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why have bars and stems gone to 35mm ?
Who knows. At least its mm, and no daft imperial wheel 'sizes'...
We'd have to call it 1 1/8"
So that you will think you need it and buy more things.
35 was always the downhill size. With the rise in enduro, people were looking to get DH or DH-lite equipment onto trail or all mountain bikes.
Overall seems like a bit of a miss but not terrible (my bike has one, not bothered enough to pay the money to change).
Irritating if you a serial fiddler trying to get your optimal stem length and your box full of used stems don’t work.
the bars i want are 22mm so i will need a new stem even tho the stem is ok
35 was always the downhill size
Since when? I've never had a DH bike with 35mm bars. As far as I can remember 35mm appeared after bars started reaching 800mm in width and they've only become standard kit in the last few years.
I did just buy a bike with 35mm bars and immediately swapped them for my preferred 31.8 combo. Mostly because the OEM stem looked like half a house brick. Also the ones I've ridden in the past were brutally stiff.
Because of carbon, no? Pointless anyway (and mine are 35mm).
Since when
^fair point, trying to google now to see when they came in, it’s bloody difficult as there are 35mm length stems, and bars with 35mm rise confusing matters.
Believe my point still stands about (possibly needless) beefing up of trail/AM bikes to make them ‘enduro specific’
I think it was Easton’s fault, when they widened the Havoc bar to 800mm:
https://m.pinkbike.com/news/Eastons-35-millimeter-Handlebar-Standard-for-DH-800mm-Havoc-2012.html
https://dirtmountainbike.com/bike-reviews/handlebars-saddles/easton-havoc-35-review-headtube.html
I also can't remember when they came out but I do remember reading the justification for it which was wider bars making a larger, stronger tube and bigger clamping area necessary.
I then remember the reviews where people complained how stiff and unforgiving they are. This is how I felt on a handful of test rides and demo bikes where I found them to be pointlessly harsh for no real benefit. I've been avoiding them ever since.
If you read the marketing spiel on some new 35mm bars you'll find they've been expertly tuned to be just as comfortable as your old bars. This just leads me to believe the whole exercise was completely pointless.
EDIT: beaten to it^^
That rings a bell actually because those Easton bars and stems were the first ones I rode on a mates V10 and we both had savage arm pump. He switched back to 31.8 and when I bought a YT Tues a year or so later it came with Renthal 31.8 setup.
Can't believe how long ago it was!
35 was always the downhill size.
No, it really wasn’t.
*Edit. Apologies for my bluntness - it was unwarranted.
marketing wins again!
Last set of bars I bought were - had no issues with 31.8, but there were fewer options in that diameter.
the bars i want are 22mm
Is it for a motorcycle, a BMX or have you gone for an oddball choice that was obviously going to need either a replacement stem or shim?
They look cooler
I have Renthal Fatbar Lites on both bikes; one pair 31.8mm, the other 35mm. I’ve only got the 35mm ones because one of my bikes came with nice 800mm RaceFace carbon bars, and years later when I decided I wanted more rise and less width I didn’t want to buy a new stem, as the RaceFace 35mm clamp one worked very well.
Unfortunately the 35mm ones are on my Levo but the others on my hardtail so it’s impossible to filter out the change in feel. On their own the extra 1.5” of wheel side, 10mm more front travel and 157mm more rear travel changes the feel at the hands rather a lot - far more than 3.2mm extra bar!
There’s no doubt it’s not that hard to flex both these handlebars a fair way but it’s predictable and doesn’t seem to mess up handing.
I like 35mm bars and stems. For the more Wookie sized amongst us they work great. I’m running an 810mm Deity bar and an I9 A35 stem which feels excellent to me, especially for big drops. I found 31.8 was way too noodley and vague. It’s the same reason I prefer the Zeb to the Lyrik, it goes where I point it 🙂
35mm stem and bars were on the bike when I bought it. Seemed silly not to have them. Made riding awkward.
Overall I prefer the look of low rise 35mm bars over low rise 31.8. Just looks better. Is it stiffer? Snake oil? Marketing? Or all of the above???
Funny repies above.
It's quite obviously because everyone currently has some other size, so if we change it then everyone will buy shit loads more stuff.
Bigger is better. Obv
^ this
you can get shims for bars any size you want
35 to 31.8
31.8 to 25.4
31.8 to 22.2 for running mx or bmx bars
Because it’s 1 louder than 34?
I'm no entirely sure its caught on so much as other 'standards' though.
Every single person I ride with has 27.5 or 29" wheels, obviously. They have Boost (or super boost) hubs. Post Mount Brakes. Outboard bearing BBs. etc etc.
But I dont know many/anyone running 35mm diameter bars? Its certainly not been pushed as much as other developments from what I have seen.
I have 31.8mm on my hardtail and 35mm on my full squish, do i feel a difference between the two? No.
Only reason i went 35mm on the squish is because the bars i wanted werent available in 31.8mm.
Feel absolutely no difference between the two and out of curiosity i did swap the bars and stems from one bike to the other and still felt no difference.
