Narrow bars are kind of sick. Wouldn’t dare put anything narrow on my trail-duro bike but I do think they are way more comfortable for general use.
BeautifulCuriousLiar on
man i bought an old bike a while back and it came with the original narrow bars. after doing some work on it, i took it for a spin and it felt really different and sketchy. it was like learning to ride again.
49thDipper on
I keep my old RH Comp in another state. Completely stock. Every time I visit and ride it I ask myself this same question.
Boxofbikeparts on
The narrow bars worked with the super long stems. The idea was to be able to get between trees easier.
There were also a lot of roadies that crossed over into mtb that brought the low, hunched over riding position with them because the mtb race courses were more tame and fast.
After the rock gardens and jumps became part of the racing, the bikes got more motocross influenced.
shitworms on
In those days mountain biking was just road cycling in the dirt. Fit and geo largely carried over from the road world, hence the narrow bars and long stems.
chock-a-block on
I’m old and was riding narrow bars then.
The primary reason: you just aren’t going that fast.
These days, slack head tube angles and good suspension make it easy to just leave the brakes alone.
Plus, the amateurs LOVE the motorcycle styling of wide bars. It Sells lots of bikes.
Aggressive_Mango_566 on
Slap on some Long and high stems!
drstu3000 on
Remember when the Rule for climbing was to squeeze your body into a tight little ball?
machinationstudio on
Apartment living loves short bars too.
Diligent-Advance9371 on
Just screw up a shoulder in an OTB (unrepaired total seperation) and you’ll find some narrow bars again. My mountain bikes and gravel grinders are no more than 22″ and rail trail cruiser is only 18″. They really aren’t that bad. Love the Fish’s bikes. Yeah, anything beyond shoulder width hurts inside a few minutes riding.
12 Comments
I miss them but my back does not!
Fast and twitchy!
Narrow bars are kind of sick. Wouldn’t dare put anything narrow on my trail-duro bike but I do think they are way more comfortable for general use.
man i bought an old bike a while back and it came with the original narrow bars. after doing some work on it, i took it for a spin and it felt really different and sketchy. it was like learning to ride again.
I keep my old RH Comp in another state. Completely stock. Every time I visit and ride it I ask myself this same question.
The narrow bars worked with the super long stems. The idea was to be able to get between trees easier.
There were also a lot of roadies that crossed over into mtb that brought the low, hunched over riding position with them because the mtb race courses were more tame and fast.
After the rock gardens and jumps became part of the racing, the bikes got more motocross influenced.
In those days mountain biking was just road cycling in the dirt. Fit and geo largely carried over from the road world, hence the narrow bars and long stems.
I’m old and was riding narrow bars then.
The primary reason: you just aren’t going that fast.
These days, slack head tube angles and good suspension make it easy to just leave the brakes alone.
Plus, the amateurs LOVE the motorcycle styling of wide bars. It Sells lots of bikes.
Slap on some Long and high stems!
Remember when the Rule for climbing was to squeeze your body into a tight little ball?
Apartment living loves short bars too.
Just screw up a shoulder in an OTB (unrepaired total seperation) and you’ll find some narrow bars again. My mountain bikes and gravel grinders are no more than 22″ and rail trail cruiser is only 18″. They really aren’t that bad. Love the Fish’s bikes. Yeah, anything beyond shoulder width hurts inside a few minutes riding.