I’ve never ridden a 35mm bar, but I’m in the market for a new stem/bar combo and just realised I can take my pick (currently considering a Nukeproof Horizon combo, or possibly OneUp components)

I’m lardy, but not sure if that’s enough reason to switch up?

I’d like at least a little compliance and comfort and I’m not particularly Gravity oriented despite putting together a fairly aggro hardtail.

AFAICT there’s no good reason to switch up just for the sake of it.

Agree with scienceofficer. Pointless unless you have a spare/free 35mm stem.

I’ve heard very good things about the OneUp bar but otherwise I’d avoid 35mm bars/stems (despite having them on one of my bikes).

I’ve got the one up bar, but only because I needed a new bar and stem for the new one and I was concerned about things being too stiff.

I only hear bad things about 35mm bars for your average rider.

I only hear bad things about 35mm bars for your average rider.

Like what?

As above, it’s not worth changing if you’ve no reason to, but I don’t think there’s anything inherently bad about them to choose 31.8 over them if you are buying for the first time. I’ve got a few sets and they all feel different, Enve M7 is crazy stiff, Tune Wunderbar very compliant, Burgtec carbon DH somewhere in the middle. Same differences as you get in 31.8s

My Whyte came with a 35mm bar, I can detect no difference except it is more comfortable when riding a long road section with my hands in the middle of the bar on the 35mm bit.

I’m a Clydesdale and my bike came with race Face 6c bar and stem.

It’s stupidly stiff. I’ve replaced with a renthal and it’s much better but still on the stiff side.

Avoid.

Cotic don’t use them nor On One. It’s another piece of glitter for the gullible.

Weird, I’m not at all into buying the latest bike standards for the sake of it. My new build has a RF affect stem and bar in 35mm. It’s really stiff but also very comfy. Moreso than the 27.2 Easton bar on an old bike I have…not what I expected

Cotic don’t use them nor On One. It’s another piece of glitter for the gullible.

I’m not sure I’d take ‘what On One can get their hands on cheap’ as a resounding endorsement.

Not sure how the tube diameter of an essential, often unbranded/OEM, part is ‘glitter for the gullible’ either.

I went down the 35mm route by accident really. Some parts came up at a good price.

The only reason to go for them in my opinion is either the reason I did or (subjectively) because they can look better on the right bike.

I do prefer the look but it’s a vey marginal reason for sure!

I don’t think it makes much sense unless you’re chasing increased stiffness. On a DH bike with short runs and tons of suspension then some will.

But on most bikes compliance at the hands helps with fatigue – make a bar large diameter and the stiffness will go up because you’re can’t reduce the wall thickness enough to compensate without running into strength issues.

When Cotic decided that 27.5 was gnarr only (dropped the soul) I stopped listening…

There are a lot of people talking bollocks on this thread. 35mm diameter bars were thought up by Chromag years ago to address the issue of wider bars (800mm+) not flexing under extreme forces. I own various 35mm diameter bars including a set of Chromag BZA bars and like Tom Howard said they can vary in stiffness. The Chromags are stiff but they were initially designed for freeride and DH. I also own a set of Nukeproofs and they are nowhere near as stiff as the Chromags. The only reason why Cy at Cotic doesn’t supply 35mm bars with his bikes is he reckons it looks strange with the skinny steel tubing.
So as a conclusion 35mm diameter bars are not a gimmick like others are suggesting they are designed for a purpose.

I’m big and put a lot of force through my bars.

I switched to 35mm 810mm bars because the 31.8 bars (spank spike vibrocore) were too noodley.

Don’t listen to anyone else try for yourself.

I found the same with stems, some are quite flexy.

Obviously this won’t be the case for lighter riders, but I look at a Zeb as a trail fork. 🙂

“ When Cotic decided that 27.5 was gnarr only (dropped the soul) I stopped listening…”

Too many of Cotic’s customers made that decision and Soul sales slowed to less than a batch of frames a year – too few to support them ordering more.

Got a 35mm race face carbon bar on my alpine and it’s great – much less trail buzz and definitely far less fatigue overall than on the previous alpine.

In contrast, my whyte cheat bike has a 35mm race face ally bar. It’s sh1t. Like having your wrists bound to the fork crown.

The outlier is my Crush has a 35mm burgtec ally bar. It’s almost as good as the carbon one. So ime it depends on the manufacturer and their design of bar.