Want to try wider bars… but don't really want to fork out and buy a set.

Current bars are 685mm and with all my mates running bars between 660mm to 685m I can’t easily try a wider set.

Ideally want to give 711mm bars ago to see what they are like but don’t really want to buy a new set of bars only to find out 685 is what I prefer.

Any other options to taking the plunge and putting my hand in my pocket?

Get some beer corks, sometimes found in Belgian wheaty beer bottles, and plug them in the end of yer bars, then bung yer grips over these. Now they won’t be very strong, obviously, but they will at least give you a feel of what wider bars would be like. Might add up to 2cm on each end. Then, if you like the feel of ’em, you can splash out on new bars without worrying you’ve made a mistake.

And if you don’t like the feel of ’em, well, at least you’ve had a couple of bottles of nice beer. 🙂

Put a stick in each end and trim off to 711mm?

or, ride with your hands 711mm apart

or, move the bars 13mm to one side, then you’ll half know what they’re like

OR if you have lock on grips with solid tube internals (ODI) just slack them off and slide out to required test width.

id just buy some 711mm ones, unless you have matthew mcconaughey arms
theyre great imho

you’ll be fine went 685 to 760 and no bad points (little fingers recovered now)

Aye, assuming you’ve got lockons, just try moving them out slightly, you might not want to ride at your most SuperGnar like that but there’s no problem in the short term.

You can buy plenty of good 2nd hand ones on here for £15 or so – surely not too much of a financial risk?

685mm to 711mm is not that big a jump so pretty low risk really. I would be surprised if you didn’t prefer them but I think the best suggestion is to buy second hand. Until you actually ride them you’re not going to know how much better they feel.

Evans were doing 711 mm sunline V1’s which were £30 last time I looked. You might lose a tenner on the if you don’t like them, but you could always trim them to 685 and keep them?

You’re only talking 13mm each side. just ride with your hands overlapping the end of your grips.

I still don’t know how anyone can get a lock on to stay put with only one collar done up. A mate has one collar lock-ons and I can get them to spin really easily.. wrenching the bars in use would be horrible!

Yep, I got some of those cheap-ish V1s from Evans a couple of months ago. Best ‘upgrade’ I’ve bought in a long time. In terms of mm’s it doesn’t seem much (and hasn’t seen me tangling with trees yet), but the feeling of greater control was quite a surprise.

You’re only talking 13mm each side. just ride with your hands overlapping the end of your grips

Exactly, slide your brakes and shifters out the same distance. I ride like this all the time – 670mm bars but when the trees aren’t hemming me in I treat them like 710s.

I ride like that all the time and there’s no need to move your hands in when it gets tighter.. if you ride prperly, your elbows are wider than your hands anyway.. slight flick of the bars or dropping a shoulder is all that’s needed to negotiate tight tree lined singletrack turns.

I bought a set of Azonic bars off here cheap to see if it was for me. Now have some 725 wide Race Face bars, so the Azonics are surplus to requirements. They’re not OS, but if you fancy them drop me a line.

GW – Member

I still don’t know how anyone can get a lock on to stay put with only one collar done up

I just remember to do up the bolt 😉 It just works with ODI in my experience, doesn’t need overtorqued or anything.