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Can anybody point me towards some really wide road bars ?
My road riding is intermittent, but it does help with the fitness, but it has a tendency to play havoc with my back. I am fairly wide shouldered, and would like to try out a wider bar to see if that helps.
I know I should go for a bike fit, but road really does take a back seat, and I prefer spending money on MTB stuff, and the MTB's all seem to fit really well.
Cheers
What size are you after?
Generally the widest road bars are 46.
You could look at some of the salsa woodchippers or one one bars I think its the midge or mongo? But they are cx/touring bars.
Do you use the drops a lot? If not, use some 600 wide flat bars with bar ends and normal mtb gear shifters and brake levers.
Deda rhm 2 in 46 are comfy and have aero top which are very comfy .. Once you try aero tops you won't go back 😉
I had a borrow of a set of Nitto 520s in my last ditch attempt to like drops- they had a bit of flare on them which I'm not too keen on but the width was lovely.
Warning deda measure outside to outside so their 46 are others 44. Still wide mind.
I have 2 pairs of the old (2007 I think) Truvativ team road bars which are compact and a true 46cm center to center, I've been scouring Ebay to see if I can get another pair as I now want another drop-bar bike and I'm too used the shape of them to use another bar. (#1stworldproblems)
Everyone else's 46'ers are measured from their outside edges are are really 44's.
With all the MTB'er buying road bikes and the whole cyclocross boom I'm amazed nobody else has made some wider road bars, the Nitto's are only 26mm clamp so aren't really suitable sadly.
So all my nice, shiny road bikes will continue to ruin tatty, ancient £30 road bars for the foreseeable.
Come on 3T/Pro/Deda/Easton/Thomson/Ritchey/Zipp, you know you want to!
Wouldn't think wide bars would help your back so much? A short stem or one with more rise might give a more upright position which might help, but wider bars result in slightly more of a stretch surely - and more back problems?
Stem length, height, saddle fore and aft position and bar angle are very important to your comfort, so much more so than on an MTB. I had a Whyte CX and it was way to long in the top tube and I was never really comfortable.
The curve of drops also affects comfort and some suit better than others.
It won't be the width of the bars. Location rather than width is the most likely culprit. Could be too near/far/high/low. They won't be too narrow.