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This new bike has an 800mm bar. I've used 760 and 780 before, but I'm really struggling to get my hands comfortable 8n this new one. It feels like the grips are sloping away from my hands, which, going by riding others' bikes many people don't mind, but I hate. Normally I rotate the bars forward to give more up-sweep, but this hasn't really helped.
I thought I wanted different bars with more up sweep but having compared them to previous bars, the 760mm actually had less up sweep. I'm now wondering if the insane (to me) width is affecting my hand position? I'm going to try moving the controls inboard to allow me to move my hands in whilst climbing and wide for technical descents.
The other thing is that the grips on my older bikes were fat contoured ones which are thicker on the outside. Are tapered grips a thing? Do people choose them? Seems like skinny are the rage now.
theres a lot going on with bars:sweep, grips rotation etc
I cut mine down to about 770
I think some of the ergon grips have a taper. I'd just chop the bars to 780 and go from there. I find it normally takes a bit of experimenting with a new bike to get bar position right. 35mm or more rise works for me.
They come wide so you can cut them down to suit. If you prefer 780 then do that. If you really aren't sure then move the grips in 10mm and ride like that for a few rides before committing.
IIRC you are about my size? My shand came with 800mm wide bars - absurdly wide for a person of my stature. I have cut themdown to 740 ish and moved the controls inboard in a position around 720. Nice and comfy now
Just move the levers and grips in a bit until you get thm comfy.
Bars a such a person thing.
Only you know what works for you.
Just experiment a little until the feel right.
Same with grips.
I can happily ride with the thinest of grips that are totally worn out no problems.
Put a set of fat grips on and it causes me all kinds of problems with arm pump and hand pain.
🤷♂️
My shand came with 800mm wide bars
Heavily depends on the type of bike though. There's no way I'd tour on wide bars. My Salsa has 720 and my XC bike 710, but 760 was good for a long travel rowdy bike.
It might be a size thing too. At 5'11 I was right on the border between M and L, so I got L so it's sized for people a bit taller than me, whereas M would have been sized for people a bit shorter. So it makes sense that I'd need to trim it.
Heavily depends on the type of bike though.
Absolutely. I have four MTBs of various niches (fat, SS, FS and a "bikepacking" HT) and I couldn't tell you the bar width of any of them, just that each has been individually tailored to its role.
Normally I rotate the bars forward to give more up-sweep, but this hasn’t really helped.
Perhaps it wasn't up-sweep but back-sweep your hands/arms were benefiting from? Might be worth a try rotating them back a little?
Bar width also interacts with actual reach.
Essentially the further the bars are away from you, the narrower they’ll need to be. If they’re closer then you can run wider.
These days the fashion is to have wider bars with shorter stems. This is generally better on steeper downhills, but can cause problems with front wheel grip on mellower terrain, or when climbing.
800mm is super wide. Some people like them like that, but for me, who is pretty broad shouldered, I’ve cut mine down to 780, and am even thinking of going down to 770. I’m 5’11 riding a bike with ~475mm reach and a 35mm stem.
WRT grips, generally it’s what suits you, but more ergonomic grips tend to be thicker at the ends. Bigger hands tend to need bigger grips. Mountain bikes tend to come with fairly basic grips because the manufacturers know that they’re often the first things to be swapped out after the pedals.
I used to run 720 mm bars for years, back when that was wide. When the wide bar thing got going, I moved up to 760 and liked it. Then I tried some 800 mm bars and never got on with them, steering was too slow and I kept clipping trees. I cut them down to 780, but still didn't like them so now they're down to 760 mm. So, just try cutting them down 10 mm at a time until you find what you like. Ignore what other people like, they aren't riding your bike.
My 800 bars have been gradually shrinking. Now down to 750, and probably going to get even shorter.
I tried 800mm and it's great. I am 6ft and it feels spot on. Stem is 40mm and bike reach is only 450mm mind you.
Depends on your shoulder width and preference really, my bike came with 780mm and I found it comfortable and better than the 660mm bars on my old bike, rode that width for years, I bent those in a crash a few months back so replaced them with some new bars which are 800mm.
Truth be told, for 1cm at either end I haven't noticed a difference between 780 and 800mm. However I am 6ft 3" and really broad shouldered.
Technically my 800mm bars on my Kenevo SHOULD be too wide, but feel just right.
When I get on my Shan with 780mm bars, I often find myself riding with my palms on the ends of the bars.
The Kenevo is short by modern standards and the Shan even shorter though. On a long bike, 800mm might be too much
Try sitting on the bike static and shut your eyes. Without over thinking it put your hands on the bars where they feel most natural. Open your eyes and see if you’re using the full width. Cut to where you put your hands.
I’ve noticed my left grip (Wolftooth silicone) is migrating inwards. Suspect I should take 5-10mm off my bars.
