EMTB handle bar width advice. Retired guy, casual riding.

[DT33]

Looking for handle bar width advice.
Retired guy here.
Riding style is very casual, side road and easy trail.

Also what is the proper way to measure?
Widest point with grips on?

I think their too wide, on easy trails bumping stuff is a pain.
Am not getting into any aggressive riding, or any plans to sell the bike.

 

[B1rdie]

Hi ! From another retired
Well, mine are cut at 76 cm.
Some say its a personal preference thing, I believe it has to do with ergonomy and that many riders are taking unnecessary risks just to follow a trend for wider is better.
One good measure is to take the distance from the outside of your hands while on a push up position on the ground.

 

[Tepi]

Hei ! Toiselta eläkkeellä
No, minun on leikattu 76 cm.
Jotkut sanovat, että se on henkilökohtaista mieltymystä, uskon sen liittyvän ergonomiaan ja siihen, että monet ratsastajat ottavat tarpeettomia riskejä vain seuratakseen trendiä leveämpi on parempi.
Yksi hyvä toimenpide on ottaa etäisyys käsien ulkopuolelta ollessasi push up -asennossa maassa.

Vanha mies ajaa 75 cm,on toimiva. Sopii hyvin puiden väliin . Siis entiedä olenko vanha 78 v. kivaa viruttaa ketjuja.

 

[RustyIron]

I'm retired, too. My last two bikes have come equipped with 800 mm bars. They provide a nice level of control and stability. Previously I was running 760. I was happy with them, but if I ride something that narrow now it feels freakish. I'm 5' 11", and ride some technical trails.

 

[DT33]

And how do you take the measurement?
Widest point with grips on?

 

[irie]

I have found 770 is a comfortable width for me

I'm 5'10-5'11 and also find 770 grips off is just right (wife says I have gorilla length arms).

 

[Mik3F]

I was running 780 but have changed to 800 now. Feels better to me

 

[steve_sordy]

It depends upon your body geometry, as well as preference and the trails you ride.

My first mtb was 660mm, I moved to 680mm when I bought a different bar. The difference that 20mm brought was detectable. Then I went to 740 and a shorter stem. WOW! I chose 740mm after the push up test. Wider bars move your body centre of mass forwards, so a shorter stem will not only move it back again, but sharpen up the steering. The unexpected benefit was that the extra leverage that the wider bars provide allow you to better resist the torque exerted on the front wheel by trail obstacles. Therefore carving a rocky corner becomes much easier. On one steep left-right rock-strewn descent done before and after the new bars was a WOW! moment too.

I'm on 780mm now and they feel perfect to me.

 

[ep8-rs]

I'll join in as another retired rider.

My solution was simple , I just moved everything , grips , levers , etc , in a little bit at a time until I found what was comfortable for me. My bars are carbon and came with the measurements on them. I ended up at the max allowable to be trimmed off , got a carbon specific hacksaw blade and followed online guides. Worked like a charm and I am more comfortable , not feeling too spread out.
I you want to look a little less conspicuous , use some black craft foam taped on the inside and wrapped around the remaining end of the grips. I had some so figured why not? Worked and couldn't even tell I was running the test.

 

[Zagora]

I rode 780mm bars for years. I then bought a new bike with 820 bars, which, after riding for a while I decided were too wide. I'm just over 6ft and semi-retired if that counts!
Rather than immediately cutting them down to 780, I shortened them to 800 as an experiment and preferred them to 780.
All my bikes now have 800mm wide bars.
I also run exactly the same bars so when swopping between different bikes they don't feel too alien.

 

[Stihldog]

After a few rides in our area I settled on 770mm bar width. There was one particular feature that caused me to choose that size.


For my height I’m probably a knuckle- dragger also. Besides the width, the carbon flex feel and grip size was important on both bikes. Getting the correct geometry was a trial and error experiment until I finally settled on numbers that I won’t forget (I wrote them down ).

Now it’s one less thing I worry about but it took a few rides.

 

[theremotejuggernaut]

Both my bikes had 800mm bars for a while. Mainly because that's the length that the bars were when I bought them (OneUp carbon and some Cannondale Hollowgram Carbon).

They felt ok when they were fitted but having cut them down, the difference over the course of a days riding is huge. I get far less pain in my wrists and my shoulders ache far less afterwards. I cut them down in increments, 10mm at a time (5mm per side) and it took a few hours to really get used to it but after a while, it was obvious than shorter was better (for me) so I kept trimming.

I'm at 770 currently amd considering another 5mm off (2.5 per side).

The steering felt twitchy at first but it doesn't take long to get used to it.

 

[B1rdie]

I went check what handlebar length Nino Shurter uses: 700 mm. On XC racing, you know, you'd better have the widest bar possible when you're riding at the front of the crowd, but not so much when coming from the back, though...
Riding wider handlebars makes you feel like boss, owner of the track, at total command of the front end of the bike, but it has some downs:
Reduces the amplitude of movement of the torso, both side to side and front to rear, reducing control over pitch and lean;
Reduces the capacity to absorb compressions and strikes from the terrain with the arms and pectoral muscles, putting more stress at the joints of the wrists, elbows and shoulders;
Gets sketchy on narrow trails like the ones at Tweed Valley

 

[emtbeast]

I tried this, and it works for me:



I am 178cm and ride a 770mm bar width ,their formula gives you your maximum bar width, so you can go narrower(usually most do for relaxed riding).

I just did a reverse calculation(bar width/height) for the guy that runs 760mm bars, as he is near my height and got a formula of 4,34

So like this:
178 x 4,34 = 772m

I feel I could go even narrower, a cm or so.

 

[Zagora]

I tried the above, multiplying 1.84m x 4.34 and its 798mm; spot on for my bar width of 800mm.
Multiplying by 4.40 as in the video is 809mm.
I did the press up test and feel most comfortable and strong at 800mm.

 

[jeanmarc]

Retired, 175cm, bar width 760mm.

 

[Larsey]

172cm 58 y/o 760mm on every bike

 

[HandsomeDanNZ]

I have found it's not just about the width, but it's about the upsweep and backsweep for total comfort and control.
I was on 780mm bars up until I got my first pair of Renthal Fatbars and then I found myself using 800mm width bars permanently.
Last two bikes had Fatbars fitted at 800mm and they were perfect.
Now on my new Merida, I am running 780mm bars, but the geometry is perfect, so they feel as comfortable as my Fatbars did.
Not retired, but feel like I should.
176cm tall. Normal looking wingspan.

 

[Husky430]

like squeezing between trees at a bit of pace so have found 760mm is my goldilocks width