How Wide are Your Handlebars?

This is a topic I have coming across lately and Pinkbike just ran two articles on it.

Was surprised to see some of the top EWS and DH guys running smaller than 800mm. Sam Hill runs 750.

My bike came with 800 bars and I'm 5'8. Ive been able to ride the bike fine but gonna start trimming my bars down by 10mm increments. Probably won't go lower than 770 though.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/handlebar-width-vs-handling-are-your-bars-too-wide.html

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/finding-your-sweet-spot-handlebar-width.html

 

720 on XC bikes, 760 on my fun (HT) bikes.
I'm 6'2", but I'm old.
I don't see a reason to do push-ups when I ride.

 

800's on my Santa Cruz and love it! Need to change out my bars on my Yeti...

 

I am sure that the broadness of an individual's shoulders comes into play here.

I too am 5' 8" but snakes have narrow shoulders.

I have a 740 on one bike and a 750 on another. I find my hands slowly graduating inward when I ride the bike with the 750s.

I came from 720s and I do appreciate the increase in leverage/balance that the 740s offer over the 720s. However, one has to be aware of gaps that they are passing through. I have hung up the bars and gotten tossed a few more times than I'd like to remember.

 

780mm x 20mm rise on the Hightower(size L) with a 50mm slammed stem feels perfect to me. Tried 800 first but just felt too wide.

760mm x 20mm rise on the OG Ripley(size L) with a 60mm flipped & slammed stem. Feels a little narrow to me now but the ripley is a fairly short bike and sits me more upright. Wish I could get the bars lower and I'm too cheep to spend $$ on a set of flat bars for a bike I'm not riding much.

750mm x 20mm rise on the Les hardtail(size M) with a 70mm(-15°)

5'9" and have come to like a low front end setup and being sort of stretched out. No outer lockrings on any of my grips. My hands just feel right gripping the bar wide. I'm not sold on the added stiffness of 35mm diameter bars either.

 

780 on the rigid.
760 on the 120mm fork hardtail.
I actually like the 760s better, even though Lee McCormack's formula says I should be on 793s.
Try cutting that length!

Height in mm x 0.440=....

 

780 on the SS

800 on the Hightower

The 780's are starting to feel narrow after riding the 800's. Really like wide bars on the SS.....extra leverage....it's almost like having another gear.

When I demo'ed the Blur at Revolution the bars were 740 or so.....felt like I was on a fixie.

 

800 for me.. thought I was going to start there and cut them down but I like them as is. I’m 6’0”

 

I am 6'1" and have 780 mm bars. I have never felt out of control on the Tracer, so I guess they work for me.

 

760mm for me. I've ran that width for several years and have no desire to go wider. 6' talk with long arms and torso.

 

Just wide enough.

 

750mm w/ 40mm

 

780 for me.. I'm short at 5' 6".. been thinking of shorting it.. but its been 5 years now... Maybe after I purchase a new bar will slice it down to try it out.

 

Its not the width but how you use it. So they say.

 

760, and they feel a bit wide for me. Not enough to cut down, but I find myself with my hands in the inner-most position a lot of the time.

 

787mm

 

Had to measure, 30 inches, 760ish. Sometimes hang a finger or two off the ends when climbing. But don't want anything wider, due to potential of busted knuckles...

 

Can you cut mine to 793?

 

780mm on the Devinci
800mm on the Kona

 

750, answer protaper. I dont like really wide bars. But,y, at 171 cm tall, applying the formula in that article, comes out real close to 750!

 

I'm 6'4" and deceptively wide shouldered. I ride 780. Y'all should stop going stupid wide on your bars. Good news! You don't have to buy new bars to make them fit you better!

I see tiny women riding what look to be 800 mm bars and wonder why. Overcorrection from the days of 660mm I suppose. Modern bike geometry has taken care of the need to overcorrect to 800mm + bars.

BTW, according to the formula, I should be on 849.2 mm bars. Uhhhh, great formula!

193 cm tall = 1930 x.44 = 849.2 And that's only taking into account height and not width. I think I better find some 900s!

 

Great post.
For the past couple years, I felt like 760 was good on light trail or less on XC, and 780 on longer travel.
I got my 5010 that came with 800 and I've cut it back to 790 and it feels great.
Going forward, I am keeping my mind open and as others suggested, if I find myself moving my hands a certain way, I'll get a bar to accommodate.

 

I see the problem....millimeters.

 

I don’t know, but they’re way too wide for me

 

7fiddy

 

750mm x 5mm rise on large 26er Slash.
760mm x 10mm rise on medium 26er AC2.
740mm x 15mm rise on large 29er Rumblefish.
720mm x 5mm rise on large 26er 3700 commuter hardtail.
725mm x 20mm rise on large 26er Bonanza hardtail.

I’m 183cm. In 2012, I went from 685mm to 750mm and wanted to cut the bars down. I was advised to give it a few more rides, and I got used to 750mm. Haven’t ridden anything close to 800mm, but I recognize there are narrow segments of trails that would have been miserable on bars any wider than I’m riding.

 

Mine came in that size. I believe them to be the perfect width for me on all the bikes, even my "gravel Grinder"!

But I could cut y em down +/- 1mm

 

Measure it with a laser
Mark it with chalk
Cut it with an axe

YMMV

 

680 on my XC HT
720 on my XC FS
800 on the enduro
420 on my roadie

I like the 680 and 800. I think I would rather take the 720 down to 700, but not enough to cut it down.

 

790 feels perfect where there are no trees.