Wide drop bars

[cmbicycles]

I have a friend who has wide shoulders and is about 325lbs, hopefully continuing to lose weight. He was complaining about his bars being too narrow for him to bring his arms in, so I came across some 48 ctc bars from Zinn and the nitto noodle bars. Anyone ever try either or know anyone who likes either?

[d_douglas]

I have just switched to using 46cm to 44cm (c-c)

I still have a set of 46cm Nittos on a bike and they are beautiful. Nitto stuff is of such high quality.

My only caution to you is that with your friends size, using OS bars might be a better idea than the old standard. I weigh 200lbs and am weak so it was really just for positioning that I liked the fit, but for your friend, strength and position are factors.

I have two surplus 46cm bars for sale if interested - a silver OS Bontrager and a black 26.0 Salsa pro road. Cheap, but shipping will be a bear ;(

Good luck!

Darren

[rugbysecondrow]

I have wide shoulders and use nitro noodle 48. Comfy, strong and look nice. All my bikes with drop bars use Nitto Noodle 48.

Beat of luck.

[echelon_john]

Nitto 176 and 177 will both work, and both come wide in a HT model. (more expensive, but for your friend's size strength is good.)

As you probably know, the main difference between the two is that the noodle is swept back slightly along the top. If he's new to riding either would work fine.

Jitensha Studio has them in the wide sizes; Rivendell doesn't have the 176 anymore (at least last time I checked) in 46 or 48.

I wouldn't have a concern with 26.0 bars, assuming these are the bars you're considering. For a stem, if you don't have one, try to pick up a NOS Thomson 26.0.

[Ken Robb]

The Noodles in sizes bigger than 44cm. are heat treated for even more strength than the already darn strong regular Noodles. Nitto stems are tough as well.

[cp43]

I'd also recommend the Noodles in the 48cm size. I have a pair that I really like.

I wouldn't worry about a 26.0 clamp size compared to an oversized, I haven't had any problems with the bars shifting.

Good luck,

Chris

[JAGI410]

I love noodles, both the handlebars and the food.

[bicycletricycle]

+1 on noodles.

they are strong and well finished and have a nice ramp behind the hoods.

[EricEstlund]

Not sure what your friend is riding as a reference. If you are looking for a compact bar, the Soma Hwy One comes in a 46 in both 26 and 31.8 options.

[cmbicycles]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that his current bars are a 44ctc. I like that the larger noodles are heat treated, I hadn't read the specifics other than the size, so that is good to know.

He is relatively new to road riding, he is a little bit like the million dollar man with all of his screws, pins and and artificial joints earned while serving in the military. He started out using a cattrike, which helped him lose quite a bit of weight, then he decided to try some other bike styles. Now he has more bikes than me, and uses them too. I am glad he is still wanting to get out and be active with all of his injuries to work through and being 63 yrs young, a lot of people would have given up.

Thanks for all the input, I think I will steer him towards the 48 noodles.

[witcombusa]

A data point.

I have observed that wide bars (lets say 44cm and above) can make a bike with lowish trail numbers feel a bit nervous. I took the 46cm noodles of my Mercian and replaced then with 42cm bars and it went away completely. I suspect it's too much leverage unless it is a fairly high trail bike.

Just say'n

[ColnagoFan]

FSA used to make a 46 C-t-C in the Energy Ergo, it was their "tandem" bar or something. I used to run them on some bikes, I like wide bars. They're great, stiff as all get out, 31.8mm clamp. Not the lightest thing in the world, but that's ok.

[maunahaole]

another +1 on the Nitto Noodle. Don't mess around with anything else. A beautifully made high quality part. Don't skimp on the stem either. I'd lean in favor of a cro-mo stem of some kind or a Thomson - the Thomson that does not have any cutouts on the steerer end/the original OG Thomson.