I'm not slender, but the L was 30mm longer in reach than the M, so yeah it's long for me. I was thinking I'd try to eat used to it but I now think it makes sense to go narrower. I'll take 10mm off each end for today's ride 🙂
My 800 bars have been gradually shrinking.
It seems I have been gradually shrinking. Used to be a gnats knacker under 6', now 5' 10.5" 😳 age 52
Id agree wirh most people above, except to suggest that removing a full 2cm from the full bar each time is too much unless you are 100% sure.
6 or 7mm or so from each end to start with imho.
6 or 7mm or so from each end to start with imho.
Impossible. That would leave a width that is not a multiple of ten.
Impossible. That would leave a width that is not a multiple of ten.
Agreed....
OCD
Does
Not
Compute
What's the best way to make a big that feels long (big reach) shorter?
I've tried
35mm stem / 760mm bars
50mm stem / 760 bars (felt stretched out)
Yet to try anything with wider bars. Does having the bar ends (through a wider bar) nearer to you shorten a bike reach when seated?
“Essentially the further the bars are away from you, the narrower they’ll need to be. If they’re closer then you can run wider.”
For a while I ran 810mm bars on my old medium Spitfire. After one too many tree:bar interface crashes I bought a secondhand large Spitfire frame and went down to 770mm bar width. Five years on I’m still on 770mm (well 760mm bars plus 5mm from each single lock-on grip) on both my (electric) full-sus and my (singlespeed) hardtail. One is 455mm reach, the other 475mm and I’m a bit over 5’10” with knuckle dragging length arms…
The grip angle you like is going to depends on so many variables. Longer reach, or higher stack will change it as will wider bars. And obviously your own bones make the biggest difference.
I really like the shape of Renthal bars (they have less back sweep than most).
Impossible. That would leave a width that is not a multiple of ten.
Ok, howabout 7mm from one end and 13mm from the other... that adds up to a multiple of 10.
Meanwhile chezG we've just performed a major baroplasty by removing around 27mm in total.
But his were something daft like 825mmm to begin with....
It’s a combination of bike geometry and personal geometry. It’s probably a crime against bike-fitting but when I have tried reconciling the differences between bikes I have in the past taken a tape measure to the distance between saddle “centre” to bar ends and found it works quite well.
Ok, howabout 7mm from one end and 13mm from the other
Post reported.
What’s the best way to make a big that feels long (big reach) shorter?
I’ve tried
35mm stem / 760mm bars
50mm stem / 760 bars (felt stretched out)
Yet to try anything with wider bars. Does having the bar ends (through a wider bar) nearer to you shorten a bike reach when seated?
I take it you’ve moved your saddle forward on its rails as much as possible?
You can also make sure you’ve got as many spacers as possible under the stem.
You can also get more sweep on your bars.
Wider bars can bring the bar ends back a bit, but at the same time, you have to stretch out further from the centreline in order to reach them. AFAIK it’s not a solution to shorten reach if it feels too far.
Your bars need to be wide enough that your elbows are out in the ready position. If they’re starting to tuck under then the bars may be too narrow for you, unless you’re an XC fanatic. So if you still feel that your body position is good, it may be worth experimenting with reducing bar width again.
If none of that works, then you may be on a bike that’s a little too big for you.
Bear in mind, we get used to what we ride, and both of my past two bikes have felt “big” compared to their predecessor.
I actually like the position and feel of 800mm bars, but have started to get pain in my left hand, sort of between where the thumb joins the wrist. It goes during a ride, but think it could be down to the angle my hand is on the bars. Got horrendous "golfer's elbow" on that side too, so maybe the weak elbow is causing my wrist to be overworked. All quite depressing. Might try some narrower bars, see how it is
Hi, yep I've got max spacers under stem and seat is slammed forwards. It is a very large reach sized frame in fairness - a large Bird Aether 9 - so I think it's just the bike itself. The stretched feel also makes it hard to weight corners, which isn't great.
Cheers.
How tall are you?
Just looked at the Bird Aether geometry. That is a big old bike.
I'm 6ft tall - which is right in between the ML and L sizing for an Aether 9, hence the choice for a large
720mm bars suit my T-rex arms
I’m 5’11 and 475mm reach with a 50mm stem felt too stretched out to me.
Even the ML is on the large side. Bet it hauls downhill though.
I accidentally ordered GA2 fat instead of GA2, but they feel great so I fitted them. Huge improvement, I simply cannot see the appeal of skinny grips at all.
Kramer
I’m 5’11 and 475mm reach with a 50mm stem felt too stretched out to me.
6'1" here, with 515 reach, 35mm stem, 810mm bars with grips that make them 820 wide, happy as a clam
Don't think there's a right answer here, too many differences and variables