[dexterq20]

Need some feedback from y'all please.

Just threw some 30.8" Truvativ bars on my DH bike and rode them for the first time today. They're awesome.

However, when I jump on my trail bike now, the 27" bars feel WAY too narrow. Already planning on putting some 28" bars on the trail bike, but I'm worried they'll still feel really narrow compared to the DH bike's bars (almost 3" narrower).

So my questions are:

• are 29" bars too wide for a 6-inch travel trail/all-mountain bike? (I'm thinking yes, mainly because it'll be a bitch to squeeze thru some spots on my local trails)

• should I just chop the DH bike's bars to 30" and run the 28" bars on the trail bike to reduce the differences in width?

Any and all feedback is welcome. Gracias.

 

[norbar]

Get 29'' bars for your am bike and if you feel they are too long cut them. Bar length depends too much on your body build, riding style and personal preferance. I ride 30'' on my dh bike being a skinny whimp but I'd never go over 27'' on my trail bike (though it's closer to xc with 5/4'' travel)

 

[altix]

i run 31.5in on my dirtjump bike and my dh bike, and i would run the same on my all mountain if i had one

 

[gemini2k]

I had normal sized bars on my xc bike. Then I put 30's on my DH bike (diety). I quickly had to go put some sunline 29'ers on the xc bike, it just felt too twitchy after that.

 

[norbar]

i run 31.5in on my dirtjump bike and my dh bike, and i would run the same on my all mountain if i had one

31.5'' on a dj bike? Have you ever tried to barspin that?

 

[SlackBoy]

Join teh rest of the world in Metric maing

 

[RayB]

*sigh*

There's one (or more) threads about handlebar width every week it seems and at the end of the day, the correct answer is:














It's all personal preference.

 

[Kanye West]

Running the narrow bars on the midsize bike is good practice. Makes you capitalize on the extra width when you are on the DH bike.

 

[Zark]

I've been more than happy with the Sunline's in the short time they've been on my 6.6. The bike just feels more controllable in the gnar.

 

[JRogers]

It's all personal preference.

True enough. You're not going to get a definitive answer to the question. If you think 30s will be too wide, then don't run them or get a pair and cut them to size. Personally, I run 30s on the DH, 28s on the Prophet and 25 or so on the XC HT (and 46 on the cross bike).

 

[scottishmark]

when your chin's on the stem ..................... you've gone too far

 

[Sandwich]

I've got mega 800mm Kore bars on my DH bike and I love them. I *should* cut them down after punching some trees, but they feel awesome.

Wider is better.

 

[boogenman]

I just went to 28" on my DH bike. I was always using narrow bars.

Personal preference I guess.

 

[limitedslip]

I had a dream last night in which I was forced to ride a bike with extremely narrow bars. It sucked. So, the answer is 30.55" is too wide.

 

[frorider]

yep this topic gets beaten to death regularly, but it's good to see that the message is finally getting out there. 6+ years ago it was hard for me to find any truly wide bars at all -- had to resort to getting custom bars made, etc.

one comment to add is that when experimenting w/ wider bars on an AM/trailbike, try going a little shorter in the stem while you're at it. on a couple of my 5.5 inch bikes, a 730 mm (28 3/4 inch) bar only felt right when i shortened the stem by 15 mm.