[Closed] Roadie bar width - apologies

I've always worked on assumption that drop bar width should be same as riders shoulder width.
Rob Hayles has said the same but I believe Cav goes as wide as possible so even the pros don't agree!
If 400mm on your winter bike never caused problem, stick to what's been proven; if you go 440mm and they also cause probs it's not as if you can cut them down.

How broad are your shoulders? I like narrow bars and run 38cm ones, but I'm 5'7" and pretty slight. Yours do sound tiny, especially if you're bigger than me.

That said there's an article on cyclingtips about a UK pro who was running 27cm bars 😀 https://cyclingtips.com/2021/04/new-uci-regs-challenge-accepted-dan-bighams-27-cm-road-handlebars/

Before spending money have a look and compare the two bikes. It might not be a width thing. Is the position otherwise the same? For example a slightly lower stretched position causing you to lean on the bars more? Lever position, bar to saddle height, reach, saddle andle etc. could all be different.

360mm does seem narrow. Think I've always gone 420mm but never really thought much of it. The old thought was about shoulder width and comfort, now more about aero (7-10W 😉 ) which would explain the narrow bars.

The new bike def feels like it goes quicker for a given amount of effort which I like. Hope it’s not all down to the bars 🤣

Like you say you probably have answered your own question here!

As for bar width, you prob can't go wrong with frankconway's advice- shoulder width or 400mm, whichever is wider!

If you are determined to say yourself the £150 you could take a rehab approach and grade your return to activity- ie start with a length of ride that doesn't provoke the symptoms and slowly increase over eight to twelve weeks until you've reached your target mileage (60 miles?)

46cm with 30° flare here but I don't stick to the road

36cm is tiny, are you narrow shouldered and around 5ft tall?

Narrower bars will shorten the reach too which may be an issue.

There is an increasing trend with pro riders to go with ultra-narrow width bars - particularly with breakaway specialists where it can provide an aero advantage. But in the real world, if you can fold yourself in two to get into the necessary aero tuck, there’s just no point. 36cm is tiny, even back in the early 80s where ‘Aero’ was a trend, few riders went that skinny.

Measured shoulders - 440 middle of arms pretty much. I’ll stick my hand in my pocket 😉

I went from 420 to 440. More comfortable, maybe slight less aero.

I’ve always worked on assumption that drop bar width should be same as riders shoulder width.

That was the old rule of thumb before people realised that the rider is the biggest drag factor on the bike and reducing the bar width could make a significant difference to overall drag. As a result narrow bars are far more popular now.

420-440 for me at 6’, 72kg and normal build.

I went from 420 to 440. More comfortable, maybe slight less aero

Apparently bars too wide can lead to neck/shoulder pain, but if it works…

Shoulder width is the norm when on the hoods, but can do what you like !

What new bike came with 36cm bars as that is a very uncommon width even if bars are getting narrower in racing and not something I would expect to see speed on an off the shelf road bike?

Would be too narrow for me as I tried 38 and found them too narrow so now use 40 which by no coincidence matches my 39.5 scapula to scapula measurement.

It's not just dependent on one thing. My mountain bike is 780mm and I'm fine with that; sometimes riding with my hands cupping the ends. My proper road bike, I usually ride on the tops, inboard of the hoods. My pub bike, an ancient "racer", I tend to have my hands up against the stem sometimes even linking my index fingers.
Going up hills on the road bikes I usually move my hands outboard but up a long grind on the mountain bike I'll bring my hands inboard of the brakes.

What new bike came with 36cm bars as that is a very uncommon width

Please do let us know OP, it does seem odd.

And also - go and do the same ride on your other bike with wider bars and see if you get the same issue?

Is it possible to make your old bars work imperfectly but good enough that you could try the 400mm bars from your old bike on your new bike without messing around with hose length?

I've been told that too wide can cause as many problems as too narrow, so if you're going to try it blind I'd stick with what worked for you before.

But the problem could also be caused by something else that changed your hand position in relation to the rest of your body and so your weight distribution, does your new bike have different geometry (bar height to seat height, reach, etc) to your old one?

I went from 420 to 440. More comfortable, maybe slight less aero

This echoes my experience. I don't race so I don't care about the aero disadvantage.

This issue parallels the crank length one though (and wheel size to an extent?). Regardless of the variation in rider size the standard components gave a very limited range of sizes. For road bars it's normally 420mm or 440mm. Some women's bikes are shipped with narrower though.

Get a proper bike fit and go with what that tells you?

I'm 6'2" & quite broad, Phil Burt advised me to go from 44cm road bars to 42. It just felt like I was riding with my hands tied together, awful.
I'm not totally convinced its that important tbh. Tour divide? sure, you need some 500mm wide flared drops. MTB marathon racing? Anything as long as a broom handle is fine. 3 hr smash-fest on the road? Yeah, your arms will cease to work if you bars are 2cm too wide, its your funeral.

