44cm bars are away too wide for most people I think. I ride generally L/58 size bikes and my first change is always handlebars. I have 40cm on everything except my road bike, which has 38cm.
Soy__Sauce on
44cm bars are very wide. Stick with them if all you care about is singletrack control and slow chill riding. Move to the 40cm bars if you do a lot of fast non technical riding and/or you have the upper body strength to move narrower bars.
FYI It will also affect your fit you may need to move to a longer stem.
I’m 5’8” and ride a size small Checkpoint with 40cm bars and a 110mm stem. I ride a LOT of singletrack because of where I live and do some CX races and don’t find the 40cm bars lacking in leverage but I also mix in strength training
cloud93x on
I switched to narrower bars and it’s better for everything except singletrack, which is a minimum of my riding and not worth sacrificing fit for. I definitely recommend it.
Novel_Economics5828 on
The super wide bar trend is kinda ridiculous. Great if all you do is single track, but lame for a bike you ride on the road often. I stuck with 44cm with bars from PNW since it was the narrowest option. I’m also 6’1” on a 58 with somewhat wide shoulders. My road bike has way narrower bars.
MissAmberR on
I did , bike feels a little more twitchy
Gastronomicus on
I went from the stock 40 cm bars to 44 cm redshift kitchen sink bars and it was a revelation on trail and the road. I could ride further and longer with less discomfort, plus have far better control on rowdy sections. I’d never consider going back to 40 cm, even for pure road.
If your aim is to maximise aero performance on long flat road sections, I guess narrower is better. But this is r/gravelcycling, not r/mostlyroadracing. If your aim is to just ride and enjoy it under a variety of conditions, going wider can certainly be helpful. I now ride 46 cm Ritchey Corralitos bars and they’re even better all around.
Current-Floor-7456 on
Size M build for me with IsoZone VR-SF 38/40 and I love them. Absolutely love them.
Budget_North_2810 on
i went from 42 to 38 and it is a blessing
bike feels more stable and a lot faster
also climbing in the hoods feels more natural than before
Waffeleisen1337 on
I did. My bike came with stock 440 bars and I switched to 400. It feels like a bike and not like a tractor anymore.
bikeroaming on
I’ve also switched to narrower because of between-the-shoulderblades pain. It helped a bit. Didn’t cause any problems riding.
fckingclownshoes on
46-> 42 aero bars with only 6° of flare. I don’t mind the tractor set up and my bikepacking rig has wide salsa cow chippers.
mellofello808 on
I am running 38cm on my size 56. Solved a lot of arm pain issues for me, and allows me to hold a tuck for longer.
erand424 on
I went from 40 cm to 36 cm and they align with my shoulders much better and therefore make my ride much more comfortable
Keroshii on
Measure the pointy bits on the top of your shoulders. Handlebars should usually be about this width. The vast majority of people measure 40cms or below. Handlebars are also a great way to reduce reach if you need to
JPG_ENESER on
Absolutely, my bikes are size 58 and I use a 38cm on my road bike and 40cm on my gravel after being advised by a bike fitter to go down in size. Very happy with the change
rasmussenyassen on
It’s worth remembering that the normal scope of bar widths for much of road cycling’s history was 36 to 40cm, and that people found it quite comfortable. The wide bar stuff is very much a recent trend influenced by the quite insane idea that one should measure their shoulder width and match it to bar width, ignoring the fact that nobody is capable of defining precisely where on the shoulder one should measure from.
I should theoretically be on a 44 to 46cm wide bar, but after ages of trying to make that work I’ve settled back on 38 with absolutely no ill effects.
16 Comments
44cm bars are away too wide for most people I think. I ride generally L/58 size bikes and my first change is always handlebars. I have 40cm on everything except my road bike, which has 38cm.
44cm bars are very wide. Stick with them if all you care about is singletrack control and slow chill riding. Move to the 40cm bars if you do a lot of fast non technical riding and/or you have the upper body strength to move narrower bars.
FYI It will also affect your fit you may need to move to a longer stem.
I’m 5’8” and ride a size small Checkpoint with 40cm bars and a 110mm stem. I ride a LOT of singletrack because of where I live and do some CX races and don’t find the 40cm bars lacking in leverage but I also mix in strength training
I switched to narrower bars and it’s better for everything except singletrack, which is a minimum of my riding and not worth sacrificing fit for. I definitely recommend it.
The super wide bar trend is kinda ridiculous. Great if all you do is single track, but lame for a bike you ride on the road often. I stuck with 44cm with bars from PNW since it was the narrowest option. I’m also 6’1” on a 58 with somewhat wide shoulders. My road bike has way narrower bars.
I did , bike feels a little more twitchy
I went from the stock 40 cm bars to 44 cm redshift kitchen sink bars and it was a revelation on trail and the road. I could ride further and longer with less discomfort, plus have far better control on rowdy sections. I’d never consider going back to 40 cm, even for pure road.
If your aim is to maximise aero performance on long flat road sections, I guess narrower is better. But this is r/gravelcycling, not r/mostlyroadracing. If your aim is to just ride and enjoy it under a variety of conditions, going wider can certainly be helpful. I now ride 46 cm Ritchey Corralitos bars and they’re even better all around.
Size M build for me with IsoZone VR-SF 38/40 and I love them. Absolutely love them.
i went from 42 to 38 and it is a blessing
bike feels more stable and a lot faster
also climbing in the hoods feels more natural than before
I did. My bike came with stock 440 bars and I switched to 400. It feels like a bike and not like a tractor anymore.
I’ve also switched to narrower because of between-the-shoulderblades pain. It helped a bit. Didn’t cause any problems riding.
46-> 42 aero bars with only 6° of flare. I don’t mind the tractor set up and my bikepacking rig has wide salsa cow chippers.
I am running 38cm on my size 56. Solved a lot of arm pain issues for me, and allows me to hold a tuck for longer.
I went from 40 cm to 36 cm and they align with my shoulders much better and therefore make my ride much more comfortable
Measure the pointy bits on the top of your shoulders. Handlebars should usually be about this width. The vast majority of people measure 40cms or below. Handlebars are also a great way to reduce reach if you need to
Absolutely, my bikes are size 58 and I use a 38cm on my road bike and 40cm on my gravel after being advised by a bike fitter to go down in size. Very happy with the change
It’s worth remembering that the normal scope of bar widths for much of road cycling’s history was 36 to 40cm, and that people found it quite comfortable. The wide bar stuff is very much a recent trend influenced by the quite insane idea that one should measure their shoulder width and match it to bar width, ignoring the fact that nobody is capable of defining precisely where on the shoulder one should measure from.
I should theoretically be on a 44 to 46cm wide bar, but after ages of trying to make that work I’ve settled back on 38 with absolutely no ill effects.