IMHO - snakeoil go for whatever bars you like.
you can get shims for bars any size you want
35 to 31.8
I'd be well impressed if you could get shims to take a 35 to a 31.8 🤔
Mine are 25.4 🙂
I’d be well impressed if you could get shims to take a 35 to a 31.8
35 stem to 31.8 bar? You are easily impressed
It’s quite obviously because everyone currently has some other size, so if we change it then everyone will buy shit loads more stuff.
This ^^^^^^^
Wasn't 35mm a roadie standard first? I'm sure I remember Easton and Deda pushing it. Part of the reasoning being touted was that it meant less of a bulge from the clamp to the "wing" section on aero shaped bars. That and roadie bars are hard to get right. You want them stiff at the ends in the drops but tomalso absorb buzz on the flat/hoods which is impossible. But you can combine a stiff bar with a compliant fork and D shaped steerer tube to get the right effect.
35 stem to 31.8 bar? You are easily impressed
Wooooshhhhhh *joke flies overhead*
That's not what was written, you can't shim a BAR from and to those sizes. They've been written the wrog way round (or bar needs replacing with stem).
But I dont know many/anyone running 35mm diameter bars? Its certainly not been pushed as much as other developments from what I have seen.
More seriously..
I bought a new "trail" bike back in 2015 and it came with 35mm bars as the default. I think any bike with RaceFace OEM equipment has done since about 2014/15
Pretty sure it was RF who first pushed it as the best way to make 750mm+ width bars lighter and/or stronger.
35mm is fairly pointless when most people (like Renthal) have tried to engineer them to feel the same as 31.8.
I was reading something somewhere recently (PB or NSMB) that said stuff carbon wheels had highlighted how stiff and uncomfortable actually 35mm bars were.
It’s an ‘industry standard’ that has meant companies needed to offer that option rather than wanted to.
There we go - 2012 article on Pinkbike
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/Eastons-35-millimeter-Handlebar-Standard-for-DH-800mm-Havoc-2012.html
"Previously, Easton offered a conventional 31.8 millimeter bar in a 750-millimeter width, but when pressed to widen it to 800, its design team was not satisfied with testing results."
Yes, that’s the same link I posted higher up the thread!
It seems to be a failed standard, or heading that way?
It's pretty funny that people rode stiff 35mm bars and then said 35mm Bars Are Too Stiff. Like you can't get widely varying stiffness- my 31.8 enves were stiffer than I'd ever want and my crank bros bars are made of rubber.
chiefgrooveguru
Yes, that’s the same link I posted higher up the thread!
Good link 😀
Wooooshhhhhh *joke flies overhead*
Sure did, he should have used a smiley. I thought he was just being a nob 🤷♂️
It seems to be a failed standard, or heading that way?
Is it? I was getting the feeling it’s all that will be available in future so it’s what I would buy. Bit like if I was buying a bike I’d go 29 for fear of 27.5 tyres and rims getting less well supported
It seems to be a failed standard
It does sort of, it's been about for a while now but certainly hasn't been universally/widely adopted, at the same time it's not vanished, you can buy plenty of bars in both 31.8 and 35mm flavours...
Why does it exist?
Various companies got overexcited and thought they could trick more sales out of us stupid punters, it's not really panned out for them through...
I wouldn't go out of my way to buy 35mm bars/stem for any bike...
I was getting the feeling it’s all that will be available in future so it’s what I would buy
It's been around for a decade or so and not really put a dent in 31.8mm sales.
It's more likely that the "bike industry" will come up with another one of their ungentlemanly agreements and simultaneously change the upper diameter of steerer tubes and handlebar clamps just to really knacker backwards compatibility...
I think it's doing better than 25.4 despite not "panning out" 🙂
How's 35mm taking off with the roadies? Many road bike manufacturers embraced it?
I spent ages looking for a particular stem / colour combo in 31.8, then discovered that Burgtec don't actually make it. Got annoyed. Then realised my bars were, in fact, 35mm and I hadn't noticed. So that was nice.
It's definitely one of the more pointless innovations in recent MTB history, but it's here to stay alongside 31.8mm now.
I suspect eebs have boosted its popularity in recent years, for both extra stiffness and the chonky look.
It’s more likely that the “bike industry” will come up with another one of their ungentlemanly agreements and simultaneously change the upper diameter of steerer tubes and handlebar clamps just to really knacker backwards compatibility…
I'm waiting for D-shaped steerer tubes to come to MTB.
Integrated cables for the XC crowd, 30mm stems for Enduro. Both will claim the other is a fashion victim.
It’s been around for a decade or so and not really put a dent in 31.8mm sales.
Not true, 35mm outsells 31.8mm now. Almost all mid-high end bikes now come with 35, and people swapping stock bars might not want to replace the stem just to get 31.8mm.
It was a stupid idea to start with, but it's here to stay and is the new normal. FWIW 31.8mm bars do look a bit weird on modern chunky frames/ebikes.
Because we're suckers.
Because we’re suckers.
Only if you change because you think you “must”.
For me it’s a non issue. Last three bikes came with it. Only the alloy bars on the Whyte felt too stiff, changed them to One Up, which are much nicer. Alloy ones on Merida and Santa Cruz carbon have both been fine and are still on 5 years later.