Narrow bars

[deluz]

I am thinking of trying narrower bars.
Currently have 3T Superergo carbon 40 cm bars.
I could get them in 38 cm but wonder what other options there are.
I do like the flat-ish tops. Enve SES with the flare is an obvious choice but $400 is beyond my budget. I found these that looked good, but heavy and the reach is way too long:

https://www.pro-bikegear.com/global/...suit-handlebar

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Mark McM]

Pro Bikegear has another version of their Vibe Aero Alloy road bar that has a shorter reach:

https://www.pro-bikegear.com/us/road...lloy-handlebar

[deluz]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Pro Bikegear has another version of their Vibe Aero Alloy road bar that has a shorter reach:

https://www.pro-bikegear.com/us/road...lloy-handlebar

That looks like a good option. Wish it was lighter but might win over weight.

Thanks!

[rice rocket]

I have the PRO PLT Ergo Carbon in 36.

https://www.pro-bikegear.com/us/road...rbon-handlebar



Flat tops are the best I've ever used, it has the largest palm area and the slight backsweep is real noticeable improvement.

Drops, I don't care for. The extra backsweep on the tops hits your wrists if you're not careful in a sprint, they could solve it with more flare too.

I don't sprint in the drops much though, so they work out most of the time.

[Turkle]

I used 38cm Zipp SL-70 Ergo aluminum bars on my main bike for years. I think they are wonderful.

I am currently using the "40cm" Vision Métron carbon handlebars that actually measure 38cm c-c. They are far and away the most comfortable handlebars I've ever used.

[StressStrain]

Originally Posted by Turkle

I used 38cm Zipp SL-70 Ergo aluminum bars on my main bike for years. I think they are wonderful.

I'll add my 2 cents to make it 3 votes for Zipp SL-70 Ergo aluminum bars.

They are light, not expensive, and come in a variety of widths. Also, the tops have a little bit of backward sweep toward the rider that my wrists like. So many bars now have a forward sweep that is the opposite of natural wrist shape - no thanks.

[jimoots]

I have Zipp SL70's in 38cm on a couple of bikes and then I tried a Prime Primavera 36cm on a budget race bike build.

The 38's are fine, no real compromise or difference that I could feel from the 40's I had before. And for me it was just a gradual shift from 44 to 42 to 40 to 38 over several bikes.

I definitely notice riding wider bars, I have an old cross bike with 42 (maybe 44's) and it feels like a truck.

The 36's are all good in the hoods/tops, the position (with more aggressively turned in hoods) does feel faster and the ability to rest forearms on the tops in that kinda psuedo TT position is good.

I will say that a 36cm drop does feel narrow for me and I don't think that I've really gotten used to it. The idea of a 36 top with flared drop has some appeal, but I got a bit spooked when I heard someone note that it makes it a bit easier to get hooked up in a bunch/peleton racing. So sticking with the 36's for now... I don't sprint that much anyway.

[StressStrain]

Originally Posted by jimoots

I have Zipp SL70's in 38cm on a couple of bikes and then I tried a Prime Primavera 36cm on a budget race bike build.

The 38's are fine, no real compromise or difference that I could feel from the 40's I had before. And for me it was just a gradual shift from 44 to 42 to 40 to 38 over several bikes.

I definitely notice riding wider bars, I have an old cross bike with 42 (maybe 44's) and it feels like a truck.

The 36's are all good in the hoods/tops, the position (with more aggressively turned in hoods) does feel faster and the ability to rest forearms on the tops in that kinda psuedo TT position is good.

I will say that a 36cm drop does feel narrow for me and I don't think that I've really gotten used to it. The idea of a 36 top with flared drop has some appeal, but I got a bit spooked when I heard someone note that it makes it a bit easier to get hooked up in a bunch/peleton racing. So sticking with the 36's for now... I don't sprint that much anyway.

I know this feeling. I hate the steering feel of wide bars.

Yet mountain bikers run crazy motorcycle-width bars. Different for them, I guess. Not my style.

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by StressStrain

I know this feeling. I hate the steering feel of wide bars.

