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For all-mountain riding as opposed to featherweight XC stuff
Mine have been about 700mm, but I'm just building up a Titus El Guapo, and have bought 740mm bars. I'm gonna give them a try anyway at that width before any cutting, was just curious how wide other people had gone...
27" bars for me
700-720-ish on my Pitch. I don't need any wider than that thanks!
720 I think, they're RaceFace SIXc ones if that helps
about 720mm i think.
Went up to 740 on my El Guapo
they're cut down to 700 now and that fits all my regular trail apart from two gaps in particular and I know where they are now!
685mm does me fine, and i still clip the occasional tree.
covert: 750mm
575: 711mm
blizzard: 685mm
road bike: 440mm (I think)
Dave
On my full sus i have 710mm Race Face Respond bars and on my hardtale i have 685 Easton EA50. Can't think i'd want any bigger than the 710 ones, both feel just right for me.
Just in case some people don't reply
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/how-wide-are-your-bars-3
750 for me.
Sunline V1 745mm
745mm - Find them perfect
sunline's 745mm. Big improvement on handling IMO. Give them a few rides to get used to as will probably feel strange at first.
What length stem are you using?
740 seems about right for me.
mojo - 70mm
DezB - thanks, did a forum search and not much came up funnily enough, hence why I started a new one, must have cocked up the search maybe
Yean I'm gonna give them a whirl at 740 although I have a feeling thats going to be a tad too much for the tree lined trails I ride a lot
Cheers!
No-one tempted to try the new Superstar Yardstick then?
[url] http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=532 [/url]
915mm. Seems like the Forresty Comission wasted their money doing all that felling recently, should have just waited for some of these bad boys to hit the trails, there'd have been knocked over trees all over the place!
710mm here
OT but did anyone see on twitter that Superstar now have a 915mm monster?!
Wilko - I think wide bars work better with short stems (50 mm) and low stack (eg 0-5 mm spacer between headset and stem) to get the direct steering feel and control from wide bars.
I think you're probably right there bro, but I have a disproportionally long torso in relation to my height so 70 is about as short as I can go without feeling cramped!
Been using 685mm bars for about seven years. As my shoulders haven't got any wider in that time i'll be sticking with them!
Ha, good work Rich, I'm sure not many people this side of Dirty Dan need super-wide bars (esp not 915mm?!) but I like the feel and they look pretty cool so thats good enough for me!
Wilko ..but don't forget wider bars will give you a shorter effective arm length (if that makes sense 😯 )
DH - 750
SS - 710
XC - 690
Road - 440
Although I will probably be going up to 700 - 710 on the XC bike soon...
Mojo - it does make sense, hadn't thought of that! Just picturing having 5 foot wide bars now and going along with my chin on the stem.. . 😀
750 trail/do everthing bike (cut down from 780 as would fit through some tree lined singletrack)
685 on xc 'race' bike currently building.
v.narrow on the other bike that being built but I don't want to talk about that one 😳
so what is the advantage of wide bars then? must admit I prefer them but what is the theory? an equal movement at the end of the bar will have less effect on steering i assume........
710s with 70 stem. I always find they take a bit of getting used too, mainly because I use a 660 flat on my XC HT. The wider bars are definitely more stable cornering at high speed downhill, I think they also force a better body position and weight distribution when cornering. I do find them a bit wobbly on very steep climbs, and I've clipped the odd tree in tight wooded sections.
I'm a complete wide bar convert. My '04 Enduro is all the better for running 710mm Funn bars and my Wolf Ridge has the full 760mm Nukeproof monty.
@ charliemort, More leverage> less effort to turn bars, mainly but allows me to run a smaller frame (well fit on the biggest frame they do) which cripling myself mainly.
In other news, Superstar sign a new team rider....did anyone see on twitter that Superstar now have a 915mm monster?!
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Lol, there's going to be lots of kids rding round with their faces on the stem top cap in the coming months then
The main benefits of wide bars is that they put your weight further forwards. This puts more weight through the front wheel and improves traction, and gives you a more aggressive stance. Of course you can run a longer stem to put your weight forwards but that makes the steering more sluggish. Potentially a wider bar gives you more leverage and makes it less likely that front wheel rocks will force you off line, but my opinion is that's a secondary benefit.
