[Closed] Wide bars on 26"

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Did you get the 26" specific ones?

Dave did one. No ones seen him since.

Just put a set of 740mm on my 26" single speed. Felt good.

If we're going down this route, then, looking at the bikes I've had over the last few years, the absolute widest bars I've had have been on 26ers. So, um... YOU'RE WRONG! Or something.

I've got 740mm on mine, feel OK, but I'd guess it's down to shoulder width rather than wheel size?

I've gone 740mm for the 26" & 800mm for the 650b - I wouldn't want to ride 650b spec bars on my 26" - chaos.

26" is 660mm - that is the maximum width you should run!?! 8)

I used the little-known formula to work out my bar size.
Front wheel size x 25.4(to get mm's) + stem length + number of gears + shoe size(EU) + bar diameter.

Eg:
26x25.4 = 660.4
660.4+50 = 710.4
710.4+10 = 720.4
720.4+44 = 764.4
754.4+31.8 = 796.2

I cut mine before I'd found the formula and, guess what, my bars are 794mm. I think the formula is pretty close. 🙄

I must be doing something wrong, as I have the exact same 750mm bars on 3 bikes with 3 different wheel sizes (26, 27.5 and fat 26) and they feel, weirdly, EXACTLY THE SAME.

I used 780mm on my old inbred and it was good, use wide bars on my 29er too, it feels just as good. I have fairly wide shoulders so it suits me, but would go as wide as needed anyway.

780mm here but been considering something wide instead...

I have 780mm on 2 bikes and 720 on the other MTB. All 26ers. Will I die?

t's down to shoulder width

Did you get the 26" specific ones

Wide bars existed well before other wheel sizes. Yes on both bikes and they feel great

Assuming this isn't a pisstake (? 🙂 )

Wide bars on my Norco LT (740mm) feels right. Much narrower (660mm, I think) on the Inbred feels right.

The trees are getting closer together around here.

OP
Measure your index finger then devide it by the length of your ring finger.
If the result comes out any more than 0.97,you are not qualified to talk about handlebar width,you should stop immediately and ask someone with the right finger ratio.

What do you think the relationship between wheel size and bars could be?

[i]relationship between wheel size and bars could be? [/i]

I always assumed the reason their sizes were quoted in different units was to prevent exactly that sort of comparison being made? But then 650B came along and Boom! it's all up for grabs.

I used the little-known formula to work out my bar size.
Front wheel size x 25.4(to get mm's) + stem length + number of gears + shoe size(EU) + bar diameter.

don't forget the enduro coefficient, 0 for no enduroness to maximum of 1 where full coordinated enduro specific kit and bike colour scheme, goggles and 160mm carbon bike are present.

Classic leg-pull. Fair play to the OP for posting something fairly plausible on STW, then just enjoying the fun.

Surely it depends on what tyre you are running anyway.

(Sits back and casually flicks kettle on-switch.............)

Anyone notice that high ordinary bikes had really narrow bars...?

Makes the 1200mm bars on my BMX seem stupidly wide.

mine are blue

(the bars I mean)

GnarBar ??

Don't forget to put 650B stickers on the sidewalls of your 26 inch tyres and rims. It makes them roll faster.

Actually not a pisstake.

I've found that bars that were perfectly fine on 26 are not wide enough for 29. People go on about 'more leverage' from wider bars, and I had no idea what they were talking about until I tried narrower bars on a 29 - then I needed more leverage to handle the larger wheels.

Likewise wider bars on 26 made handling slow.. so I think it's entirely reasonable to draw a link between wheel size and bar width because leverage.

Can't believe NO-ONE else has considered this? Or are you all using whatever came with your endurpoon or whatever the mags tell you is rad?

you sure it's not head angle, offset and rake affecting things too?

[i]Likewise wider bars on 26 made handling slow.[/i]

hmmmm, wider bars aren't changing geometry at all. so it doesn't have that (slow handling) effect.

He could get the head angle tested.

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Thread = joke

molgrips = pedant; ergo difficult to tell 😉

I still maintain that just sticking 650B on the sidewalls makes you go faster.

I think history and trends comes into this a bit. There will be a lot of 26 bikes out there that just came with narrower bars because that's how it was a few years ago. And it wasn't until around the same time as 650B happened that the whole trail bike and wider bars started to catch on.

A 2013 bike I bought (and recently sold) came with 660mm bars out of the box and 100mm stem. I upgraded it to a 50mm stem and 760mm bar and it was a lot better for it. Much more control.

My last of the 26 inch 160 'duro bikes came with 780mm out the box and it feels perfect for that kind of riding but I have 760mm bars on a 26 inch 140 trail bike and that feels perfect too.

So for me bar width goes with travel and not wheel size since all my hoops are 26 inch.

