MTB bar length criteria?

I'm large (5-11"; 210 lbs) and am re-building a mtb (GT Zaskar), including
replacing the forks, stem, & bar.

What should I be considering when it comes to deciding bar length? I want a
small rise, a bit of a curve back (slightly less than straight).

Is shoulder-width the right length for the bar? Other criteria?

Thanks.

On Aug 14, 5:25*pm, DaveC wrote:
I'm large (5-11"; 210 lbs) and am re-building a mtb (GT Zaskar), including
replacing the forks, stem, & bar.

What should I be considering when it comes to deciding bar length? I want a
small rise, a bit of a curve back (slightly less than straight).

Is shoulder-width the right length for the bar? Other criteria?


The criteria is what's comfortable for you and perhaps the terrain you
ride on. I know shorter guys that ride a ridiculously wide surly bar,
and people that like absurdly narrow. Get a cheap bar and don't feel
bad about screwing around with a hacksaw. When you're dialed in, you
can reproduce it in a fancier bar as needed.

Per DaveC:
Is shoulder-width the right length for the bar? Other criteria?

I'm kind of wide and my bars are wide too.

Having said that.... I'm thinking there's an argument for a bar
width and/or grip that keeps the elbows in enough so they're not
sticking out beyond the body catching more wind.

At least it *feels* like I'm going faster with less effort when I
tuck my elbows in....
--
PeteCresswell

On 2009-08-14, DaveC wrote:
I'm large (5-11"; 210 lbs) and am re-building a mtb (GT Zaskar), including
replacing the forks, stem, & bar.

What should I be considering when it comes to deciding bar length? I want a
small rise, a bit of a curve back (slightly less than straight).

Is shoulder-width the right length for the bar? Other criteria?

Depends what you're using it for.

I had a MTB I used for commuting for several years. I hacksawed 50mm
off each end of the bars so that they were shoulder width and found them
much more comfortable. But on the rare occasions I took the bike
off-road, I missed the extra degree of control afforded by the
wider bars.

--
John

In article ,
DaveC writes:
I'm large (5-11"; 210 lbs) and am re-building a mtb (GT Zaskar), including
replacing the forks, stem, & bar.

What should I be considering when it comes to deciding bar length? I want a
small rise, a bit of a curve back (slightly less than straight).

Is shoulder-width the right length for the bar? Other criteria?

Thanks.

I've had mtb handlebars a fair bit wider than shoulder-width,
and found them to be the cat's pajamas for maintaining a
non-squirrely line during hill climbs. But they do stick
out, and that can render struggling yer bike out the
basement door troublesome. Getting past oncoming riders
on narrow paths (like where riders are relegated to the
sidewalks on bridges) is yet another issue, not to mention
handlebar intertwinements in public bike parking racks.

I'd say an inch or two on either end of the bar beyond
shoulder width is reasonable.

In terms of handling, I'd say a little too wide is better
than too narrow, and here's my reasoning: bikes are
steered more by leaning than by twisting the handlebar
anyways (except for relatively rare sharp turns.)
A too-narrow handlebar could inflict an undesirable
twitchiness. A narrower handlebar might also prop
your riding posture even more upright (by straightening
your arms,) maybe more than you'd want.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

On Aug 14, 6:25*pm, DaveC wrote:
I'm large (5-11"; 210 lbs) and am re-building a mtb (GT Zaskar), including
replacing the forks, stem, & bar.

What should I be considering when it comes to deciding bar length? I want a
small rise, a bit of a curve back (slightly less than straight).

Is shoulder-width the right length for the bar? Other criteria?

Thanks.

Shoulder width sounds OK to me, as a start. It's not too hard to
experiment.

I got my first mountain bike when they were pretty new. It had super-
strong, very wide triangulated steel handlebars. The idea back then
seemed to be that mountain bikes were for blasting down rough mountain
fireroads (see Repack), so wide & strong was the vogue.

But where I live, it's dense woods, narrow trails and no mountains.
After a few weeks, I sawed them about 4" narrower so I wouldn't get
snagged by so many branches. I never missed the extra width.

Once bars are installed, you can try moving the grips & levers inward
without cutting, to see if you'd like them narrower. And for another
idea: I have a friend who installed bar-ends inboard of his brake
levers for a more aero road position.

