Bar length - how is too wide?

Flow-Rider said:
how is too wide?
You'll find out when you hit a few trees. :)
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Totally agree. This is a factor for me.

Mine are 760mm on the TRC and 740mm on the Heckler. The stem length so has to be part of the equation. More narrow for a longer reach stem essentially.
 
smiffy said:
Some grips add length to your bars too. DMR Deathgrips added 25mm to each end.
So measure the width with the grips on rather than just the h/bar
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are you sure you have pushed them all the way on?...just fitted a set and they are the same width as the odi's they replaced, slipped on easily but stopped about 25mm short of where they should be, gave them a little shunt and now sitting fine.
 
I'm almost 6'3" and I have long, long arms (ape index?)....serious knuckle-dragger :D

My previous bike I ran 760mm for a while....and then 780mm with a 50-to-60mm stem. When I sold the bike I was really happy with 780mm.

Current bike came with 800mm bars and a 35mm stem(!)....but a lot more frame reach.
I rode it for a month or so....but my wrists were uncomfortable....particularly when climbing (?)

So I took 5mm off each end....and slid the grips in a few more mm. Total width now is about 790mm.
'Twas just enough to make it right (partly psychological too, methinks)

TL;DR: I think sweet spot is 785mm.
 
Mr Crudley said:
Totally agree. This is a factor for me.

Mine are 760mm on the TRC and 740mm on the Heckler. The stem length so has to be part of the equation. More narrow for a longer reach stem essentially.
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You only have to look at the strike marks on the trees at handlebar height around here and then look down at the big divot out of the ground where they've gone over the bars. A lot of people seem to take it upon themselves to cut the trees down on the edge of the trails also.
 
Flow-Rider said:
You only have to look at the strike marks on the trees at handlebar height around here and then look down at the big divot out of the ground where they've gone over the bars.
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I always think of 2 trees at Forrest in VIC, reckon its on the grass trees trail, the 2 trees are near half chopped in 2 with bar strikes.
 
I just an “obvious in hindsight” test and pushed against the wall at 800mm apart and the sore bit in my elbows twinged. Did the same at an inch or so inwards in and no twinge.

Looking forward to getting home and swapping bars out for experimenting!
 
Really depends whether you are tall with long arms .
Like any good idea some people go to extremes. I have seen 800mm but around here tracks are tight .
Recently I hit a tree crossing a bridge and fell into the creek , my bars are only 720 so that is wide enough.
 
Ultra Lord said:
How longs the stem? Oddjob runs 780 widest but his stems are long af.

So many variables. I run. 800’s, bars swept back and a max 50mm stem.
6”4ish and not little.
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Wtf!? I'm running a 50mm on the Pole, 66mm weird Syntace thing on the SAM and 70mm on the Liteville.

If the head angle is too slack, offset too short, stem too short and bars too long you can really mess up the handling of the bike. There's a really good Cy Turner interview discussing all this.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
I got bars that were 825mm wide and they felt fine. Struggled with cutting them to 800 but noticed no difference. Need more tree clearance still so need to cut down to 780mm and even though it worries me I doubt it will change anything.
 
I am 1.93m tall with very long arms.
820mm was too long. It felt ok but clipped trees all over the place.
780mm to 800mm is fine but 780 is my preferred width.

Sweep and rise definitely matter too. I've a set at 780mm with less sweep that are a touch uncomfortable annoyingly enough.
 
Oddjob said:
... stem too short and bars too long you can really mess up the handling of the bike. There's a really good Cy Turner interview discussing all this.
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I found this out recently, new bike came with 50mm stem and 760mm wide bars.. I felt cramped and the steering was really twitchy, needed wider bars - HA 66-67.. Swapped out to a 60mm stem and the steering calmed down a lot and I no longer felt I needed wider bars. Fit improved greatly as well.

I fall somewhere between 760-780 depending on the stem length @ 181cm.
 
6'3 with an armspan a bit more than my height and I'm rolling on 760mm bars.

I had 800 on the DH bike when I had it built, and while it offered great stability, turning was certainly compromised.

20mm doesn't seem like much but I reckon I'd top out at 780mm if I went wider again.
 
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