Superstar have obviously taken it too far though - I imagine they offer that to allow people to cut them down to a more reasonable size, but I bet a lot of people won't...
750mm for me on the XC bike.
My view is that wide bars = better, but the last time I said that on here I got mocked by some luddites so I'll end this post with "IMHO, of course."
The main benefits of wide bars is that they put your weight further forwards. This puts more weight through the front wheel and improves traction, and gives you a more aggressive stance. Of course you can [s]run a longer stem[/s][b] simply bend your elbows slightly more[/b] to put your weight forwards
🙄
710mm on all my bikes (Cube Fritzz, Trek Fuel Ex9 and Orange Crush). I would ideally like to go up to 740/750mm, but i already spend half my life falling off from clipping the trees in my local forest...any wider just wouldnt work for me.
All bikes are round the 710mm mark but just tried a 740mm and it feels very right for my ape like arms, a change may be coming!
720 I think, they're RaceFace SIXc ones if that helps
Same here, think they might be 725mm.
Perfect anyway!
Leverage, stability, body position take your pick they're all valid points, TBH I simply tryed a fad and found I get along quite well with it...
Call it a "Fashion" thing if you like but ultimately nothing (not even marginally longer handlebars) will actually make me look cool on a push bike, so I might as well be comfortable...
I still think Bar width should match riders physical build, but there's no harm in buying some wider bars and then breaking out the hacksaw to "Adjust" them later...
I still think Bar width should match riders physical build
+1
I tried some 777mm bars and felt like I was being crucified, bigger guys I ride with love them though.
Sunline V1 745mm
One of the best changes I've made to a bike
GW does make a good point here.
If wider bars are used to bring your weight forward, then bending the elbows achieves the same but with more control (your arms aren't locked) and the option to take your weight backwards on the bike too when that's needed.
Of course, we're all different shapes and sizes so I expect they suit some people more than others.
685 and 720 to answer the OP 🙂
685 on my hardtail
600 on my rigid bike.
At some point I'll upgrade the stem and bars on the hardtail and move them to the rigid.
In a few years time we'll all be laughing at these super wide bars like people laughed at flared trousers in the 80s. You mark my words.....
Often pondered on the handlebar width debate which seems to be in vogue at the minute.
Personally, I cut down 685mm bars to 665mm because they felt too wide for general XC and I'm 6'3" with proportionally wide shoulders and arms in proportion also.
Cleverly, I bought a frame that was the right size, so I didn't need to run wide bars to get my weight forward for more front wheel traction.
Anyways, in your position, I wouldn't want to run 665mm on an all mountain rig purely because in today's fashion it just wouldn't seem right.
Things you need to really consider:
Advantage of wider bar is really more steering leverage and not getting knocked off line on fast tricky descents.
The disadvantage is threading between the trees.
I guess the faster and trickier the riding, the wider you should go with the bar.
Noting that World Cup DH Pro's generally run 29" bars and motocross bikes which are heavier, faster etc. generally are around 30" in the handlebar.
No one needs a 30"+ bar for leverage, they need to get in the gym and build up some muscle.
In my opinion, anyone running more than 30" on an all mountain rig has taken fashion one step too far. Chances are they also wear 'carrot' shaped trousers with elastic bands in the ankles. What's that all about? I stopped wearing trousers with elastic bands when I was a toddler.
Gold star for Rusty Shackleford!
Mine all have 710mm on now. Just seems to be the right width for me. I thought the DH bike would keep slightly wider bars but I just kept sawing off 10mm at a time til they felt right, and not coincidentally, they were 710. I'm a pretty narrow guy though.
My riding position's pretty constant, so nowt to to with frame size or getting my weight forward (when I want to get my weight forward, I just do it, I don't need hardware to do it for me). 710 just gives me a nice comfortable, flexible arm position as a starting point.
adrianmurray - MemberNoting that World Cup DH Pro's generally run 29" bars
That doesn't seem to be true... Freecaster or Dirt TV did a paddock walk last year and 30 inches or more was the norm.