Do smaller sized handlebars effect handling?

[marciero]

Originally Posted by Dave

Many people don't realize it but a bicycle is steered with the bars, just like a motorcycle. The bike will lean to the right and turn right if you counter steer by pushing on the right side of the bars. The big difference is the small amount of force required, compared to a motorcycle.

In fact countersteering is the only way to initiate a turn, no matter what your body sensations are telling you. The only difference is that consciously doing it helps some riders corner more aggressively, more smoothly, etc.

[d_douglas]

I am a big guy and when I heard 46cm bars were a thing, I went all out. Then I tried someone’s 44cm and realized the change is very minor plus they aren’t so ungainly as they 46cm.

It’s a matter of preference, but I cannot imagine using a 42cm at my size, yet I know tons of people do. I guess 44cm is my sweet spot.

[carpediemracing]

If you're riding one handed with your hand next to the stem, bar width won't matter. Holding the bar next to the stem is the most stable way to ride one handed since it limits accidental input to the bars. It's why track racers slinging their partner into the race will hold the center of the bars. (The racer being slung into the race will hold the drop only because they are racing 100% as soon as they're in the race, plus the rider doing the slinging does most of the slinging work.)

It's also why it's stable on smooth roads to descend in a tuck while holding the tops - limits input to the bars. But on rough roads, where you need to make sure the wheel doesn't turn sideways, holding the drops has benefits (resists lateral wheel movement better).

When riding one handed on the drops or hoods, a narrower bar will feel twitchier because the same amount of input (1 cm push forward, for example) will turn the front wheel proportionately more. Therefore what you thought of as "fine motor inputs" become "coarse motor inputs".

If riding normally then you'll probably adjust pretty quickly. More awkward maneuvers, like coasting while standing while holding just one hood or drop... that might take some focused practice. However you can always just move your hand to the center of the bars.

[benb]

Almost every one of these effects a bar/stem change has is balanced out by something else that can make a lot of it a wash when you fully look at the physics.

Wider bars - you do have to move your hands further for the same wheel rotation.. but the wider bars provide more leverage, so you'll use less force to move the bar, which balances everything out.

Longer stem - requires moving the handlebars further.. but provides more leverage against the steering column.

You can adjust to all this stuff really quickly within a ride. But if a specific configuration places your body in an uncomfortable position you can't necessarily adjust to that as easily, and if the changes shifts your body weight that can have a larger effect than anything else.

[pdonk]

I had always thought I was a "bigger" person and needed 44cm bars. For reference, I wear a 43 or 44 sized suit.

When i had my fitting, I was set up on 40s and 40s came with my bike. Now after nearly 2 years on the 40s, I like them. Whenever I ride my bike with 44s they seem huge and just feel off.

I think I'd like to try 42s for a just a bit more space, but doubt I will, until my enves need to be replaced.

[haruharu]

Originally Posted by pdonk

I had always thought I was a "bigger" person and needed 44cm bars. For reference, I wear a 43 or 44 sized suit.

When i had my fitting, I was set up on 40s and 40s came with my bike. Now after nearly 2 years on the 40s, I like them. Whenever I ride my bike with 44s they seem huge and just feel off.

I think I'd like to try 42s for a just a bit more space, but doubt I will, until my enves need to be replaced.

During my bike fit, I was told to up to a 42cm from a 40cm to increase my functional respiratory capacity. But I measured my drops and it seems my tops is 40 and drops is 42cm.

In your case did you ever noticed a difference in breathing rate or depth?

[marciero]

Originally Posted by benb

Almost every one of these effects a bar/stem change has is balanced out by something else that can make a lot of it a wash when you fully look at the physics.

Wider bars - you do have to move your hands further for the same wheel rotation.. but the wider bars provide more leverage, so you'll use less force to move the bar, which balances everything out.

Longer stem - requires moving the handlebars further.. but provides more leverage against the steering column.

This is true regarding the wider bars. As far as longer stem- that is probably going to be negligible because you would be moving your hands closer to tangentially than radially. For big differences, for example at the extremes with a very short stem with wide flat bars vs long stem and narrow drop bars, the difference in feel will have to do less with force and leverage than the movement of your hands. The former case is like having your hands at 9:00 and 3:00 on a steering wheel. In the latter case, not only is it more like 10 and 2 or 11 and 1. In the latter case the movement of your hands is more side to side.

In my experience this is all swamped by the simple feel of having your hands closer together or farther apart. It simply feels strange to have hands closer together than I am used to and is much more noticeable than a change in handling. Regarding stem length-since I use long reach bars changing the stem length simply changes what part of the bar I spend more time on and not where they are in relation to the steering column so will not affect handling in any way related to leverage or angle of rotation

[marciero]

Originally Posted by haruharu

During my bike fit, I was told to up to a 42cm from a 40cm to increase my functional respiratory capacity. But I measured my drops and it seems my tops is 40 and drops is 42cm.

In your case did you ever noticed a difference in breathing rate or depth?

That was the old argument, circa 1990? something like that. I dont think there is evidence to support it. In any case, flared bars (and probably any number of other adjustments) would achieve the same effect by moving elbows outward

[m_sasso]

Originally Posted by marciero

That was the old argument, circa 1990? something like that. I dont think there is evidence to support it. In any case, flared bars (and probably any number of other adjustments) would achieve the same effect by moving elbows outward

Thank you, I was beginning to think I was back in 1985, sometimes there is so much ill conceived information on the internet it is difficult for new riders to find what is current, proven and correct.

One of the biggest aero differences a road rider can make is utilizing narrow handlebars.