Wider bars are for more precision steering supposedly.
If you have two radios one with a huge knob and one with a tiny knob, it is much easier to tune precisely the one with the bigger knob.

hmmmm, wider bars aren't changing geometry at all. so it doesn't have that (slow handling) effect.

It's because you have to move your hands a lot further, which takes longer to do. It's why racing cars have small steering wheels.

Gelert - sensible answer 🙂

nickc - Member

hmmmm, wider bars aren't changing geometry at all. so it doesn't have that (slow handling) effect.

Wider bars mean your hands have to travel further for the same amount of steer so they can have that feeling. Though in reality, all bikes steer as fast as you tell them to, what varies is effort not speed.

I like that Molgrips has now turned his bar confusion into randomly slagging other people, it's good this.

I like that Molgrips has now turned his bar confusion into randomly slagging other people, it's good this.

Well since most people piled in rather than talking about geometry I thought I'd return fire a bit 🙂

Just messing around but I was genuinely interested if bigger wheels demand a wider bar, and smaller wheels would benefit from narrower ones. Seems entirely reasonable to me and my very limited experience bears this out. But as said, I've only tried modern wide on a bike that predates the wide thing and of course there are many other variables.

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Surely it was people putting wide bars on 26" bikes in the first place that made people realise it was a good thing, now apparently they were wrong?!? Or did wide bars come out with 29ers but they didn't state it in the press release!! 😕

Couldn't you try getting your arms shortened before committing?

Or your knob made bigger?

Surely it was people putting wide bars on 26" bikes in the first place that made people realise it was a good thing, now apparently they were wrong?!?

Wot you on about?

Rather than spend money on silly wide bars that don't fit through gaps between trees, why not just saw off one of your arms? (you get a significant weight saving that way too)

Wot you on about?

Anyone do this? Felt really wrong when I tried.

I could say the same!

[i]It's why racing cars have small steering wheels.[/i]

not all race cars have smaller steering wheels. and you could argue that on open single-seaters it's mostly because of space limitations. small steering wheels don't change the actual mechanical steering, it will still have the same number of turns lock to lock, they just make them feeling quicker.

I meant, changing bar width doesn't change geometry, i.e actually slow the handling down, it merely changes how it feels. My post wasn't clear, sorry.

Bar width affected by wheelsize? 😕

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Not even going to enter into this one!

Really not seeing the problem. A larger wheel would require more leverage, isn't this obvious?

Really not seeing the problem. A larger wheel would require more leverage, isn't this obvious?

If the manufacturers were so thick that they didn't alter head angles and fork offsets to suit different wheel sizes... Maybe, just maybe, you'd have a point!

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i can *sort of* understand what molgrips is on about.

to me, a 29er feels a bit heavier(?) to steer than a 26er, maybe you can go someway to reducing the change in feel by using different bar widths.

?

but imho, [s]any[/s]* the small difference in 'feel' is more easily overcome by forgetting about it, and getting on with your life.

(*ninja edit)

fwiw, i like that 29ers feel a bit more 'carvey', i like that 26ers feel a bit more 'nippy' - i reckon the differences are things to be embraced, not 'hidden'.

If the manufacturers were so thick that they didn't alter head angles and fork offsets to suit different wheel sizes... Maybe, just maybe, you'd have a point!

Except I'm talking a change to wide bars on a 26 inch bike which most likely predates big wheels, so that's exactly what I'm talking about.

Let me rephrase it if there was confusion - who has retrofitted wide bars to an older 26er that didn't come with them, and found it better or worse and why?

770mm on my Glory and 760mm on my Mega both 26

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I just dropped by stw for a good thread to find this kak attempt at knocking 26ers again.

But then sgain I'm not surprised as it was you who started it!

Except I'm talking a change to wide bars on a 26 inch bike which most likely predates big wheels

I was running 760mm wide bars on a DH bike in 2007. Wide bars predate the wheelsize debate.

If you have two radios one with a huge knob and one with a tiny knob, it is much easier to tune precisely the one with the bigger knob.

That doesn't really explain why my wife always says we are on 'different wavelengths'

Knocking 26ers? Me? I only got a 29er last year (because that's what fully rigid steel bikes tend to be) and have no intention of getting rid of any other much loved 26ers. You've got the wrong person.

I was running 760mm wide bars on a DH bike in 2007.

Ok I'm not talking about DH.

molgrips - Member

Really not seeing the problem. A larger wheel would require more leverage, isn't this obvious?

Not really, it looks like common sense on paper but in practice the forces used to turn a bike are small and the difference in gyroscopic force isn't that big (and a light 29er wheel can be a weaker gyroscope than a heavier 26er). And far less than, say, a motorbike wheel weighing 15kg and spinning several times faster, which you turn easily with similiar width bars.