- Frank Krygowski

DaveC wrote:
I'm large (5-11"; 210 lbs) and am re-building a mtb (GT Zaskar), including
replacing the forks, stem, & bar.

What should I be considering when it comes to deciding bar length? I want a
small rise, a bit of a curve back (slightly less than straight).

Is shoulder-width the right length for the bar? Other criteria?

Thanks.



It really depends on terrain. A road bike's handlebars are mostly just
arm supports, so comfort and aerodynamics the issues -- the former
mostly for long distance riding, the latter for racing.

Mountain bikers often actually put a lot of force on their bars, for
wheelies/bunny hops, steering in difficult terrain (e.g. rock gardens),
very steep grades and hard braking. Aerodynamics isn't important and
comfort isn't so much static comfort as how the bars feel when you're
smashing over/into things. You often take a large load on your wrists,
so angles become important. Also if you ride narrow overgrown single
track, wide bars and/or barends can be a real PITA, but wider bars give
you more control.

You can always cut wide bars down, but you're screwed if you decide you
liked wider better. Buy cheap bars to start.

On Aug 14, 11:25*pm, DaveC wrote:
I'm large (5-11"; 210 lbs) and am re-building a mtb (GT Zaskar), including
replacing the forks, stem, & bar.

What should I be considering when it comes to deciding bar length? I want a
small rise, a bit of a curve back (slightly less than straight).

Is shoulder-width the right length for the bar? Other criteria?

Thanks.

I reckon shoulder width is a minimum. How much wider you want to go is
a function of how upright you intend to sit -- those almost straight,
almost flat bars you want sound like you'll be leaning forward a bit.
The more you angle your upper body, the narrower the bars can be, the
more upright you sit, the wider they should be.

I'm pretty close to your mass, I sit very upright, and over recent
years I have liked bars in the region of 590-630mm, with the wider
ones being superior in all respects. Wider catch in tight spots,
narrower makes you notice the handlebars because control is
compromised, just right (currently 620mm) lets you forget the
handlebars until someone asks.

Andre Jute
"Cycling wisdom" is an oxymoron

Tom Keats wrote:
[...]
In terms of handling, I'd say a little too wide is better
than too narrow, and here's my reasoning: bikes are
steered more by leaning than by twisting the handlebar
anyways (except for relatively rare sharp turns.)
A too-narrow handlebar could inflict an undesirable
twitchiness.[...]

Especially when horsing the bike over obstacles while riding single track.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
Celebrity culture is an opposite of community, informing us
that these few nonsense-heads matter but that the rest of
us do not. - Jay Griffiths

In article ,
Tom Sherman °_° writes:
Tom Keats wrote:
[...]
In terms of handling, I'd say a little too wide is better
than too narrow, and here's my reasoning: bikes are
steered more by leaning than by twisting the handlebar
anyways (except for relatively rare sharp turns.)
A too-narrow handlebar could inflict an undesirable
twitchiness.[...]

Especially when horsing the bike over obstacles while riding single track.

Good point. Rougher terrain which tends to jostle a rider,
or make the rider shift his/her posture on the bike around,
might induce involuntary steering which would be amplified
with narrower handlebars.

I reiterate: personally, I find an inch or two on either end
wider than shoulder-width on the handlebar is a good compromise.
For off-road riding, I favour even a little more handlebar width.

Even in our densely forested mountain trails, it's the rare
occasion when a rider has to thread the needle between two
closely adjacent Douglas fir or red cedar trees or whatever.
And yer elbows are gonna stick out beyond the handlebar ends
anyway.

And while muscling a bike around on more technical singletrack
is a consideration for opting for wider handlebars, so is just
straight riding on washboarded gravel roads, which are perhaps
the worst riding surfaces ever created by Man.

This talk about handlebar width is reminding me of when I was
a kid, and regularly, gingerly riding my 3-spd Raleigh Sport
past a certain stucco wall. I'm sure that wall has collected
all kinds of rider's bloody-knuckle DNA over the decades.
Maybe some kind of mutant will grow from it -- some sort of
uber-cyclist X-man who wouldn't be able to kick Wolverine's ass,
but maybe would feed him enough Cinnabons to render him too logy
to ride up Lonsdale Ave in North Vancouver, to the KFC.

Anyways, an inch or two wider than shoulder-width on either end
of MTB bars is a good, all-purpose width. Handlebars that space
yer hands evenly with man-nipples are too narrow.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca