What's with the wide bars

qclabrat

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
I get the control and leverage wider bars provide
All the demo bikes I tried had 740 or longer bars
Quite a few places at Jungle were too narrow and bashed my pinkie several times as the levers weren't setup for one finger braking and ended up hanging the little guy off the end

How wide is too wide nowadays? There are so many trees in 6mr which are less than 740 apart
 
You can get through by leaning but yah when it gets too wide it feels weird to me. I start out wide then cut until it doesn't feel weird anymore.
 
qclabrat said:
I get the control and leverage wider bars provide
All the demo bikes I tried had 740 or longer bars
Quite a few places at Jungle were too narrow and bashed my pinkie several times as the levers weren't setup for one finger braking and ended up hanging the little guy off the end

How wide is too wide nowadays? There are so many trees in 6mr which are less than 740 apart
Click to expand...

There are 2 spots at 6mr that won't take 780mm at speed.

I prefer wide bars, the bike feels more stable and I can get more leverage for climbs. The only time I see a down side is when I really lean the bike away from me in a corner. My inside arm is really straight because of the width
 
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They are reluctant to cut the bars on the demos. Once cut, they can never go back. You can always move the grips and controls in to match your body size and preference.

I often hear people wanting to cut their bars to better navigate narrow trails. Bad idea!!! Wider bars allow for more leverage and better control. There is such a thing as too wide but generally, wider is better. Instead of cutting bars, improve your skills. To navigate tight trails, move the bike side to side to avoid trees. There are very few instances where two trees are lined up next to one another. We call those "Tree Gates". Jungle is know for that as the trail builders try to discourage ATVs from using the trails. That being said, Jungle used to be far worse. Many of the smaller tight trees have been removed over the years.

This is a clear cut example of, "Just because you can do something...doesn't mean you should!" Pun intended.
 
I personally ride 780-800 bars, did 3 loops of warthog (or whatever it's called) and two other loops in the park and as tight as some of the trees happened to be I only clipped them a few times. The trees were tight for comfort but at the same time the trails at jungle aren't flowy enough to gain downhill speeds and worry about wrapping one, so I guess it's just a matter of riding what you like and are used to. And while widths of bars are subjective you have to understand that they can't please everyone, for instance if I demo'D a bike today and they gave me some 680 wide bars I'd probably feel like I'm riding a toys r us bike, at the end of the day we should be great full that companies do take the time and effort to give us the opportunity to ride the bikes before we blow our hard earned cash on, bars, stems, tires are all easy fixes and usually the first things upgraded/changed.
 
800 bars on my ss really help with leverage and turning the bigger 29" wheels. I had no probs at jungle yesterday. U need to look out though and adjust your grip as you go through here n there.
 
I was actually talking to 1shot and we talked about how the demo bars felt so narrow cause we both ride 780. I cleared the tree gates way faster on the demos then i ever did on my personal bike width. 760 is my preference but the bars I have now I got as a gift, I like the color, and Id feel bad trimming.

Personally feel like wide bars help keep me low on the bars so i don't stand to tall downhills as well. You know, that whole elbow out attack position thing..

I did move the controls in on all my demos though for one finger breaking. Those brake levers were slammed on the ends of the grips when I got them!



qclabrat said:
I get the control and leverage wider bars provide
All the demo bikes I tried had 740 or longer bars
Quite a few places at Jungle were too narrow and bashed my pinkie several times as the levers weren't setup for one finger braking and ended up hanging the little guy off the end

How wide is too wide nowadays? There are so many trees in 6mr which are less than 740 apart
Click to expand...
 
I never find myself clipping any trees at 6M with my 785's, but it happens in a few spots at Jungle. I can see myself cutting down to 760, maybe... I just don't want to regret it later. Wide and close, or narrow and far.

Those fatties we demoed with the narrow bars did fly through everything, I just really wish I could have properly tested one tubeless at proper pressures. I know it's rigid, but it just felt super rigid and pingy.
 