I'm 6', with a broadish build. Measuring across my shoulders to the bony protrusion on each side is 42cm. I ride 38cm bars and find them a huge amount better for comfort than the previous 42s I was running.
I was always turning my hands inwards on the bars, so my palms were on the inside, wrist in mid air to get comfortable. I still do this on the 38s, but a lot less than I used to and find the position a lot more comfortable.

YMMV

Having been a MTBer first, when I bought a gravel/road thing, I put 460mm sightly flared bars on it because I don't care about aero gainz and width is control right?
But I'm quite 'narrow' and recently I've been getting shoulder pain on longer rides so I've swapped them for 400s (with a bit more flare so the ends of the drops are about the same width). So far this seems to be more comfortable, though it's early days (ask me after my 200km audax on Saturday).

The other thing is, the roll of the bar, the position of the lever on it, and the angle of it (I've read tilting it in can help with shoulder issues) can all affect comfort.

First road bike here. 420mm width bars. Had to use a 110mm 45deg stem to bring the bars up high enough to grab (56cm seattube frame supposedly for my 6'3" height, which I don't think it is) but I still feel that perhaps they are a little too far away.

After 20km of riding up and down hills, there is an acute pain in my neck area, top of spine. Later, post ride, it stretches out a bit sideways. Pain in hands when on the top and pulling the brake levers. When down in the bends I don't feel too bad, just that I'll go over the front in an accident. Hands ache for days post-ride from holding onto strangely shaped, hard things.

Any advice?

@mrdestructo

Any advice?

Sounds like you've either got the wrong size bike, a major structural/skeletal/biomechanical issue or are in desperate need of a decent bike fit.

Also, get some decent padded gloves.

Had to use a 110mm 45deg stem to bring the bars up high enough to grab (56cm seattube frame supposedly for my 6’3″ height, which I don’t think it is) but I still feel that perhaps they are a little too far away.

Sounds like you don't fit that bike very well or it doesn't fit you etc.

Any advice?

Try a bike fit.

Some people have poor spine flexion, so being stretched out on a road bike is quite uncomfortable. A different set up / stretches / time might fix it...

Also, get some decent padded gloves.

A roadie pal recommended this to me too when I got my first drop-bar bike. Ended up buying some cheap fingerless mitts to go over a pair of MTB summer gloves.

What new bike came with 36cm bars as that is a very uncommon width even if bars are getting narrower in racing and not something I would expect to see speed on an off the shelf road bike?

It was a new-to-me bike though it was only 5 miles by the previous owner. He'd taken 440mm bars off and replaced them with 360mm - just for that one ride

And also – go and do the same ride on your other bike with wider bars and see if you get the same issue?

Other roadie has 400mm - can't remember having these issues.

Is it possible to make your old bars work imperfectly but good enough that you could try the 400mm bars from your old bike on your new bike without messing around with hose length?

Hoses are cut too short for this to be an option.
I have got a pub bike I'd forgotten about that comes with 440...tried that yesterday just in the street - massive! I'm going to go with 420mm as a little more width than what I'm used to won't hurt.

It was a new-to-me bike though it was only 5 miles by the previous owner. He’d taken 440mm bars off and replaced them with 360mm – just for that one ride

Hmmm, is it possible the owner palmed the narrow bars off on you and kept the ones he wanted for himself?

We've all done it when selling bikes.

Hmmm, is it possible the owner palmed the narrow bars off on you and kept the ones he wanted for himself?

Maybe…but he’s happy to sell me those for a decent price.

Thinking these could be a decent option - like the idea of flat tops and come with the width, reach and drop I want…anyone tried them? https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/prime-doyenne-handlebar-and-bar-tape-bundle/rp-prod198692

Did the previous owner cut the hoses when we fitted the 36cm bars? Annoying if he did for one ride!

I'm 5'8" and quite narrow shouldered, and always stick 38s on my bikes.

44cm bars would be for someone very broad.

The answer is the very first one you got, if you know 40cm bars work on your other bike just get 40cm bars for this bike. Going 44 seems to be unjustified and risky. 4cm of extra bar width is loads.

Just beware of the c2c / outside 2 outside measurement differences different manufacturers tend to use.

I'm back. Didn't realise our WiFi at work had been censored due to increasing nationalism laws for my type of instotution. No access to the world outside of the country. Even VPNs aren't punching through 🙁

Anyhow, buying gloves is difficult but I think I've got decent ones now, or the best I can. It's all East Asian sizing so I'm a 3xl to them, which is rare in shops. Imported gloves..... too many fakes to really know. Returns/refunds aren't practical.

Skeletal problems. Yes. Lower curved spine. I am more of a sit-up-and-beg type rider. After measuring my bike, I think I was sold one for a 6'1" rider, not 6'3". But I always have to mess around with the grip height/position due to the spine issue.

We have Decathlon stores here, although not really the full range of items for sale you'd see in Europe. The Triban bikes have a couple of models with narrow flat bars. Could this be an answer to my spine? Change the bars and levers to suit? How would I get down over the front sometimes though? This is my road exercise bike, and "better climber" alternative to my enduro hardtail for mountain roads.