Yet mountain bikers run crazy motorcycle-width bars. Different for them, I guess. Not my style.

Mountain bikes have different steering geometry though—a lot more trail usually, which makes steering a lot heavier. Wide bars give leverage to steer against it.

This is part of the reason why I think bikes like the Chamois Hanger with drops and tons of trail are silly and why road bikes with risers are also silly. The bars correspond with the steering setup, flipping it around just doesn’t make sense.

[Pinned]

One thing I didn't see mentioned yet is how different bars measure - most Italian brands measure at the drops while American brands measure at the hoods. So a 40cm FSA / Deda / 3t tends to be 38cm at the hoods (and comparable to an Enve, Zipp, Ritchey, Pro, etc in 38cm stated size).

FSA goes all the way down to 36cm in some of their bars - those are 34cm wide at the hoods.

I can't personally ride anything that narrow, 40cm at the hoods works well for me. I was on 42cm forever and switching to 40s is a noticeable improvement in feel and speed. Also gave me enough extra reach to run a longer stem on one of my bikes, which I prefer.

[Jere]

Hi
I tried smaller bars and it worked, but if you’re looking to be faster, get a new faster helmet.
My first try was to go to the extreme and see if it made me faster or if it was safe.
Rode 42/40s for 30 years.
Made a base line crit circuit 3.2 miles long.
Held the same wattage within 5 W 296/301 watts and of course tried to have the same wind.
For me, it was virtually the same time by Strava within seconds.
Base line was 42 cm and a 32 cm for the test.
32cm were weird at first but believe it or not kind of doable.
However, I did find out I am quite comfortable with 36cm bars without trying, I would have never knew that.
My suggestion is buy the cheapest bars you can find and give it a try.
I would send Pictures of my set up but my I pad isn’t playing nice today.

[paredown]

Originally Posted by rothwem

Mountain bikes have different steering geometry though—a lot more trail usually, which makes steering a lot heavier. Wide bars give leverage to steer against it.

This is part of the reason why I think bikes like the Chamois Hanger with drops and tons of trail are silly and why road bikes with risers are also silly. The bars correspond with the steering setup, flipping it around just doesn’t make sense.

I've often thought this--and the fact that a lot of trail riding is at slower speeds where you are actually having to 'steer' the bike around obstacles and such; it's not just the intuitive lean and point of road bike riding.

(My personal theory is that we are seeing a course correction--wider bars started getting popular on road bikes because people/shops were used to mountain bike setups--and now we're on our way back to narrow and aero. )

[Spoker]

Originally Posted by deluz

I am thinking of trying narrower bars.
.

For the aero benefit? Just curious since I'm transitioning to wider bars/

[Chris(NJ)]

Originally Posted by Spoker

For the aero benefit? Just curious since I'm transitioning to wider bars/

I feel like narrow road bars is the 2024 version of the ultra-wide MTB bar trend that happened in like 2020 or whatever.

[mstateglfr]

Originally Posted by Chris(NJ)

I feel like narrow road bars is the 2024 version of the ultra-wide MTB bar trend that happened in like 2020 or whatever.

Ha!
I don't ride much single track, but what we do have around me is twisty and flat river bottom singletrack in the woods and most of it was created over the 20-40 years before the wide bar trend blew up in the late 20teens.
A feature of a lot of the singletrack is that it's narrowly routed between trees and has sharp turns around/thru trees.

My gravel bike's bars barely clear since the drops are flared to about 560mm. I consistently see newer riders(assume) on modern mtbs that have to stop at every tree split because their bars are too wide and they cant/won't shift the bike back and forth to clear one side at a time.




I view the narrow drop width trend as just a pendulum swing away from how bar width had gone in the late 20teens due to wide gravel/adventure designs.
It's just normal behavior- as a trend peaks, enough look around for a different way to skin the cat and often times the opposite rides in popularity.
After a bit, things then largely settle.

Every 80s road bike I have ever rebuilt and/or modernized has gotten new bars because the 36cm bars that were spec'd on 63cm-65cm road bikes back then are woefully narrow and uncomfortable. It's interesting to see we are back to that when speed performance is the leading motivator.