me much better to ride 780 bars than my old 685 ones, but I’m a big bugger, with broad shoulders. I like I because it’s comfier, due to my arms being in a relatively ergo position. If your 8 stones and 5’4″, it may not be for you.

Only ‘1 ride old’ but wider bars make sense to me – i’ve gone from 660 wide carbon to 750 wide easton haven – the alloy version – only £38’ish @ Merlin 🙂
As I spent most of my ‘bimbling along’ time with my hands hanging off the ends of the carbon bars, I figured wider just made sense.
At the same time I ordered the bars I also dropped a 45mm stem in the basket, only because it was cheep…
That may be a step too short but, as I say, it’s all just one ride old, need to get out more and see how it all settles..

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=532

£32, can be cut down to 750mm.

915mm wide… sounds so awesome. I keep my bike in the house though, I wouldn’t be able to get it out.

True, I should have known that. Just wondering if there is a length that is considered to be firmly downhill territory and unsuitable for XC/general trail riding where there are as many climbs as descents.

I do occasionally feel like I am threatening to highside the berms, so perhaps there is something to it.

Climbing is my strength, so I may try the wider bars first before the shorter stem. Thanks people.

If it helps I went from 685mm (monkeybars more like 660mm) to 710mm bars on a 90mm stem and yes it made a noticeable difference, in fact, it started something much bigger, it pointed towards wide bars being something of interest as opposed to just fashion! I then bought an 800mm bar and a 60mm stem. The wider bar is great for hooning but a shorter stem is required to stop the steering becoming too barge like. I’m sure I read somewhere to reduce your stem by 10mm for every 20/25mm increase in width which is as pretty good starting point. As it stands today I’m still on the 60mm stem and for reach reasons don’t think I’ll go any shorter, I’ve chopped the bars back to 780mm and I’ve fitted (yet to ride) a 2 deg slackset. As above, the best advice is to buy the widest bars with as short a stem as you think you’ll be comfortable on but make sure they’re cheap. When you’ve found what you like them look at carbon bling!

Cheers.

I want to keep the feel the Eastons have. Like the backsweep and so on.

Have a load of CRC vouchers kicking around, so not too fussed about going straight in for the carbon bling. Am thinking 750 plus would be too wide for me. I’m more of a climber/XC rider than a downhill hooligan!

I’m another believer, I went from stock 680mm to 711mm, and now 740mm which I feel is perfect for me (stem went from 90mm -> 70mm -> 60mm accordingly). Would definitely recommend going wider than you think and then trimming them down if required. Climbing technique needs to be adapted slightly but you get used to it easy enough and it is worth it for the benefits you get when descending with the wider bar/shorter stem. One other small recommendation is that as you shorten the stem, you should get a stem with a higher rise or add spacers if you wish to retain the original angle, although this personal preference.

I went from 680 to 750mm Havoc bars last year and while I liked the width, the balance of the bike was definitely affected. The steering was slower and I didn’t feel as confident downhill, possibly because my weight had been moved forwards.

Just swapped the stem from an 85 to 55mm Easton Haven though and its all good now 🙂 The steering’s sharp and the balance is confidence inspiring so I’m really happy again 🙂

20mm isn’t such a big change, but you may find a 10mm shorter stem helps later on.
Can’t comment on the relative stiffness of carbon cause I’ve just got alloy.
Austin Powers Swedish device? Maybe, but once you’ve got the width you’ll never look back. Everyone else just gets bar envy 😉

I run 23″ bars on all three of my XC bikes. Round my way trees seem to grow about 24″ apart so even swapping from 23″ to 25″ would be noticable!
Generally wider is a good thing, but if you do most of your riding in tight forrests you may like to think carefully first…

Wider bars and a change of stem will alter the balance point on your bike front/rear.

I’m never sure about this really. When descending my balance point is dictated by the position of the BB between the contact patches of the wheels. And the seat tube angle when seated climbing.

I increased to 710 without issues. In fact it made more breathing space and slowed the steering which really helped with climbing, and being wider seemed to encourage a lower elbows out descending posture which seems to have helped too.

Buzz – I mean that by changing to wider bars and/or short stem, you can end up with more weight on the front wheel. That may result in more front end grip in cornering.

Especially as a lot of people tend to push back from corners (and other obstacles/techy bits) subconciously. So putting a bit more weight on the front tyre may give you more grip and feel, thereby allowing more speed and control.

It worked for me.

and carbon will give you a ‘nicer’ ride, less jarring

Loving my wide Renthals enjoy the feeling of more stability, give it a go!

Don’t buy anything less than 740mm or anything longer than a 70mm stem. If you need a longer stem than 70mm your frame is too small. Whoever told you a 50mm stem will make things twitchy is an idiot.

Don’t buy anything less than 740mm or anything longer than a 70mm stem. If you need a longer stem than 70mm your frame is too small. Whoever told you a 50mm stem will make things twitchy is an idiot.

Tosh! bike fit and handling is a complex mix of anatomy, mechanics and preference, you cant define it with absolutes like that.

Tosh! bike fit and handling is a complex mix of anatomy, mechanics and preference, you cant define it with absolutes like that.

