Ultra narrow bars in Giro Victory-Any Experience

[Tommasini53]

Taco van der Hoorn used the new ultra narrow bars. I think the description is 27 to 30cm in width.

Any Forumites tried these out? Cyclingtips discussed them. Does not look like they are produced by a major brand (yet?).

https://cyclingtips.com/2021/04/new-...ad-handlebars/

[prototoast]

His bars didn't look that narrow to me. I know he had the shifters pointed in, but is there any confirmation that he was actually on narrow bars?

[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.

[KJMUNC]

this just looks crazy to me.....betting the UCI will shut this down and do it by ruling that lever have to be within a certain degree of vertical

[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?

[David Kirk]

Has anyone seen how people using these bars ride out of the saddle? Either climbing or sprinting?

dave

[Tommasini53]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

Has anyone seen how people using these bars ride out of the saddle? Either climbing or sprinting?

dave

Yeah, I can't visualize any out of the saddle positions on the narrow bars. I think the leverage matters in those situations.

[unterhausen]

I have some bars on my gravel bike that are a little narrower than I'm used to. At least 40cm, I'm not sure of the exact width. It takes me a while to get used to standing up if I have been riding another bike a lot.

[KJMUNC]

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?

Shhh! you're going to spoil their ability to create a new product that is completely unnecessary for 99.99999% of people who ride bikes, but they're so PRO that you will be a Fred if you don't show up for the Wednesday Worlds ride without them

[charliedid]

I ride 40's and I'd be afraid to stand up with bars that narrow.

[RoosterCogset]

“Handling is actually very similar to wider bars,” Bigham said.


Seriously? How could it be?

[yinzerniner]

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.

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/

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?

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.

[mistermo]

Originally Posted by yinzerniner

I ordered a set of the new Enve AR bars, and look forward to seeing how they stack up the the Aero ones.

I quickly glanced at the ENVE site and couldn't see much difference between these. When they arrive, please post a comparison/review.

After I tried flared bars, I was hooked. Initially I sized down from 44 to 42, but have reverted back to 44 now. The largest ENVE aero size is "46", but that's only 41cm on the tops. It looks like the AR bars are much alike, but I can go wider.

I wonder if the trend to narrower bars will eventually reverse itself.

[lavi]

Originally Posted by yinzerniner

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.

Concur on the Enve bars. I dig the flare and agree that having that would allow for a bit more narrow up top. I could easily do a 42 in these.

Originally Posted by mistermo

I quickly glanced at the ENVE site and couldn't see much difference between these. When they arrive, please post a comparison/review.

After I tried flared bars, I was hooked. Initially I sized down from 44 to 42, but have reverted back to 44 now. The largest ENVE aero size is "46", but that's only 41cm on the tops. It looks like the AR bars are much alike, but I can go wider.

I had the Enve Aero. I did like them quite a bit. A touch more narrow on top with extra width in the drops due to the flare. What I didn't care for was the aero tops. I don't have huge paws, but def not small at all. I just found them too wide in the palms. I do like and prefer ergo/flattened tops though.

The new AR bars are much less wide on the tops than the aero bars.

For me, I just bought some of the Enve gravel bars to go on my incoming Hampsten Ti SB. I get all the benefits I like. Ergo top, flare, short reach and drop (which is currently en vouge).

[pasadena]

I ride 38s and they feel perfect for my build.
I've ridden really narrow on fixed but that was just to squeeze through boston traffic- still preferred 38s and they will still go through traffic fine.

Body can adapt to many things. Of course you can ride 30s or 25s but it truly is less stable and a lot more effort to hold aero positions.

Pros may get away with it but I can see a lot of desk jockey-body, weekend warriors taking pavement naps.