Handlebar width

[wc1934]

How important is handlebar width? How or does handlebar width really matter?

I have some nice carbon fsa's which are labeled as 40's (which I believe is my size) but they measure closer to 38's. They seem narrow and my shoulders are scrunched. I am now looking at another brand but am leaning towards 42. Am I inviting another problem - within reason, can handlebars be too wide.

I've read where bars = shoulder blade width, but that larger bars allow you to open up your chest more - breathing etc.

Does stem length come into play?

Thanks all!

[madsciencenow]

IMHO, it matters if it bothers you and/or you can’t get the leverage you need to maneuver your ride (probably will bother you so maybe I don’t need to even say this).


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[Dave]

Bars may be measured center to center or outside to outside, so be sure that your measurements are consistent with that of the manufacturer.

I don't believe in the idea that wider bars have any effect on breathing. You can see pro riders belly breathing, where the belly protrudes to allow more air into the lungs.

My old bike had Easton bars that I'm sure were measured outside to outside as 40cm, so they are closer to 38cm c-c. I bought some new 40cm c-c bars and after months of riding with them I figured out that I liked my bike with the narrower bars better.

It's often recommended that your bars match your shoulder joint width, not your outside shoulder width.

Stem length is an entirely different matter. I make sure that I have enough reach, so I can pedal in the drops, with a significant bend at the elbows and not have my knees hit my elbows.

I don't buy bikes with a significantly different reach. They all use either a 100 or 110mm stem, with the saddle set as closely as possible to the same position, relative to the BB.

[kingpin75s]

Shoulder width seems to be a good starting point, but preferences will vary.

My shoulders measure around 17" which is a little over 43cm. I was originally on 42cm bars many years ago, but switched to 44cm over a decade ago. I prefer the leverage difference as well as it does feel like it opens up the chest.

Have not tried any time on 46cm drop bars as 44cm feel like the sweet spot for me.

[robt57]

2 cents; I use 40-44s mostly on different bikes I have. I know folk have in their minds, I only use this, yada.

Now I am not a man of few words, so excuse the diatribe as I attempt to convey this idea.

If I have a bike that's a long TT I would tend to use a narrow bar. I like a 59CM Top tube. My Crockett has 57tt, I use 46CM bar on it.. And dialing your reach between the shorter stem with a longer reach bar and visa/versa can be useful for how the bike responds when you are not directly in your sweet spot cockpit length etc. Or rather to get you there.

I have helped folks that get new bars and all of a sudden find fit is not happy happy. When I tell them "you went from 118mm reach on your old bars to these new carbon bars with 85mm reach, you need a longer stem now", they say, "No wonder...".

Or they put on a new bar to get wider or narrower not taking the bar reach into account.

I have one bike with a 603mm Top tube, it has the shortest reach bars I could find, and a more normal stem than I might have to use if the bar reach was 93mm like on the Crockett. Those are 69mm reach. that is 2+CM worth of stem if you think about it in the reach equation dialing in your position.. [saddle setback being the constant]

I fit both of those bikes in terms of the CG [fore/aft] window riding and great handling fine. Yes with a 33mm difference of TT. Smaller bike=smaller fore\aft CG window riding. Longer bike opposite.

I am just trying to introduce the concepts here, info hopefully useful for someone that has not dialed reach or blindly thinks, "I need this stem on this TT length/bike" that might be totally not considering the bar reach factor. This is my most common fit issue helping folks.

I also would not ride a 57TT short wheelbase bike, a CX bike with long front center/chainstays/wheelbase has a bigger center CG window. A road bike with 993mm WB much less so and I find untenable to ride.

So we are all kinda between sizes to some degree.

This after many 10s of thousands of miles is what I found works for me. And I have become an expert for me, due to my bike addiction and having a lot of bikes stable wise to ride... and needing to have them handle properly without stretching the size windows too far.

