The comfort of narrow handlebars.

A light bike doesn't replace good fitness.

Moderator: Moderator Team

Post Reply
User avatar
cyclespeed
Posts: 1113
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2016 8:45 am

by cyclespeed

I went down from 42 to 40 Syntace Racelite's and was immediately more at home, and faster.

I then went to 40 3T Aeronova LTD's which I think are a touch narrower still.

My take on the whole longer bar = more leverage thing is; yes it's a longer lever, and thus you can create more torque with it, BUT you hands/forearms will be scribing a larger arc, i.e. moving further, which will promote upper body rock. So, 'en danseuse', and sprinting, I would say it's a wash; narrow = less torque but a more stable upper body (and how much torque do you need at the bar anyway?)

A longer bar also gives you more precision in steering, but that's not really a big issue in road, more so in MTB.

So I'm enjoying the better aero (significant IMO), lighter weight and perhaps better stiffness (shorter = stiffer all else being equal), and may now try 38's.

I'm 1.75m, 63kg.

Edit - my bad, just checked, they don't make a 38 Aeronova.....yet!

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



chris47
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:06 pm

by chris47

I pretty much had the same experiences as everyone else here, i went from a cheapo 42cm alu bar to a 36cm zipp and it was funny for the first 10 minutes, but after that i feel completely at home on the narrower bar. i reckon i could probably go narrower, but i have not seen any bars in 32, or 34. It would also be nice if there were some aero bars (flat tops) in a narrow width, but oh well

User avatar
jekyll man
Posts: 1570
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:23 am
Location: Pack filler

by jekyll man

@chris47
Depends on how the bars are measured and the flare on them.
Enve's are claimed narrow, but flare out somewhat more than my aeronovas.
Also due to the shaping you'd be banging your wrists on the corners unless there was big drop or flare.
Official cafe stop tester

istigatrice
Posts: 849
Joined: Sat May 12, 2012 8:32 am
Location: Australia

by istigatrice

chris47 wrote:I pretty much had the same experiences as everyone else here, i went from a cheapo 42cm alu bar to a 36cm zipp and it was funny for the first 10 minutes, but after that i feel completely at home on the narrower bar. i reckon i could probably go narrower, but i have not seen any bars in 32, or 34. It would also be nice if there were some aero bars (flat tops) in a narrow width, but oh well


you can get some 33cm bars, 85mm reach and 120mm drop - designed for juniors, but apart from the shallow drop they seem like pretty 'normal' bars. http://www.hillbrick.com.au/hillbrick-b ... bar-detail

Also I think having flared bars defeats the purpose of having narrow bars - it's on the drops that I appreciate the 'narrow' profile the most, makes putting out the power in a sprint much easier.
I write the weightweenies blog, hope you like it :)

Disclosure: I'm sponsored by Velocite, but I do give my honest opinion about them (I'm endorsed to race their bikes, not say nice things about them)

User avatar
Lelandjt
Posts: 817
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 7:10 am

by Lelandjt

Too bad the Easton EC90 Aero doesn't come in 38. I got the 40 and like it but I'd buy a 38 for sure.

wingguy
Posts: 4318
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:43 pm

by wingguy

jekyll man wrote:@chris47
Depends on how the bars are measured and the flare on them.
Enve's are claimed narrow, but flare out somewhat more than my aeronovas.


Which Enves? Annoyingly, standard road is measured at hoods, SES aero bar is measured at drops. And flare of the aeronovas is very similar to flare of the Enve standard road, but measured at the drops.

So, choosing all 3 stated 40cm bars;
Enve Road bar is 40cm hoods, 42cm drops.
Enve SES bar is 35cm hoods, 40cm drops.
Aeronova is 37.5cm hoods, 40cm drops.

Clear as mud? :lol:

Hexsense
Posts: 3254
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2015 12:41 am
Location: USA

by Hexsense

Another crash a while ago, my bar should be replaced soon.

Any new options of aero, flat top bar that is in 36-38mm range available?
Really like how Pro Vibe Aero handle bar looks, but unfortunately their smallest size are way too wide.

11.4
Posts: 1095
Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 4:33 am

by 11.4

I've posted in a number of places in favor of narrow bars, but let's take this all in moderation. When we're trying to find 34 and 32 cm c-c bars for road use, it's getting a little excessive for most riders. The idea was to get away from 42, 44, and 46 cm c-c bars. All one really needs to get the benefit is a 38 or 40 cm c-c bar. On the track, narrower bars are coming in more, but there's a point where for road use, it just doesn't make sense. Everything in moderation. At the track World Cup level, the most prevalent bar is the 34 cm Scatto. The Brits have tried some narrower bars and Chris Hoy in particular tried racing on them, but most riders are now on 34 cm Scattos or comparable offerings from Alpina and others. And that's track. For road, apart from a few people who go to extremes in the pro peloton, the most common narrow bars are 38 and 40 cm c-c.

One thing about narrow bars is to go a bit longer in the stem. That improves your aero position and also keeps your diaphragm unblocked. It also helps rotate your hips more effectively.

I've typically used 38 cm 3T Ergonovas, but I've been riding the new Specialized Sworks Blade in a 40 cm width. It's a bit narrower than that, and it's a classic round bend in fairly shallow dimensions. The whole bar works really well and allows internal cable routing, bar-end Di2 setup, and so on. In a position on a narrower bar with more reach, it's a very nice bar.

