Anyone tried the magic new 35mm bar size? And has the hive mind reached a consensus on “paradigm shift” vs “marketing bollocks”? 😉

hasn’t it been around for a while now?

i’m a total mincer; i prefer 31.8 bars. It only seems sensible that someone gnarlier than I* might want something a bit sturdier.

(*Alan Carr, for example)

Everyone needs an excuse to buy a new stem… no?

The internet’s declared most of the bars “too stiff”, which is a detailed analytical process that involves tossing a coin to decide whether stiffness or flex is desirable, then guessing which one it’ll be since nobody can actually tell the difference.

i’m a total mincer; i prefer 31.8 bars. It only seems sensible that someone gnarlier than I* might want something a bit sturdier.

31.8mm is the gnarly option, 25.4mm was absolutely fine 99.99% of the time. Now that 650b is obviously the only way to ride, you can expect the marketeers to target 35mm as the only combo to really make the trails feel alive

I have easton havoc bars and stem “35mm”
I bought them because I wanted to go 800mm on bars and 50mm on the stem, I like the set up but don’t think the “35” makes any difference at all.

…25.4mm was absolutely fine 99.99% of the time.

agreed, but i’m such a mincer that i worry about the 0.01% of the time when I might die a painful death. I land to flat off some pretty high kerbs Y’know.

(i have just fitted an old pair of 25.4mmm bars* to my hardtail, they’re completely fine, obviously)

(*using my old ‘world force’ stem** from 1997)

(**actually, they’re old*** world force bars too!)

(***not quite as old…)

Ive been running the 35mm Easton aluminium bar and stem since last July. I bought them because they were half price and look fantastic in orange! They are stiff but not uncomfortable at all IMO.

legend – Member

Now that 650b is obviously the only way to ride, you can expect the marketeers to target 35mm as the only combo to really make the trails feel alive

You’re getting a bit ahead of yourself there, 35mm is the standard that might actually make a noticable difference, but people won’t buy because it looks a bit odd. So they’ll push it for a couple of years then introduce an inbetween standard. 32.9 perhaps, which satisfies people’s desire for change and novelty without being different enough to be scary (or worthwhile)

Course, they won’t call it 32.9, they’ll call it One Point Five Bar or something to hide the fact that it’s not actually in the middle.

But 35mm stems will role better. 25.4 brings the trail to life…

and then they’ll change the bit at the end of the bars.
tbf it’s just an arbitrary diameter chosen probably for being a standard pipe diameter.
expect a marketing push with new grip, shifter and brake mounting standards.

I’d have bought an 800mm Easton Havoc bar if they’d made one in 31.8. They didn’t, so I bought someone else’s 800mm bar, which I’m very happy with. This is the kind of new standard I like. It’s there if you want it, but you don’t have to go near it.