How do you pick the width of a townie bar?

[SadieKate]

How do you pick the width of a townie bar like a Nitto North Road or SOMA Oxford? I haven't ridden a bike with any of the swept back bars that seem to be popular on town bikes so I'm not sure how to pick a width. I ride 40 cm road bars and my mtb bars range from 54.5 to 62 cm depending on the bike's use. I like an 11 degree bend in my mtb bars so I'd like to try a swept back bar but sizes are from a minisucule 490 mm to only a seemingly not very wide 570.

I'm not even sure how such bars are measured. If these bars are measured from bar plug end to bar plug end, a 490 seems midget-sized. Even a 520 cm Soma Sparrow sounds narrow and that is the wider width. How do I estimate a desired width based on what I like in other bar styles? Is the sweep back measured from the center stem clamp or from the most forward part of the bar (some have a forward sweep)? Very few of these around here to heft so I’ll be ordering sight unseen and hooping I like the position. I'm wondering if a 520 cm townie bar like SOMA sparrow actually feels wider.

I hope to be building up a SOMA Buena Vista mixte in a few weeks that I will use for errands and to pull a BOB trailer so a little width to handle the trailer weight seems to be a good idea, but I don’t need width to handle singlespeed mtbiking conditions.

Anyone have recommendations how to pick the right size bar? Interestingly, Nitto and SOMA offer similar bars but with different rises. Did I see somewhere that Nitto makes the SOMA bars?

some examples
http://www.somafab.com/baroxford.html
http://www.somafab.com/barsparrow.html

You all are such a wealth of info. I'm hoping you can help me translate one measurement to another.

[PacNW2Ford]

Can't really help you with the measuring, but if you are planning to be in Portland, the City Bikes Co-op has a great selection of townie bars. You might give them a call.

Something to remember when choosing a townie bar is the shifters you plan on using. Some of the bars don't have enough straight section at the grips to fit brake levers, shifters and grips. The beautiful Jitensha falls into this category.

I'm using an On One Mary bar. It's wide, but feels good and adds to the cruiser vibe.

[Fixed]

i don't know if i ride a townie but narrow works for me i like to go in tight spaces
cheers

[SadieKate]

Thanks, PacNW2Ford. Heading to Klamath Falls next week, not Portland. Oh well.

I have thought about the space on the bars. Being a shorter female type person, I've had to face the problem of lack of space on bars for a long time. I'll be using bar cons and Paul's Thumbies, and petite Real Design levers. WebCyclery here in town does have a pretty decent selection of stuff for townies, just not the narrower bars.

The On-One Mary is HUGE for me. I can't find a width on the Jitensha. you know it?

Right now, if I had to pick something, anything, I'd probably get the Soma Oxford at 540mm. I don't need to worry about tight spaces and I do need to manhandle a single wheel trailer or panniers.

Fixed, I believe that Ray's term for a townie is a "Sit up and Beg" bike. Did I get that right, Ray? :) For me, that isn't cruiser upright, just similar to the position you'd ride a XC-mtb.

[PacNW2Ford]

Here's a pic with comparative bars...
http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=47879

[SadieKate]

Thanks. Much better picture than the website.

[kerrycycle]

based on the thread title, I was hoping for a discussion of drinking establishments! :beer:

[SadieKate]

Feel free to hijack the thread. I won't complain. :)