Handlebar width - what do the pros use?

[BdaGhisallo]

Just curious if anyone can provide any insight into what bar width the average euro pro uses. Some obviously ride wider bars than others but it's really hard to get an accurate idea on absolute size since even the largest pros are skinnier than the average regular rider.

Any idea what Hincapie, Tyler and Lance use?

Jerk can you help?


thanks

[jerk]

typically they use 38cm-42cm. most still use a round drops as well and much longer stems than most american recreational riders. if you think about it as handle bars come up wider tends to feel better. generally speaking however any thing wider than your own chest cavity is too wide. (ullrich actually uses 38cm bars on his walser time trial bike. michael rich is built like a bricksh1t house and even he uses 40cm bars on his tt bike.)
anyway,
the jerk

[oracle]

does tyler not use something really wide, like a 44? i remember seeing his bike and thinking that it looked sort of odd compared to his rather slight build.

oracle

[JohnS]

Jerk, why is it that so many pros use round drops? I've noticed it but I've always found them uncomfortable.

[BdaGhisallo]

should have discerned between c to c and outside to outside measurements. I guess your 38 to 42 cm group must be center to center?

[jerk]

yup, center to center. round bars...the jerk uses them and has found that most people who spend anytime in the drops seem to prefer them. one problem with round drop bars is that there is not enough room for the current crop of shimano and campy brifters and fingers. this is why you'll see alot of guys mounting their sti levers high on the bars in sort of a DUI look. some guys (like your friendly neighborhood jerk and a slightly faster german named jan) actually use the old pointy campy bodys because their is more room for the fingers. methinks the round bars allow more positions in the drops and make a more positive grip when sprinting or climbing out of the saddle.
jerk

(p.s. tyler uses 42cm bars which are probably too big for him but he is tiny.)

[TmcDet]

interesting John Cobb talked a bit about the bar width last night and how some people are going wider with the bars now because it opens up the breathing cavity more........this is one case where the aero guy was saying that it might be best to give up some aero to breath

[Keith A]

I totally agree with the jerk on the round bars! I have tried most of the anatomic shaped bars out there and they do offer one very nice sweet spot while in the drops -- but that's it. Typically there are no other locations on these bars that are comfortable other than that one spot.

I'm currently using the Deda 215 shallow drop bars and am very happy with them. I recently purchased a set of Ritchey WCS Road Classic bars, which have a shape very similar to the Deda's -- but I haven't installed these yet.

When I'm in the drops, sometimes I like my hands to be towards the end of the bar and other times closer to the hooks. One of the biggest things that I couldn't get used to on the anatomic bars was the way they felt when sprinting -- it just didn't feel right to me.

Just my 2¢

[jerk]

well, john cobb is wrong. at least when it comes to pursuit bar and drop bar width. breathing is not made any easier unless the bars were narrower than your chest cavity to begin with which is almost impossible given what most people are riding. everytime cobb goes into the wind tunnell it seems like he contradicts what he "discovered" the last time. plus the jerk finds it hard to trust anyone who attempted to purchase a gatling gun to equipe a his hand made model airplane. there was a time not that long ago when 42's were considered giant.

[BigMac]

Jerk:

I don't recall anyone ever suggesting 42cm bars being "giant". In fact 42's were the most common size bars for many a year, probably still are to this day. When Cinelli 64's were the defacto standard bar, the 42 was the biggest seller, 40's were a distant 2nd, 44's were a rare bird. I know Lance uses Deda 215's in 42 width for most uses. George Hincapie prefers same bar in 40cm width, although I was told he switched to a Deda cf bar this season in same width. He however uses a 44cm bar at Paris-Roubaix so nothing is written in stone, as it were. Even a little guy like Marco Pantani uses 42's on mountain stages, 38's were his common choice in TT and flat stages but he is notorious for tweaking his component choices -- if he performed poorly on a day, he always replaced his saddle, often with an identical model, but replaced it none the less.

The old school method was to measure rider shoulder width from the bump on each shoulder where collarbone joins --there is some medical name for this bump which only my son and others in medical field know or care to know -- then add 2cm. Personally I simply choose what feels comfortable for my style of riding. If I were riding a TT or triathalon, I would likely choose something a bit narrower that may allow a more 'elbows-in' riding position. Since such riding style is not my favor, I prefer longterm comfort, control and breathing efficiency, that means 46cm bars measured c-c with deep, roomy drops for my big mitts. Actually, my favorite bars on a couple bikes are the Salsa Bell Lap bars which feature a modified randonee bend. The flats are roomy but flat unlike a traditional randonee bar but the drops flare outward in randonee style resulting in something like 52cm width at drops. The only downside to these otherwise great bars is the limited room behind drops; the drop itself is roomy but the extension back toward rider at bottom of drop is suitable only for a childs hands.

For most folks, I would suggest they demo several widths for extended rides, if possible. Once they determine a width suitable for their build and riding style, then focus on drop shape and depth. There are so many bar shape and size options these days, a solid 10-fold greater than just 20 years ago, one cannot help but find an acceptable bar option if they take the time to really look. Whatever you do, ignore bar mass; a) it does not matter b) most manufacturers lie significantly regarding published bar masses c) it does not matter d) it does not matter....

Ride on!

[Elefantino]

I'm assuming he used 40s before. But they changed to wider bars (and wrapped them in poofy bar tape after the Stage 1 crash.

[sellsworth]

I tried a bike with 40" bars and felt like I was going to tip over. (Although that bike was a Trek 5900, maybe that was the reason for the lack of stability!) 42" is just right for me - but my shoulders are wider than vast than the majority of roadies that I see.

I think that I read that Tyler had three layers of tape on his bars after the stage 1 crash.

[keno]

While you may know, but if you don't, Nitto's Dream and Noodle models come in true 46cm C-C. I have been using the Deda 215 46cm, but they are roughly 44.5cm C-C. I find myself wanting more room, and I'll see what I get as I am having my new Spectrum built with the Dream model. They have a 90mm reach and 140mm drop and round drops. There isn't much out there when you go large, particularly in silver finish, which was something I wanted for this bike.

keno