What is "normal" bar width?

[S-Express]

The common wisdom is that your bars should be the same width as your shoulders.

Common misconception, more like

 

[MontyVeda]

The common wisdom is that your bars should be the same width as your shoulders.

that's what i figured.... my advice to the OP would be go into a bike shop, look at the various handlebars and check their width. No need to measure shoulders beforehand, just don't forget to take them with you

 

[S-Express]

Possibly so, there are loads of them. Do explain further.

Track sprinters routinely use bars of 38 or even 36cm width, regardless of shoulder width. There really is no correlation.

 

[MontyVeda]

Track sprinters routinely use bars of 38 or even 36cm width, regardless of shoulder width. There really is no correlation.

What about people just looking for a comfortable bar? Surely like the frame, it should fit the body??

 

[Racing roadkill]

Track sprinters routinely use bars of 38 or even 36cm width, regardless of shoulder width. There really is no correlation.

Not on a track, no, on a road with bumps and holes though, it's much easier to control the bike if the arms are in line with the shoulders.

 

[MontyVeda]

i want to buy another handlebar just like the one I already have - how do I know whether this is 40, 42 or 44cm?
... which seem to be the usual options for handlebars.

as well as taking your shoulders in to the LBS... take your current bars too

 

[S-Express]

What about people just looking for a comfortable bar? Surely like the frame, it should fit the body??

Of course they should fit, but there's no evidence that shoulder width has any relevance to bar width.

 

[Tin Pot]

My Cinelli Experience is the 54 cm frame 2013 model. The centre-to-centre distance of the drops is 420mm. I put the same bars on my previous 58cm Spesh Secteur. I do most of my riding in busy London traffic so a smaller frame and narrower bars makes "avoiding the furniture" a bit easier. It feels more nippy and responsive. If I did a lot of long rides in the country, with fast downhill stretches, wider bars and a larger frame might feel more stable.

Just found the receipt for the mash bullhorns on my other experience - they're 40cm which is odd as they feel wider than the vai drop handlebar when on the hoods.

 

[S-Express]

That would be to reduce the risk of touching bars when alongside each other, in an event that lasts just seconds. It is a bit of an outlier as examples go.

Pretty much all track riders will use narrow bars, regardless of the event. I used the sprint as an example.

 

[MontyVeda]

Of course they should fit, but there's no evidence that shoulder width has any relevance to bar width.

well if you're going to debunk this common misconception, you're going to have to do a lot better than your last effort.

 

[S-Express]

Not on a track, no, on a road with bumps and holes though, it's much easier to control the bike if the arms are in line with the shoulders.

What is the critical factor of the arms being in line with the shoulders?

 

[S-Express]

well if you're going to debunk this common misconception, you're going to have to do a lot better than your last effort.

I can give you examples all day long of riders who do not conform to your theory.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Don't they call Security and chuck you out onto the pavement?

Only in Ann Summers

 

[Racing roadkill]

What is the critical factor of the arms being in line with the shoulders?

Bio mechanical sympathy. Your joints and levers ( arms / legs ) work better / more efficiently if they are in alignment.

 

[S-Express]

Bio mechanical sympathy. Your joints and levers ( arms / legs ) work better / more efficiently if they are in alignment.

Are you just guessing? The whole point of joints is to enable limbs to function at different angles.