MTB Handlebars

[CaptainSlow]

Recently bought myself a 2007 Carrera Kracken after having my last Carrera 12 years...is it me or are the handlebars on today's MTBs a lot wider than they used to be? I really noticed it whilst riding in the woods.

[pdV6]

CaptainSlow said:

are the handlebars on today's MTBs a lot wider than they used to be?

I recently (ish) bought a new bar with the intention of cutting it down. Got used to the width and then had to upsize the bar on the other bike to match

[Rico]

Tried some Burgtec RideWide's a few months back... feck me they're wide but gave a massive improvement to the ride. I am 6ft2 so this width feels more natural.

[_daveR]

Rico said:

Tried some Burgtec RideWide's a few months back... feck me they're wide but gave a massive improvement to the ride. I am 6ft2 so this width feels more natural.

I run EA70's which I bought to replace some Diablous bars which were too narrow.
Tried the ridewides on a friends Socom and they are just silly. Far too wide for my liking. He initially found them a bit of a hinderance with the tight sections too. IIRC they are ~75cm wide?!

[prand]

I agree - my new bike has wider bars than my 12 year old Marin (with 7 year old replacement riser bars).

I can't get the bike straight through the back gate like my old bike can, my "stance" feels much wider on the new bike and is less comfortable. I also have problems in tight wooded trails.

I am planning to saw a couple of cms off each end to narrow the width.

Is there any reason for this wider design? Better steering perhaps, but I've never had steering issues in the past!

[SkinnyBoy]

anyone know where i can get some old school scott at4's. I used to run them all the time back in the early days but can;t find them anymore.

[cjs]

I recently chopped an inch off each side, I was struggling to get through tight wooded areas and through the special bike "stalls" the council have installed in the woods near me, was having to lift my bike over the top.

[-C-]

_daveR said:

Rico said:

Tried some Burgtec RideWide's a few months back... feck me they're wide but gave a massive improvement to the ride. I am 6ft2 so this width feels more natural.

I run EA70's which I bought to replace some Diablous bars which were too narrow.
Tried the ridewides on a friends Socom and they are just silly. Far too wide for my liking. He initially found them a bit of a hinderance with the tight sections too. IIRC they are ~75cm wide?!

They are 750mm

And now i'm used to them, they feel awesome!

Running EA70's on my other bike now, have had thinner RF bars & they just made the bike feel nervous & twitchy, so can't deal with that.

I'll be sticking with the RideWides, too tall for skinny bars!

[CaptainSlow]

ohwell 2" chopped off either end .. feels better already I'll have to wait til the weekend to go for a proper ride.