[Closed] Wide bars for XC?

Personally, anything under 800 feels too small to me, but everyone's different, so go with whatever's comfortable. Maybe gradually cut them down 10mm at a time.

You can try moving your grips inward before you cut (if they're double sided lock on) to fogure out what you prefer before you cut, although that won't solve your "fitting through gaps" issues

As above, try for a few rides then move the grips in if able, then cut in 10mm increments per ride.

I went from 600 to 730 and it felt very, very odd for a while but I wouldn't go back now, see what happens when you get used to them.
Gaps aren't too much of an issue, the odd bridge perhaps and maybe some brambles but trees and thi gs tend to be further apart anyway

As above, you get used to it pretty quickly and going back to narrow feels really wrong. I wouldn't rush into cutting them, and certainly not taking 30mm off each side straight away

Ok, thanks, will give it a few more rides then decide. 🙂

Good idea that, I went for 760s on my 29er XC FS, but with a 70mm stem and it feels bang on considering I had 720 and an 80mm stem on the previous bike.

What length stem does it have? The steering will be slower partly due to the larger wheels but mostly to do with the HA which will be far slacker than your previous bike.

Every time I try a wider bar, it feels odd to start with, then I try a narrower one again and that feels worse straight away.

I’m at 800 now, they felt wide compared to the 740s I thought were crazy wide, compared to the 711s I had before that, which felt too wide compared the the 685s before that, which were loads wider than the 600s I started out on.

Had same issue moving to 760mm bars on EpicEvo from narrow bars on 26inch 05 Epic.

I stuck with it and stability and control feels great now. Including in between the trees.

Occassionally riding an old 26in narrow barred bike feels very strange and twitchy

Give it a while longer and see what you think.

The stem is 70mm, 90mm on the Spark. I just didn't know whether the wide bars was just a 'trail centre' downhill thing, or if it was how all XC'ers were going now and it is better for XC stuff!

It'll be fine and you will get used to it pretty quickly. Just don't pin it through tight trees just yet until you your body has 'learnt' the bar width and you don't have to think about it.

What length stem does it have? The steering will be slower partly due to the larger wheels but mostly to do with the HA which will be far slacker than your previous bike.

very much this. XC bikes have changed hugely in a decade. Bar width is only a part in the system, and one that interacts/affects with steering, steep descents/drops and general seated peadlling position.

You are probably 3 degrees slacker and 50mm shorter stem than the old scott. thats a huge change.

Possibly cut them down a fraction, depending on your height and shoulder width - but anything starting with a 6? Jesus I'm glad the sport has moved on from that.

Don't overthink it. Try riding for a bit with the bars as they are. If you get used to it probably leave them and if not try shorter.

Ride them for a moth, then jump on a narrow bar XC bike, I reckon you'll be surprised how nervous the old bike feels

740mm isnt even that wide in modern terms. Stick with it.

Remember that the bar width is linked to Stem Length so just cutting them down drastically is not going to be ideal anyway.

780mm here on the XC/trail hardtail.

Yeah, I'd agree with the others, you've ridden a bike for 10 years with narrow bars, and anything is going to feel weird. I don't really change anything on a new bike for at least a few rides just to get used to how the new bike feels.

OK, I'll stick with them for now then, thanks! 🙂

I got some 720s for my XC bike and trimmed 5mm of each end. I find having my hands a bit closer seems to help smash up climbs, however it's less good descending. But then, my bike is mid-2010s so not like yours. As said, bar width and stem length go hand-in-hand with other modern geometry changes so stick with it for a bit.

A good option is to buy a cheap bar from say On One for a tenner so you can trim it, then once you are happy you can splurge on something better if you end up at a different size. But any given width you try, you need to ride it for several months to get over the initial shock. This goes for pretty much any bike setup change really.

The steering on the Oiz feels quite slow, and I was having trouble fitting through gaps I’d easily get through on the Scott.

Where the hell are your local trails? In a bamboo forest or something?

Ride them for a moth, then jump on a narrow bar XC bike, I reckon you’ll be surprised how nervous the old bike feels

Definitely do this. Ride them until you get used to them then put your old bars on and see how horrible it feels.

Do you still have other, shorter bars? Pretty easy to swap over and experiment.

In my experience the ideal length for a bar is 10mm longer than I just cut it to.

740 is pretty narrow nowadays. You’ll get used to it after a while.

I found 720 to be a nice comprimise for XC.

On the Scandal I've stuck with wider, 760 I think, as it's slightly more upright.

I've tried even wider bars and found they reach a point where I can't steer effectively because it's starts to need the whole upper body to turn the bars. And I'm 6ft so should be able to reach effectively! Leverage is great, but that swings both ways past a point the size of the movements required slow down your ability to make them effectively. And the more stretched the position the worse that gets.