Narrow bars
 

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.

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!

I have the PRO PLT Ergo Carbon in 36.

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

https://www.pro-bikegear.com/_assets...1749526_lr.png

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.

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.

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.

As for me - I grew up riding 80's ten-speed bikes. Those all came with narrow bars. It's what I'm used to!

When I ride bikes with wide bars, I feel like I'm catching way too much wind. But more importantly, narrow bars make it way easier (for me) to carry myself up a bit and support my upper body without putting too much pressure on my shoulders and neck. To me, that's an important benefit.

I've been on 38's for a long time. There are a number of choices now on aliexpress in 36 with flare similar to the Enve SES or AR, gotta search a bit. They're all under $100. My experience with ali bars has been all positive-I'd stay away from blatant counterfeits for a number of reasons, but generic bars with similar shapes have all been vg to excellent.

Me too. I went from 42 to 44 a couple years ago on my bikes.

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.

That would be one reason although at 66 years old I am very slow and don't race anymore, but still there is wind.
But I am small 5'8" with 36" chest and have always liked narrower bars.
I have always used 40cm which used to be considered narrow but now are more common. I really won't know if 38cm is an improvement until I try them.

I think you'll like them-I'm 5'5 with a 38 in chest, have been on 38's for the past 8-10 yrs.

Sort of. For the pros, the narrow bars are more aero. With puppy-paws being banned, they're looking for anything to put them in that position legally. Thus the release of some narrow but flared bars - narrow hoods for aero, wide drops for control.

For the rest of us? Comfort is still king. You can't go fast if you're miserable.

the Zipp SL-70 Ergo aluminum bars look good.
They are pretty light for an aluminum bar and the shape looks good.
I could not find the Vibe bars anywhere except from an Ebay seller in Taiwan.
They have a a somewhat flatter and wider top.