Hexsense
Posts: 3254
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2015 12:41 am
Location: USA

by Hexsense

yeah, i'm not sure if i went overboard about it,
but if you guys, tall people can ride 38-40. It scale down to 36-38 for me. I'm 5'6.5 (169cm) tall, using 165mm crank, frame size 50 stem slam all the way down, etc. A proper small guy stereotype.

Shoulder width measure from protuding bone to bone is 35cm. Convensional bar width calculation of Measured width+2cm and round up recommend me a 38cm bar. Even outside to outside of my full shoulder width (including shoulder muscle) is less than 40cm. So a narrow bar for me is in 36-38cm range, or else it's a standard width rather than a narrow bar.

User avatar
Calnago
In Memoriam
Posts: 8612
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2010 9:14 pm

by Calnago

Not so long ago the trend was wider. Now, some like it narrow. We’ll get back to “just right” again at some point I’m sure... which for me is the distance between two round pieces of dowel, broom handle or whatever (about the diameter of a handlebar at the drops), held with arms comfortable and straight directly out in front of me, one stick in each hand each perpendicular to the ground, arms parallel to each other, neither spreading out wider nor angling in. Naturally straight... jussst right, like Goldilocks. That’ll be ~42cm please, Center to Center. Yes.... jussst right. Get your fancy measuring tape off my back please, and measure how far apart that natural distance out front is. Thank you.
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ

topflightpro
Posts: 829
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 2:35 am

by topflightpro

Hexsense wrote:
Fri Jun 08, 2018 7:11 pm
Any new options of aero, flat top bar that is in 36-38mm range available?
Really like how Pro Vibe Aero handle bar looks, but unfortunately their smallest size are way too wide.
The Zipp SL aero bar comes in a 38, but it flares to 40 at the drops.

ericoschmitt
Posts: 186
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:47 pm

by ericoschmitt

Unreliable specs are SO annoying. I bought a Fizik Cyrano R3 Snake expecting it to be 140mm drop and 38cm wide. Came 125mm drop and 39.5cm c-c at the drops. I think they made the drop "proportional" on smaller size, but I actually bought it BECAUSE it did not spec 125mm as everything else. And because it's light and cheap (bought during black friday on Wiggle). At 245g you can't get lighter without going carbon I guess.

But then I got this bar, "too" wide, too shallow. My point for deeper drops is not having lower drops, but higher tops when I want to be confortable.

I did some research for narrow+light bars at 38 or 36, it's tricky! Seems that Zipp Service Course SL-80 has 36cm at 250g. I found a Bontrager Race Lite X Vr-sf 360mm at 210g, but thats carbon and expensive, and I'm not sure the specs are reliable (c-c at drops). Don't want to have carbon bars just to let my bike fall accidentally at caffe and crack the drop side.

I also found a Most bar that LBS took off some pinarello, says 40cm but I measured 38cm (!!!) and 305g. Bought it dirty cheap and that's going to my fixie where weight doesn't really matter (9kg is fine with very heavy wheels and gator 28 tires). This is an opposite example of how unreliable specs are! The bike owner swapped the bars because he thought it was too narrow. Lucky me!

So... What other options do you know about with these caracteristics?

-38cm or narrower (real measure at drops c-c)
-Alloy
-250g or less
-Not above $100 if possible

So far only Zipp Service Course S80 36cm 250g claimed

Controltech FUEGO HMS is heavy at 284g claimed
Shimano Pro Plt Compact a bit less heavy at 270g claimed

If I have to choose between narrower or lighter I still keep the light one, its WW you know. I'm looking seriously into that Zipp bar. It's just tricky to get things here in Brazil, huge taxes and shipping, so I'll have to wait until I travel abroad or some friend can bring it (months). BTW if anyone comes to south Brazil (Florianópolis) please bring me parts! hahaha

dim
Posts: 596
Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2017 11:25 am
Location: Cambridge UK

by dim

How do you guys find the narrow bars on long distance rides?
Trek Emonda SL6
Miyata One Thousand

jeanjacques
Posts: 349
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2016 11:01 am
Location: France

by jeanjacques

ericoschmitt wrote:
Tue Jun 19, 2018 6:17 am
So... What other options do you know about with these caracteristics?

-38cm or narrower (real measure at drops c-c)
-Alloy
-250g or less
-Not above $100 if possible
Deda 100 RHM* and Deda 100 Anatomic.
http://www.dedaelementi.com/en/product/rhm-zero/
http://www.dedaelementi.com/en/product/ ... -newton-2/
*234g for my 38cm (c-c), Deda mesure outside to outside.

DutchMountains
Posts: 103
Joined: Sat Aug 20, 2016 9:16 pm

by DutchMountains

ericoschmitt wrote:
Tue Jun 19, 2018 6:17 am
So... What other options do you know about with these caracteristics?
-38cm or narrower (real measure at drops c-c)
-Alloy
-250g or less
-Not above $100 if possible
I got the Syntace CDR 7075 handle bar size small (40cm) for about 40 euro on sale some 18 months ago :D It measures 38cm c-c at the end of the drops and 37cm c-c near the hoods. 243 grams on my kitchen scale.

As to long distances: works fine. (long as in London-Edinburgh-London and several 600km brevets). Only disadvantage is the lack of space in the corners when you also mount a tri-bar (Syntace C3 in my case)

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



Post Reply