Wide is where it's at. Control is awesome. There's nothing in our local trails that's tight enough to worry about clipping, even at 6-mile.
 
1sh0t1b33r said:
Those fatties we demoed with the narrow bars did fly through everything, I just really wish I could have properly tested one tubeless at proper pressures. I know it's rigid, but it just felt super rigid and pingy.
Click to expand...

Tubeless would make a huge difference in a place like Jungle.
 
I had similar experience with the demos. I think they were all running ~760mm wide bars. The Remedy and Bronson I rode had risers and the Fuel had flats.

I rode Warthog with each bike. I think there was one spot the bars wouldn't "fit" without some action on my part. I had no trouble naturally going through by zigzagging the bars without losing my pace (trust me, not very fast at all).

When I got back on my bike with 680mm bars I felt like I was holding the stem!

I think a set of wider bars and a shorter stem will be showing up on my personal bike soon.

ac
 
I'm currently pondering this topic quite a bit.

I've basically been running the same setup since 2008: A Salsa Pro-Moto carbon bar that was 660mm from the factory, on a 100mm stem.

At first, I tried running the bar uncut, but it felt too floppy, and I eventually cut 1/2" off each side, so now it's roughly 640mm.

I've been thinking of going to a bar that's >700mm, but also assuming I'm gonna want to shorten the stem to compensate for the additional reach produced by the width.

The advantages for technical riding and leveraging a bigger gear on my single speed are attractive.

But, I'm also wondering about the point of diminishing returns for bar width. I'm not a very wide guy. I wear a 36 jacket. At what point does the bar become too wide and limit my dexterity/flexibility/etc. ?

I think I can't completely ignore the fact that I spend plenty of time on a road bike with a 42cm bar, either.
 
BiknBen said:
They are reluctant to cut the bars on the demos. Once cut, they can never go back. You can always move the grips and controls in to match your body size and preference.

I often hear people wanting to cut their bars to better navigate narrow trails. Bad idea!!! Wider bars allow for more leverage and better control. There is such a thing as too wide but generally, wider is better. Instead of cutting bars, improve your skills. To navigate tight trails, move the bike side to side to avoid trees. There are very few instances where two trees are lined up next to one another. We call those "Tree Gates". Jungle is know for that as the trail builders try to discourage ATVs from using the trails. That being said, Jungle used to be far worse. Many of the smaller tight trees have been removed over the years.

This is a clear cut example of, "Just because you can do something...doesn't mean you should!" Pun intended.
Click to expand...

I hit about a half dozen trees at fish and goat where the bars either wouldn't go through or less than I inch clearance on both sides. Trees also had clear signs of clipping, catching you bars at any speed really sucks. Agree some could be navigated with a quick side to side motion. More skills to build on, thanks again Ben.
 
qclabrat said:
I was wondering the same why the demo bikes weren't setup as tubeless, were they afraid people would go too low with pressures when then got out on the trails?
Click to expand...

I demo'd an Anthem 27.5 and on my first pass, the tire pressure was way to high for my liking and the rear suspension had way too much pressure. I handled the bike like crap and came back thinking I hated it.

I asked them to lower the tire pressures to where I prefer and also let some pressure out of the rear shock. The results were night and day. The bike was 90% dialed to where I would like it to be. For a demo, that's pretty damn good. I immediately fell in love with the way the bike handled climbing in the rocks. Then I turned around and drilled the same trail and did all the rocks downhill. The results were very positive

For me - if the bike was not tubeless, the tire pressure would need to be much higher to prevent pinch flats. + if I had to ride that bike at higher pressure, I would hate it because it wouldn't handle the way I would want it to handle.
 
Easy to say that if we ask 100 times, we would all have 100 answers.

Demo are demos for a reason

It's the new owners job to bring it home and customize it with fuzzy dice or whatever is to his or her liking

Next topic please
 
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