Flat Handlebar Width

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Seems to me a lot of modern flat bar bikes come with ludicrously wide handlebars.

I've chopped the bars on my last two pushbikes, a Cannondale mtb and an Evans Pinnacle hybrid.

Apart from comfort, the narrower bars are much handier at the many motorbike restricting A frame gates we have around here.

Also designed to discourage knobhead cyclists from powering through them.
 
It's funny you should say that but I'm not sure it works that way. A wider bar gives more leverage so, while you're right to say a shorter bar will move the steering further, it really depends on the force exerted in the first place.

Many years ago I had a beautiful Marin Redwood. It was based on a Columbus triple-butted steel frame & kitted out with a full Shimano 700CX groupset (anyone remember that?). The bars were titanium and around 560mm wide. Trust me, nobody was faster around Edinburgh. I loved that bike. So much so I eventually got it resprayed by Bob Jackson. Alas, it ended up in a shed for so long it rusted to bits (back injury). When we left Scotland it was still in that shed.

Sorry for going off on a tangent :cry:

I still think a narrower handlebar makes steering more twitchy, not less, all other parameter being equal.
 

Psycolist

NINJA BYKALIST
Location
North Essex
I agree with bonsaibilly. I have recently gone from a 600mm width to a 570mm bar and it is definitely more twitchy. There must be a mathematical equation to describe amount of movement made at the end of a bar, to create a set amount of turn, relevant to the length of the bar, but I am not a mathematician. Its just common sense. In reality, the majority of turn is created by leaning, rather than actually turning the bars. I forget, what's a tangent, is it like a matrix ?
 
OP
OP
G

Goggs

Guru
The shorter bar is only going to be more twitchy if the same input force is applied as with a wide bar, but who would do that? Perhaps our terminology is wrong here.
 

Kajjal

Guru
Location
Wheely World
Wider bars bring you forward on the bike which is why mountain bikes often have shorter stem to compensate. I have a mid 1990's xc mountain bike which came with a narrow flat bar and bar ends. The steering was very twitchy making the bike unstable, so I fitted a wider riser bar which improved things no end. My recent xc mountain bike has much wider bars which work well with the 29" wheels. Going too wide makes the bike uncomfortable and affects the handling.

In the end it is down to personal preference as long as you don't go too wide or too narrow which makes the bike hard to ride.
 
OP
OP
G

Goggs

Guru
The shorter bar is only going to be more twitchy if the same input force is applied as with a wide bar, but who would do that? Perhaps our terminology is wrong here.

Note to self - don't post pseudo-science after imbibing alcohol.

What I'm meaning to say is that the same rider input to wide bars is going to have a larger effect than it is to narrow bars due to the increased leverage afforded by the wider bars. Therefore the narrow bars will be less twitchy, providing the rider input is also less.
 
OP
OP
G

Goggs

Guru
I thought I had cracked it today. I found a shop in Avignon that had a nice short (580mm) handlebar that, as far as I could tell, tapered pretty quickly from the centre (31.8mm) bulge. I was so confident that I bought a pair of short bar ends to give me a change of position. Got home, took off the old bar & levers etc, fitted the new bar and.. Nope! I can get the levers on but the bar ends will not fit. I could make them fit by letting them overhang the bar end by about 5mm but I don't think that's very safe. I'm tempted to try it but if I do I can't return them for a refund if it doesn't work out. Damn it!
 
OP
OP
G

Goggs

Guru
Anyway, I went out this afternoon and did 47km & it was the best ride on this bike yet, by some distance. I much prefer the narrower bar and I also like how it seems to have taken a bit more pressure off my wrists, presumably because I'm effectively more upright.

I really fancied bar ends though & I'm disappointed the cheapo ones I bought today can't be fitted. However, I think I have a solution. It's expensive but as far as I can tell the Ergon GP5 grips will fit in the space I have. They have bar-ends built-in & take up no more space than my current grips (according to Ergon's PDF). The downside is they're very expensive so it's going to be next month before I can afford them. Here's a link for anyone who's interested & doesn't know what they are..

http://www.ergon-bike.com/en/product.php?w=touring&a=griffe#gptouring-42410275

Has anyone here got any experience of these grips? My stock grips right now are Cube ergonomic things that are pretty much the same as the Ergons' but minus the bar-ends. I like the support they give me. The bar-ends would allow me to change position now & again to relieve any aches & pains.

*Edit - Sorry, one more thing. Has anyone dealt with Tredz before? I'd never heard of them but found them toninght. They're considerably cheaper than anywhere else for the Ergons.
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Anyway, I went out this afternoon and did 47km & it was the best ride on this bike yet, by some distance. I much prefer the narrower bar and I also like how it seems to have taken a bit more pressure off my wrists, presumably because I'm effectively more upright.

I really fancied bar ends though & I'm disappointed the cheapo ones I bought today can't be fitted. However, I think I have a solution. It's expensive but as far as I can tell the Ergon GP5 grips will fit in the space I have. They have bar-ends built-in & take up no more space than my current grips (according to Ergon's PDF). The downside is they're very expensive so it's going to be next month before I can afford them. Here's a link for anyone who's interested & doesn't know what they are..

http://www.ergon-bike.com/en/product.php?w=touring&a=griffe#gptouring-42410275

Has anyone here got any experience of these grips? My stock grips right now are Cube ergonomic things that are pretty much the same as the Ergons' but minus the bar-ends. I like the support they give me. The bar-ends would allow me to change position now & again to relieve any aches & pains.

*Edit - Sorry, one more thing. Has anyone dealt with Tredz before? I'd never heard of them but found them toninght. They're considerably cheaper than anywhere else for the Ergons.

You won't do better than Ergon grips.

I smacked my bike into a dry stone wall - the Ergon bar end kept me upright and was barely grazed.

Have a think about what size bar end you want, mine are the stubby ones which still give a choice of positions while looking a bit neater.

I'm not sure the longer one would give much more choice of position.

One thing all bar ends are handy for is manhandling the bike when you are off it.
 
OP
OP
G

Goggs

Guru
I have never known anyone have so much trouble getting so little kit onto so many iterations of a handlebar!

Welcome to my world. To be fair, this is the first time I've ever had to deal with the extended length of the Nexus shifter. On four previous flat bar bikes I've been able to modify them with no problems at all.

Anyway, if it weren't for problems & learning how to overcome them this would be a pretty dull sub-forum, don't you think?
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Welcome to my world. To be fair, this is the first time I've ever had to deal with the extended length of the Nexus shifter. On four previous flat bar bikes I've been able to modify them with no problems at all.

Anyway, if it weren't for problems & learning how to overcome them this would be a pretty dull sub-forum, don't you think?

Yeah, getting anal about minor components is all part of the fun.

And it gives non-cyclists a valuable opportunity to laugh at us for being such saddos.
 
OP
OP
G

Goggs

Guru
I actually don't mind when things go wrong. It's when they go wrong twice that's a downer. A lot of the problems I face stem from the fact I'm in France. You'd probably imagine France would be good for bike shops. You'd be wrong. Bike repair, yes. Bike sales, yes. Bike parts, no. Awful actually. I guess everyone does mail order over here. Which would be good if I was fluent in the lingo but sadly that's still some way off. And French websites are notorious for not offering an English version alongside. C'est la vie.
 
Top Bottom