[jungle]

I've now collected all the parts to build my M3 except
the only thing left is a nice set of bars and a stem.
I've decided to go with Easton EA70 midrise bars and Havoc 50mm stem.

Should I stick with standard 25.4 bars/stem or run the 31.8 oversize bars/stem ?

I'm not too worried about saving weight as i weigh in at 220lbs myself
so I can throw the bike around no worries with little effort.

thanks in advance

 

[frznnomad]

jungle due to the fact that your a bigger rider i would say go with the oversized bar and stem combo. you will get more reliability and a lot stiffer front end with the oversized combo. i run the oversized diablous stem and bar combo and absolutly love it. i honestly dont know why you would want to go with the smaller bar unless you were going to save some weight which your not. so i say go bigger cause your a bigger rider and well its stiffer.

 

[davep]

About two years ago (maybe not quite that long ago) before easton got into the oversize thing, they had an article/interview with one of their engineers on their site. It was long and contained references to their testing etc, but the end result was that oversive bars were NOT beneficial.
According to their testing (I think everyone will agree that they are the source for scientific knowledge about thes types of things), to be of the same strength, the 31.8 bars needed to be heavier. When they were made to the same weight as the 25.4 bars, they would fail.
In the end, they said flat out that 31.8 was not needed, nor did it offer any benefits over a 25.4 bar. It was their beleif that oversize bars were a marketing fabrication only and should NOT be an adopted standard.

Fast foreward a couple of years, and the article is gone and easton makes a handful of 31.8 bars....

to each their own..but the bike industry is rife, and has a long history with non-needed, non-beneficial, 'improved' standards introduced to sell more products.

 

[fred.r]

I'm 235ish w/o gear and have ridden both oversized and 25.4. I couldn't feel a damn difference. I'm totally happy with my bars they way they are and have a good feeling the oversized thing is just another marketing gimic.

 

[JRogers]

I run 31.8, but only because the bars I like most were more readily available in that size. I don't really think it matters either way...just pick whatever you can get.

 

[jrfor0]

the jury is still out on whether 31.8 is stronger then 25.4. i run 31.8 because i find they are a little stiffer

 

[ZHendo]

i'm a pretty light rider, but i've found 31.8mm to be unnecessary. i'm lucky because i'm running answer protapers which are really light, so i don't suffer the weight penalty. however, i opted for the new diety 25.4mm stem/bar on my yeti i'm getting built.

 

[jungle]

Since we are talking about weights of 25.4 vs 31.8
out of interest

I just weighed a
Easton Havoc 25.4 x 50 long stem with a
Easton EA70 mid-rise 25.4 monkeybar and it came in a 425 grams
and a
Easton Havoc 31.8 x 50 long stem with a
Easton EA70 mid-rise 31.8 monkeybar and it came in a 475 grams

so basically there is only a 50gram penalty to running oversize
in the above combo

 

[muddy beast]

I see no difference in 25.4 and 31.8. I recently purchased a 25.4 bar and stem (Atomlab Cromo bar and Raceface Diabolous 55mm) and my new set-up is strong and stuff compared to my Truvativ Hussefelt 31.8.

 

[lovebunny]

i run 31.8 just cause the bars i wanted only came in that size. i dont really care either way

 

[Lejk]

Although you are only "saving" 50g, I would still go for the "old" standard. There are no sound reasons for buying a heavier product which doesn't perform better than the lighter when you get them for the same price.