Bars – how wide is too wide?

I can feel the benefit of wide bars (>700mm)

But at some point wider than this I guess they start getting in the way squeezing through gaps, etc.?

Tried 760’s, didn’t notice too many problems squeezing through gaps, but my wrists ached after long rides.

Tried 740, much more betterer.

Been on 780s a few. Feel happier most of the time on my 740s. Totally in the mind on the riding I do.

800’s. Anything else just feels odd now, but that’s the limit for me 🙂

I don’t ride down trails that would cause me not to fit through gaps, doesn’t sound like much fun if it’s that tight.

Occasionally clip a bar on trees, but i’m usually out of shape by that point anyway & just about hanging on 🙂

If you ride at cannock, about 760mm ish will see you come a cropper on ‘tight squeeze’

Currently on 780’s and they feel fine. There is however, a few small gaps over the chase which I can no longer get through!!!!

there are a couple of lovely tree heavy trails round here that 580 / 600 sees me having to shimmy round — which is why I baulk at thoughts of 800 🙂

c700ish. Usually on 685. Upped it to 710 and had a huge off after hitting a tree resulting in a cartoonesque fall off a steep bank, luckily saved by me hitting another tree. Those tree gaps aren’t going to get wider…

730 with bar ends here. Can be a bit tight on some trails

Rode 720mm for years and felt great. Recently been trying 750mm and liking them a lot. I couldn’t imagine going any wider though for the riding I do (XC and red route level natural trail stuff).

800’s. Anything else just feels odd now, but that’s the limit for me

Me too. Mde the mistake of not cutting my sixc bars down from 800 to 780, and now can’t imagine going narrower.

There’s only one trail at inners, so far, that I need to turn my bars going through trees to avoid coming to a full stop.

Can’t imagine how people cope on anything less than 750, but people do 🙂

There’s a jump on one of the final descents at Bedgebury, right in between two trees…you can see where the bark has chipped away where people haven’t quite made it.

~750 is the max on our local singletrack and many run narrower. I have 750s on the hardtail and have had 800s on the full-sus for a few months (which has yet to venture onto the tight local trails, just the more open steeper stuff or further afield). I love how the 800s ride.

Same here, New bars are 800, now I’ve ridden them, I really like them over my previous 750.

Not tried any really tight stuff with them yet though.

My sweet spot is 750mm tried a bar bigger and it just feels too much.

My DH bike has 800mm bars which feel too wide. I’ve been using Spank 777’s which felt better, until I tried Renthals at 740mm, which seem to be the sweet spot for me.

Everybody is different, so its worth experimenting.

I’m on 780s or 760s on various bikes and there’s a couple of places where they’re genuinely smaller than the gaps. But it’s not that common really. Built trails tend not to feature such gaps, they’re awkward to build through but it comes up sometimes on ridden in lines, footpaths.

When I went up from 720 to 760 I did keep clattering my bars and hands but that was purely positioning not an actual lack of space.

IMO the real consideration is just your preference and body shape. But I do have a way of creeping upwards, 720 felt mad, then I went to 760 and thought that was too much and cut back to 740, then I went back up to 760, then I tried 780 and again cut them back to 760, now I’m on 780 on both the #enduropoon and the fatbike. And 740 on the hybrid 😆 At this rate I’ll be on yardsticks by 2020

Waiting on delivery of some 785 raceface bars, currently on 750 havoc a which are great but I always feel they need that little bit more at either end. Will see how I get on with the tree’s in wharncliffe, may well be just another cause of me crashing into them!

Depends….

I went from 710 to 800 on the old bike, which admittedly felt like I was holding onto a broom handle at first.

Got used to it very quickly though and loved it, despite the tendency for reshaping my little fingers with trees.

Now on a longer reach bike with 780’s. Don’t really notice a difference.

Yardstick 915? 😆

great thread. My local trails are tight techy, lots of trees, sharp corners. Those remaining on old school sub 700mm bars rarely catch the trees, those over 750mm regularly do, often spectacularly !

It took me a while to get used to 711mm Havens on my Soul 3 yrs ago, then a relearning of lines with 730mm ones on Anthem – there are a few openings that cannot be ridden through. Now have a set of 740mm Havens (from the PSA on here the other day) ready to go on Anthem.

I wont be going any wider and am average build.

I run 780s on both my regular mountain bikes. I got some 710s in 2007, with the intention of cutting them down but never did. Everyone who rode it was a bit baffled by how wide the bars were but I grew to like it. Then about three years ago I got 780s and they just felt weird but I forgot to cut them down and now the 700s on my jump bike feel weird.

Trimix has 800mms, and from riding behind him at Woburn it appears many of the trees are 799mm apart….

I’m skinny framed enough that I went from the standard 42 to 40cm on my road bike, but on MTB I went from the old ~680 to 711, then found myself riding on the outside of them and now have 750s which feel pretty much spot on.

Buy wide – you can always move the grips and controls in to experiment, and cut them down when you’ve found the perfect width. You can’t add width to a too-narrow bar.

I don’t know the answer to the OP, but I’m totally happy on 785mm and 780mm.

Don’t want to try 800mm in case it’s a tiny bit better, as I can’t afford to upgrade like-for-like.

Had to take my 800s down to 780 as i kept hitting a tree on the comrie black. Every bloody time!

I think it’s dependant on how big you are I can understand guys at 6’+ with long arms wanting 750 upwards, but me at 5’8″ with relative shorter arms find upto 720 spot on.

I think as Jonny mountain said above it can depend on your height build! In my group we go form around 5.9 to 6.3 tall and run between 745 to 780mm bars on are trail bikes. I’m top end on the height and seem to favour 760 bars but height and sweep seem to be more important for me as I don’t have the best wrists in the world. Plus I also tend not just with bars but bikes as well its Gotta fit where 90% of your riding is done.

Height, build, bike fit, riding style and preference come into it…

…but I picked up some 730mm carbon bars to repalce the 650’s on my wife’s bike, with the expectation of trimming them. Told her to give it 2 rides then move grips in and see. She loved them so they are staying uncut.

Under 5’6″ with a slight frame, but shortish top tube and not riding too many right tree runs, more open paths and Peaks.

MotoX bars are generally 780-805 so I don’t see MTB needing to be wider. Yet…

700mm for me – but I tend to ride XC rather than a big bike.

depends on the bike geo too. My rigid, racey 29er runs 711s, whereas the FS is 760.

As above, too many variables (height, reach, bike geometry, type of riding, terrain, etc.) for there to be a one size fits all answer.

FWIW, at 5’6″ (with a short legs, long arms build) on a relatively long, slack bike (2014 Alpine 160) with a short stem I find 740 spot on. Have tried 780 and 760 but never quite 100% comfortable with them (although could be tempted to give 760 another go) and my old 710s feel silly narrow now.

I’m 5’6″ and I was happy enough with 740 for a long time. Then I tried 800 for a while but cut them down to 780 and then to 760 which seems to suit me best.

I only clicked on this thread in the hope that there would be an hilarious picture of a bike with really really really wide bars.

711 Havens on the more XC orientated bikes
750 Havocs on the FS gravity orientated bike

Wondered about going wider but find the 750’s feel really sweet and I can still really chuck the bike around when I have the energy and feel more animated.

There’s a jump on one of the final descents at Bedgebury, right in between two trees…you can see where the bark has chipped away where people haven’t quite made it.

That was my idea. I run 685 bars.

😀