Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark McM
His handlebars look narrower than traditional, but not super-narrow. He has his lever pointed in, which makes the handlebars look narrower then then are.
I've been using narrow handlebars in criteriums for a short time. My Enve SES aero bars flare from 35mm at the hoods to 38mm at the drops. At first, the narrow bars felt a bit unstable on the hoods, but after a short time I got used to them. Handling isn't much different when in the saddle. The big difference is when riding out of the saddle on the hoods - the narrow bars make it more difficult to rock the bike and get leverage on the pedals. The drops are a more traditional width, so they feel more 'normal' when in the drops.
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I don't think Enve makes the aero handlebar in 38cm (sic 38mm) stated size, only down to 40cm which is 35cm at the tops. Either way they are very narrow but the shape is quite nice and natural feeling
https://www.enve.com/product/aero-handlebar/
Quote:
Originally Posted by lavi
I gotta say that I just don't get this narrow stuff. I can maybe understand the aero benefit for RACERS. Real racers. For recreational riders/club racers: why?
My real world experience is not great with narrow bars. I had some on a bike I bought used. I typically ride a 44. I can maybe get away with a 42. I have wide shoulders (jacket size is a 44). The bars I had were 40's I think, or maybe a 38. Seated riding was fine. Anything out of the saddle was just plain weird. It felt like my power was cut as I had such a narrow grip. Leverage on the bars was much less. Like riding while standing with hands on the tops.
So what gives? How do folks that like this compensate for going hard out of the saddle whether climbing or just getting after it on the flats?
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Really depends on what you're comfortable with - everyone is different in how they reach to bar shapes. I have a pretty big chest and wide shoulders (44-46 jacket size) but when riding "arms pointed in" is a more comfortable and natural position at the hoods than straight up and down. But if going hard out of the saddle (other than climbs) a bar with a decent amount of flare compensates for the relatively narrow hood position. The Enve Aero mentioned by Mark above is a nice combination of the two seemingly divergent bar shape goals, and a lot of the gravel offerings have numbers than accomplish the same.
As for the climbs, while there's a bit less leverage I got used to it pretty quickly and the other benefits outweighed the detriments. However if I did mostly climbs then the bar choice would most likely be different.
If anything I always hated how traditional road handlebars kept the drop position so similar to the hood position - it felt VERY unnatural based on my shoulder/arm shape and preferred riding orientation.
I ordered a set of the new Enve AR bars, and look forward to seeing how they stack up the the Aero ones.