Bar width vs stem length

PB Forum :: All Mountain, Enduro & Cross-Country

Author	Message

mizzter-b

Posted: Mar 27, 2018 at 8:32	Quote
Obviously the longer the stem or wider the bars the more stretched out you are. Are there any experts on set up or racers on here who can give a view on how to approach balancing the two? Seems like quite a few EWS and some DH racers are opting for slightly narrower bars and slightly longer stems than a lot of casual riders. Cheers

adespotoskyli

Posted: Mar 27, 2018 at 9:34	Quote
No rules I'm afraid, ride what fits you, trial and error will lead you!

RunsWithScissors

Posted: Mar 27, 2018 at 10:11

Quote

Travel66 wrote:

Obviously the longer the stem or wider the bars the more stretched out you are.

Are there any experts on set up or racers on here who can give a view on how to approach balancing the two?

Seems like quite a few EWS and some DH racers are opting for slightly narrower bars and slightly longer stems than a lot of casual riders.

Cheers

Funny you should mention this at this time. I was in a conversation with my boss just a couple days ago (I work in the bike business), and we were thinking that bar width/stem length popularity had possibly pushed past the point of diminishing returns and might be working back towards longer stems and narrower bars. Our thumbnail assessment was that while wide bars and short stems were nice for pure downhill pursuits on wide open trails it's also nice to be able to ride between trees in the woods and climb hills easily, too. You can get too much of a good thing pretty easily in the bike business.

FWIW, the bike that I'm using for parts testing right now has 780mm bars and I have to slow down and use some pretty wild body English to maneuver the handlebar around some large boulders and trees on my way to work in the morning. Thinking of chopping a couple inches off that bar...

Bikes are a lot like clothes. Pretty personal with a lot of room for individual preferences.

mudmate

Posted: Mar 27, 2018 at 23:35

Quote

Yes but the problem is that not every bike is suited for real short stems. When you have a bike with a 90 stem you can bring it back a little more and take a wider bar. But standing on your bike could become a problem. A to long stem and wider bars are not working great together Imho.

Do you buy a frame suited for a short stem like Nicolai, Mondraker or Pole it works great. You have enough reach and you can put a 35 or 40 stem on it. Then the wide bars work great.

Thorjensen

O+

Posted: Mar 28, 2018 at 0:33	Quote
To follow up on #mudmate I would rather pick the larger of two bikes to get the shorter stem - or pick a bike that's long and slack. I feel way more at home on my bike size L, reach 495, 31mm stem and 780 bars, than on a similar seat to bar range using longer stem due to shorter ETT and reach. But you really need to field test some options to see what suits you.

Pigglet13

Posted: Mar 28, 2018 at 1:29

Quote

As above trial and error are the only definitive way to find what works for you. Shoulder width is probably a factor. I personally favour a stem no longer than 50mm coupled with 760mm bars but the reach needs to be long enough to allow the short stem without impacting climbing performance. Slack HA and short stems have vastly improved 29er handling IME but everyone has different riding styles and wants.
Shorter seat tubes and longer dropper posts are allowing people to upsize and downsize as required to get the fit and Cockpit set up they want.

Will1848

Posted: Mar 28, 2018 at 5:06

Quote

Pigglet13 wrote:

I'm with this guy. Shoulder width and arm length play into it a lot IMO. However, I do know riders much shorter than me that prefer WAY wider bars than I.

Sit down and reach out like you're holding an imaginary handlebar. I'd bet wherever your hands naturally end up is pretty close to where you'll want to be...

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