[Veloo]

I'm a 42 myself.
I did try a 44 but just found it was more space than I needed.
I even went to 46 when I found a set of bars for $5 or $10 at the bike show years ago. Thought I'd just put it on an indoor bike but it was just ridiculously wide.
In the end, 42 just felt right. Maybe 44 gave a bit more leverage but just didn't feel quite right.

As mentioned, different companies measure from different spots and some bars may flare a bit or a lot so need to confirm where they measure. I spend most time on hoods so I like the 42 to be there.

[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by kingpin75s

Shoulder width seems to be a good starting point, but preferences will vary.

My shoulders measure around 17" which is a little over 43cm. I was originally on 42cm bars many years ago, but switched to 44cm over a decade ago. I prefer the leverage difference as well as it does feel like it opens up the chest.

Have not tried any time on 46cm drop bars as 44cm feel like the sweet spot for me.

This is apparently somewhat of a hotly-contested notion, but I agree with you. Feels better for me. I also like the handling better with ~44 cm.

[nooneline]

The whole "too narrow and you'll scrunch your shoulders and be unable to breathe" thing has always seemed like bunk to me. You have elbows. You can touch your hands to each other and still be able to breathe.

Handlebar width, like other elements of refining a fit, matters to people who notice it and have preferences; some people's range of comfort is wider than others. I am small, and I'm uncomfortable on parts that are too large - bars that are too wide for my comfort, cranks that are too long. I know plenty of people who could hop on a bike with bars 4cm different in width or cranks 5mm different, and they wouldn't notice a thing.

fwiw I use 35cm bars on the track, 38s on the road, and 40s for cx.

Stem length does matter, because your arms form triangles. If you go narrower, you might need to go longer to get your torso in the right spot and keep your hip angle constant.

[cash05458]

we need a most talked about thing on paceline...this has to be up there...gravel and disks coming in hard I bet...

[robt57]

Originally Posted by nooneline

The whole "too narrow and you'll scrunch your shoulders and be unable to breathe" thing has always seemed like bunk to me. You have elbows. You can touch your hands to each other and still be able to breathe.

On this subject, I learned something this last year. After loosing 40 lb I realized I wasn't just getting old and having to raise the bars slowly due to age as I thought. Once the 40lb was gone I was able to lower the bars back to when I was late 40s-50.

It was the extra room for my lungs to expand I had lost. While not back to the 4.5" saddle bar drop of my early 40s, @ 62 I am back to 3.5" anyway. Now that the spare tire is out of the way....

[fogrider]

I've been running 44s and that pretty much aligned to my shoulders and there's lots of climbing around here and it's nice to have the space on the tops of the bar. I'm thinking of going to 42s my next bike.

[vqdriver]

my first 'real' bike came with 42 bars and every since i had used 42 because i just assumed that's what was appropriate for my size frame. then i tried 44 and won't go back. the way modern bars are measured, it even makes sense to go with a 46 in some brands.
it's like pants inseams, there's a starting point, and then you adjust to find what works best for you. good thing is that there's no wrong answer

[giordana93]

my first road bike came with 38's because it was the (late) 70s
my first "real" (race) road bike came with 40's because it was the 80s
my Giordana came with 42s cause I spec'd it that way and it was the 90s (and I think Greg had somehow advocated trying wider)

I rode the 42s for more than a decade without thinking about it but when I got a new bike 15 years later I got 40s and liked them more. even flirted with 38s last year which worked just fine, but I like in the middle 40s best

you can feel scrunched on too narrow, but too wide will also pinch my shoulders the wrong way. I don't believe the leverage or easier to breath arguments made for going wider. narrower bars seem better in a tight pack though

[bigbill]

46 with flaired drops. I rode 44's forever but after getting a gravel bike with wide bars, that's all I wanted. I'm also tall with broad shoulders.

[Ken Robb]

I think most of us can ride a wide range of bar widths before we get uncomfortable. $$ may be perfect for me but 42 and 46 were ok. 40 felt a bit cramped. If I had to compromise I would prefer a bit too wide to a bit too narrow. If I'm riding gravel wider is definitely better.