[Damn True]

Alright, lets talk about bars.

Wide or narrow?

Benefit and limitation of both.

Your thoughts.

 

[math2014]

wide for me... i got like 65cm now and wanna jump to 67 or 68 cm

 

[buildyourown]

I just bought a 28" ProTaper to replace my old 26.5" Azonic. I was going to cut it down but I thought I would give it a try as is. One thing I really liked was how far I caould run my levers in from the grips. The ProTaper has a very long area for mounting controls. I didn't really notice the extra width even in the very tight tree sections but the new lever position really helps with the one finger braking.

 

[Roasted]

I run 27". The only real advantage is comfort. At lesser widths I always felt really cramped. By having wider handlebars it just felt better. I also found with narrow bars, the steering always felt squirrely.

 

[Repack]

I remember reading some pro tip a while back about DH bar sizing. The racer said to install the bar, but not the brakes or shifter. Then drop your hands on it with you eyes closed. Wherever they feel comfortable is where you should cut them. I don't know how well it works though. I have wide shoulders so I run a wider bar. Nothing ridiculous though.
Wider = more leverage on the wheel = better steering and stability.
The down side is that you have to move your body more to make tighter turns.
Narrrow is good for quicker turns, but you lose some stability.
For me, sweep is of greater concern. If a bar has too much, my shoulders are uncomfortable.

My DH bar is (I think) ~2" wider than my XC bar. Answer Pro Taper and RF Air Alloy riser. The RF has too much sweep for my liking. But its a couple of years old and they may have changed it.

 

[WestCoastHucker]

narrow for me. 25.5" short enough to clear my seat for x-ups.......(and i'm a little guy, so normal bar lengths feel too wide anyway)

plus i cut the bar widths to match on all my bikes for identical cockpits. i can go from my BMX to my ZigZag to my Mono and back again with no wierd feeling between bikes or adjustment times.....

 

[BMXman]

I run 27". The only real advantage is comfort. At lesser widths I always felt really cramped. By having wider handlebars it just felt better. I also found with narrow bars, the steering always felt squirrely.

same here...but it really depends on the application...since this thread is in the DH forum I would say 27" is about perfect for me...D

 

[Dingus McGee]

Used to cut them, but now run stock ProTapers...love em. Narrow bars feel funny now.
I don't really know what the pros/cons are.

 

[SuspectDevice]

I run pretty slack DH bikes, so I run uncut bars and 70mm stems for more leverage over the front end. I was running some 21 inch bars on my jump bike, and enjoyed it, but swapped out to a wider bar so i could run shifters.

 

[Acadian]

EASTON EA70...perfect width (27), sweep (8 degree) and upsweep (4 degree) for me!!

 

[Espen]

1.5" Doublewall cutted down to 27.5

I love the geometry of the Az bars.

E

 

[JRogers]

I run a standard EA70, 2" rise I think, full width on my Tomac 204. I like the shape and feel of Easton (protapers being basically the same) over any other brand. The width also lets me run the brakes really far inward, which I like. I use GRC hayes moto levers, which are really long. I like to run them as far in as possible but where I can still reach the shifter comfortably.

I had a low rise (which are narrower than the high ones) Protaper on my VT and it felt pretty good. I put on a full width Easton and I think I like it quite a bit better. More control on the fast sections and technical parts of trails, especially harder hits and big rooted areas.