Before @Zimmerframe chips in....I am referring to bike bars not the drinking type!
I have a 2019 Levo Comp fitted with Nukeproof riser bars and 160mm Lyric Ultimate fork, and a Whyte 180RS with all original equipment.
A lot of my riding is in forests where distance between trees is often tight. The Whyte is a relatively new purchase so only c 200 miles on it so far but enough to convince me ( surprisingly) that there is nothing I feel a need to change, even in terms of cockpit.........EXCEPT.... I found myself clipping trees with the bars far more often than on the Levo, and the bars do feel quite wide.
So out of curiosity I measured the bar width on both bikes and was surprised to find that the Levo was 800mm and the Whyte 805mm. Surprised because the Levo bars do not feel too wide, whereas the Whyte bar do seem wider than ideal.
So I decided to reduce the Whyte bars to 780, and leave the Levo for the time being.
I was surprised at how different the Whyte felt as a result. It actually feels like I have more control over the front wheel..........and 20mm makes a big difference in terms of obstacle clearance!
It seems that the very different geometries of the Whyte and Levo ( Whyte is longer and slacker and 27.5) is the reason for the perceived differences in feel as far as bar width is concerned.....possibly most relevant being the longer reach off the Whyte. Whyte is 480, Levo is 455mm.
So the 2 differences I notice with the Whyte bars reduced to 780, are more control over the front wheel, and less tendency to clip trees in narrow sections.
Thinking about why, my impressions are these:-
More control: A wider bar gives more steering leverage, but a wider bar spreads my arms further apart from shoulder width and there is point at which the leverage my arms can provide diminishes. I feel I can deliver more control/leverage at 780 than 805.
Missing trees: I get the impression that peripheral vision becomes less accurate the more my arms are spread away from my sides. It seems at 780 bars my peripheral vision is more accurate (given that 10mm extra width is hardly significant of itself!).
I have a 2019 Levo Comp fitted with Nukeproof riser bars and 160mm Lyric Ultimate fork, and a Whyte 180RS with all original equipment.
A lot of my riding is in forests where distance between trees is often tight. The Whyte is a relatively new purchase so only c 200 miles on it so far but enough to convince me ( surprisingly) that there is nothing I feel a need to change, even in terms of cockpit.........EXCEPT.... I found myself clipping trees with the bars far more often than on the Levo, and the bars do feel quite wide.
So out of curiosity I measured the bar width on both bikes and was surprised to find that the Levo was 800mm and the Whyte 805mm. Surprised because the Levo bars do not feel too wide, whereas the Whyte bar do seem wider than ideal.
So I decided to reduce the Whyte bars to 780, and leave the Levo for the time being.
I was surprised at how different the Whyte felt as a result. It actually feels like I have more control over the front wheel..........and 20mm makes a big difference in terms of obstacle clearance!
It seems that the very different geometries of the Whyte and Levo ( Whyte is longer and slacker and 27.5) is the reason for the perceived differences in feel as far as bar width is concerned.....possibly most relevant being the longer reach off the Whyte. Whyte is 480, Levo is 455mm.
So the 2 differences I notice with the Whyte bars reduced to 780, are more control over the front wheel, and less tendency to clip trees in narrow sections.
Thinking about why, my impressions are these:-
More control: A wider bar gives more steering leverage, but a wider bar spreads my arms further apart from shoulder width and there is point at which the leverage my arms can provide diminishes. I feel I can deliver more control/leverage at 780 than 805.
Missing trees: I get the impression that peripheral vision becomes less accurate the more my arms are spread away from my sides. It seems at 780 bars my peripheral vision is more accurate (given that 10mm extra width is hardly significant of itself!).