Yes you can. Look at pro Enduro bikes. Nobody will run anything outside what I said regardless of their size etc. The only people who do are XC racers because they want to get 100% out of the climbs at the expense of the descents as that’s where the races are mostly decided.

Look at pro Enduro bikes.

But you don’t know much about the OP and the riding they do, or the bike they have, or shape, size etc.

And just because that’s what the pro Enduro riders use doesn’t mean its appropriate for everyone, in the same way that X amount of travel or Y head angle or Z wheelbase isn’t.

The only people who do are XC racers

What about XC racers that also do a bit of DH? or Trail riders that occasionally race XC? they may run differnt setups on different bikes, or they may only have one do-it-all compromise bike.

To start with absolutes and declare everything else as wrong is just silly. There are plenty of people, situations/riding types and bikes where a very short stem or very wide bars are just not appropriate, and that’s before you even start to deal with personal preference.

I find anything over 700mm with a 70mm is too sluggish for my liking

Don’t buy anything less than 740mm or anything longer than a 70mm stem. If you need a longer stem than 70mm your frame is too small. Whoever told you a 50mm stem will make things twitchy is an idiot.

Oh the irony.

The point is you don’t just slap a super wide bar and short stem on every bike and expect it to work the same, there are far too many variables and the exact lengths, widths, sweeps etc should be tailored to the bike and the rider.

As other people have said above, the best thing to do is try out different setups and see what you get on with.

There’s far too many people out there that trot out the default responses without ever having actually tried many different setups for themselves.

The last time a friend of mine actually asked about bar widths and stem lengths I suggested he raid my spares bin and actually try out a few dodgy setups (wide bars, long stem, short stem, narrow bars etc.) just so he could actually get a feel for what kind of difference it made as the only knowledge he had was that of riding his stock cockpit setup that came with his bike and the (to him) theoretical handling he had read about in magazines.

As it turns out he went for a shorter stem but kept the same bar width as it felt best to him.

No need to ask questions or think about this,just follow the MTB mantra,”If some is good, more must be better, and too much will be about right.” 🙂

+1 amedias makes a good point. I learned a lot about setting up my bike just by riding my mates bikes – which were all different. Forced me to experiment and “learn” what works and what dosent for me.

Sadly most riders just ride the bike as it came, some read about setup in a magazine, very few figure it out for themselves.

Well if you’re one of the spoonheads who rides bridleways on a SS gate then the argument is pointless. However, if you can actually ride a bike on real trails and prioritise bike handling over the last 10% of climbing ability my argument stands. The benefits of having your weight distributed between the wheelbase and behind the front axle are obvious.

Again, if it feels wrong your frame is too small or the manufacturer may not produce a size that fits you. Mondraker are way ahead of the game regarding this.

I remember coming on here 15 years ago and saying all trail bikes need a minimum 67 head angle and a number of people including guys who now make a living from selling bikes said that was crap and that the front wheel will wonder all over the place on climbs and other garbage. Well now we’ve got bikes like the Stumpy Evo (and Oranges/Mondrakers/Treks etc) that are the benchmark in modern trail bikes with such geo.

I went from a 665mm bar to a Superstar flatland,tried it with various grip positions,and ended up cutting it to 740mm. didn’t shorten the stem,coz it was already 70mm,but inverted it (10deg Thomson),and found that gave me a much more comfortable riding position,and feels like much more control,without feeling barge like at all.
Ian

I went to 762’s on both bikes and had problems steering past a certain point. I am about 5’8″ and my arms aren’t that long and my shoulders aren;t too wide either.. so it was a step in the wrong direction for me. Riding the usual stuff felt weird and I was having probs following the the left grip on right hand corners.. and the right grip on left hand corners. I was overstretching or something. Something wasn’t right and it wasn’t until after 4 or 5 rides that I decided that enough was enough.

To begin with I chopped down one bar about 15mm then finished up with 732mm or thereabouts. 15mm off either side. Huge difference. Everything felt normal like it had been for the past 2 freekin decades (in the arms and shoulders) as I was no longer out of my zone.

The stem was shortened too but I decided to go back to (hmmm,funny this) the stem that came with the bike as standard. Riding with the short stem,wider bar and my lack of strength up top meant I was having problems rolling through compressions or hitting rocks/logs that were all a bit on the deep side/big side. I was collapsing over the front of the bike. The longer stem enabled me to take the hit as my arms and hands were still out further away from tight into my body. I know it’s 20mm we’re talking about here but if a stem is too short for me and I compress over the front of the bike.. I just can’t support the body weight anything like I can if the bar was 20mm further out in front of me.

So from 762’s I am now on 732’s on both bikes and although it’s nowhere near what some folk think they can get away with.. it’s still approx 70mm wider than what I was previously using.

As I sit here thinking about it.. it seems that with the fashion of wider bars, kids with really narrow shoulders and short arms ar buying into this and to be quite honest If they can’t steer a bike properly after the likes of 45degrees because they are having to lean 4-6 inches further forward to keep up with the outside grip.. then they may as well buy a frame too big for them!