Longer bars make it easier to resist turning forces (ie, bouncing off a rock, getting caught on a rut) and keep control, but that's not wheel dependent for the same reasons. I suspect that actually, bigger wheels should need less force to keep them on track because of their better rollover, but it's a small difference.

Another difference is just the impact on default riding position, they force you into a more open, elbowey stance and usually encourage good weighting etc. Which doesn't change geometry but changes outcomes of geometry, the wider the bar the longer the effective reach

the difference in gyroscopic force isn't that big

I wasn't thinking about gyroscopic forces, I was thinking about the turning caused by bumping into rocks. Bigger wheels need more leverage to hold the line through the bumps, it seems. The 29er wheels and tyres are much heavier, so rotating it through the axis of the forks seems to be quite a bit harder

In 26 land, 680mm is wide for me, it's what's on my 'big' bike, and 660mm felt normal on the 5. But on the 29er 660mm feels narrow like 580mm used to. I originally fitted a 580mm because I intended to use bar ends, like I have on my hybrid, but it was just too difficult to control. Despite that being the width I rode all over the same trails "back in the day".

Wide bars on On One Inbred. Wider the better for me. Depends on the frame I guess and how long your arms are!

I have a 195cm wingspan (tip to tip) ,what bar width would I need to land on a treadmill at 19.7mph on a 26er?

Hahahahaha I'm loving this, props to molgrips for persisting in the face of certain humiliation!

No, you aren't 'retrofitting' anything by putting wider bars on a bike (wider than the ones the manuf decided to put on).

Anyway, have another image designed to explain how everyone feels reading your stuff!

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No, you aren't 'retrofitting' anything by putting wider bars on a bike (wider than the ones the manuf decided to put on).

Er so what does retrofit mean then? I think it means fitting something else after you bought the whole bike.

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I don't think you understand. I'm not planning on buying anything. I'm just idly wondering if other people had come to a similar conclusion - that bigger wheels might benefit from wider bars than smaller ones do.

Obviously I'm operating in a higher plane to the rest of you though.

Obviously I'm operating in a higher plane to the rest of you though.

Cloud 9?

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Yeah, that's you trying to match my awesome mind.

Bigger wheels need more leverage to hold the line through the bumps, it seems. The 29er wheels and tyres are much heavier, so rotating it through the axis of the forks seems to be quite a bit harder

I don't find that the case, I find the increased rollover of big wheels has a smoothing effect compared to smaller wheels over bumps, they catch edges less. The extra weight of 29 wheels is pretty insignificant compared the forces your arms are working with when you ride a bike and what your arms are capable of moving.

Stop thinking up problems and just ride your bike!

"Just put a set of 740mm on my 26" single speed. Felt good"

I put a 760mm set on my 26 SS - means I can really lean over to get my breath back when I'm knackered after 15mins of legwork

Ok I'm not talking about DH

Erm, OK.

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Stop thinking up problems and just ride your bike!

Hang on, you thought I was standing in my garage with a set of bars in each hand paralysed with indecision? Whatever amuses you I suppose, but I have no plans to change any handlebars in the immediate future. Rode twice at the weekend too, using the same bars that have been on the bike since its second ride a year ago.

I'm not keen on wide bars, I have tried 740, they get cut to 720, then 710, not less than 700 as I don't want to look like a freak 😯
But here's the thing, how did we ride before these magical wide bars? Put in more effort or did we just avoided trees easier?

But here's the thing, how did we ride before these magical wide bars? Put in more effort or just avoided trees easier?

Don't know, I am still using 600mm wide bars. Have tried wider and just don't like the feel of them and end up cutting back down to 600mm. Yes they feel more reassured when on technical terrain but the arms out, slow steering feeling doesn't work for me.

Ok - so 2unfit and kerley - what sized wheels? I'm wondering if everyone who doesn't like them is on 26?

TBH, 700 on both (29 & 26), I mean how hard can it be to turn a wheel on a push bike?
But I'm going 670 on the next FS 26" project as that is what I have in the spares bin.

Surely gotta be down to arm length and shoulder width..
Trying to factor in wheel size is like adding skull diameter, shoe size and bicep force divided by tricep force x the square root of velocity into the equation..

(26", 5'8, medium length arms and 710mm bars)

Less force required to turn a smaller wheel quickly. It's not that daft.

Less force required to turn a smaller wheel quickly. It's not that daft.

Are you saying that at any point you have struggled to turn the bars on your pushbike? Do you ride in quicksand?

EDIT FWIW, if you struggle to turn then manual & move the front wheel to where you want it to go, or hop & move the whole bike angle.

This made beer come out of my nose