Interesting Tech Tuesday video posted on Pinkbike this week – Handlebars – How Wide Affects Your Ride.
A long time ago, in early 1990’s I upgraded the handlebar on my Stumpy to a schmancy Syncros Ti number, a massively wide (at the time) 560mm! Combined with a 135mm Syncros Cattleprod stem it felt great (at the time) and I rode it that way for years.
Fastforward 20 years to the Mojo HD and these days I run a 710mm bar and 70mm stem. LOVE the width, which results in control and body position benefits, and I much prefer the handling and feel of the wider bar/shorter stem combo. Jumping back on the Stumpy, the cockpit just doesn’t feel strange, it feels wrong and dangerous! Funny, it’s what you’re used to I guess.
So what’s the scoop? Here’s Pinkbike’s Tech Tuesday video featuring Richard Cunningham (founder of Mantis Bike Co in 1981) explaining the pro’s and con’s of wide bars, definitely worth a watch IMO:
Yo Cunningham! Jeez he use to make great bikes. 😉
As I’m still at the stage of sourcing components for my new frame it is good to get the theory behind why all those dudes in the magazines are riding those monster wide bars. Like you I’m use to the narrow buggers from the 90s and early 00s.
Strange how things come back around. I remember riding bullmooses on my very first MTB in 86 and those buggers were wide! But the head angle on that frame was more road bike like then what we would consider normal for a MTB these days. So hearing Richard giving the theory was real helpful.
Thanks for that link.
No worries, you’re welcome!
I really enjoy the 710mm bars, close to a perfect width for the combo of me and the Mojo, though at the start of the very first ride with them it felt like I was straight out of Easy Rider, cruising the trails on my chopper!
LOL. Yes I can imagine that and I suspect I will experience the same when I get my bike built up as I’ve ordered 800mm bars so I can experiment like Cunningham suggests.