2023 Pro thread

[robbosmans]

You can’t really compare a flatbar to a dropbar, on a wide flatbar you can still control the brake levers, on a wide dropbar your wristangle will be so bad that braking requires you to wrap your whole hand around the shifter.

[Discodan]

Never had a problem on my wide drop bars, maybe the flare that tilts the levers in negates it


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[ultimobici]

Surely the width of bar is dependent on the discipline? Track to road to gravel should logically see an increase in width for most people.


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[eins4eins]

Too much factors to make a general assumption.
Not only the bar width is relevant for control and steering. Head tube angle, offset/trail, reach, etc. Lots of differences between bikes.
And in the end personal preferences and skills in regards to the race track are most important. Some people are better in bike handling, than others. Some tracks are technically very difficult, others have no significant obstacles.

[tymon_tm]

I’d have to disagree based on experience on road, gravel, and MTB. A narrow bar is harder to control when a bump kicks it, and harder to accurately steer. it’s just basic physics that if a lever is twice as long (half of a really wide bar) it takes half the force to control it and the bar end will move twice as far so it’s easier to have granular control.

Narrow bars are better for fast, agressive inputs (like a small steering wheel on a sports car) but for gravel you don’t want that. It’s the same reason XC MTB has been moving from 600mm bars to much wider ones over the years


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^exactly this

[Lelandjt]

Narrower bars are always faster* but take more skill and strength to not get knocked offline by bumps.

*More aero and for treed MTB trails let you take a tighter line around turns. I used to race MTB with Keegan and know his skills and appreciation for aero so I loved that pick of him winning in front of a much wider bar.

[Karvalo]

Wide bars don’t give more control, they only make it harder to reach the brakes. Most cx riders these days also have quite narrow bars, MVDP for example runs 40’s on cx.

Wide bars where just a trend with the advantage of being able to fit bar bags etc.

Nah. Even CX (as technically difficult as those courses are) isn't hugely bumpy. And meanwhile, the last 15 years of XCO bike setup happened.

If you have any trouble reaching brake levers on flared bars you've plain set them up wrong.

[robbosmans]

Its bikefitting 101, excessive wide bars means your wrist will be turned in resulting in having to reach around the lever.

[Mr.Gib]

Wide bars don’t give more control, they only make it harder to reach the brakes.

That's a tough argument to sustain. The trigonometry suggests moving hoods 2 - 3cm inboard doesn't effectively change reach given the average male arm length of 75 to 80 cm. And if the shoulders are particularely wide the reach could increase. Not sure how it gets harder to reach the brakes. That diagram suggest that too narrow is an equal problem. Perhaps your example involves bars that are innapropriately wide for a rider in the first place, but I assume we are not basing this theory on the performance of equipment that is ill fitting.

And the bit about control, just grip the bars on either side of the stem and try a technical descent, climb out of the saddle, ride some twisty gravel, etc. Perhaps you find more control with your hands closer together, but it hasn't worked that way for me.


Jonas Vingegaard was stellar in the Dauphine TT. Best climber in the world smokes Cavagna in a flatish TT. Pogacar will have his hands full at the TdF even if he can get to 100 percent.
Bjerg got his first win. Yet again mentioned his wife in post race interview. Can't blame him.

[spokenwords]

This pro thread is getting...bad.

[Mr.Gib]

This pro thread is getting...bad.

So watch some pro racing and make a contribution.

[Martin.dk]

Wide bars don’t give more control, they only make it harder to reach the brakes.

That's a tough argument to sustain. The trigonometry suggests moving hoods 2 - 3cm inboard doesn't effectively change reach given the average male arm length of 75 to 80 cm. And if the shoulders are particularely wide the reach could increase. Not sure how it gets harder to reach the brakes. That diagram suggest that too narrow is an equal problem. Perhaps your example involves bars that are innapropriately wide for a rider in the first place, but I assume we are not basing this theory on the performance of equipment that is ill fitting.

And the bit about control, just grip the bars on either side of the stem and try a technical descent, climb out of the saddle, ride some twisty gravel, etc. Perhaps you find more control with your hands closer together, but it hasn't worked that way for me.


Jonas Vingegaard was stellar in the Dauphine TT. Best climber in the world smokes Cavagna in a flatish TT. Pogacar will have his hands full at the TdF even if he can get to 100 percent.
Bjerg got his first win. Yet again mentioned his wife in post race interview. Can't blame him.

Oh yes. As a Dane I'm really enjoying it. Looking forward to TdF with Pedersen, Cort, Skjelmose, Bjerg and Vingegaard . There's not a stage without a possible Danish victory.

[tymon_tm]

the only thing that really concerns me re: bar width is breathing.

it's been tried over 3 decades ago; even Lance mentioned they tried narrow bars during his episode at cofidis and that ddn't work for him at all. AFAIK young riders were encouraged to try a size wider bars in order to get used to breathing in a racing position, and only later on move to a correct size. when i see new bikes factory spec'ed wth 40cm bars i can easily imagine all these people who give into this trend without any consideration and absolutely zero feedback, unless maybe they hang out with more seasoned riders (but then again- the attitude that new products are by default better, seems to be imprinted across the whole population these days, it's very apparent here at WW as well); the result is pretty obvious - less comfort and worse performance.

of course there are people who can accomodate narrow bars without any sacrifice, but this has to do with how they're built. there's a reason it's only a handful of pros riding narrower bars than they "should".

[ultimobici]

even Lance mentioned they tried narrow bars during his episode at cofidis and that ddn't work for him at all.

Lol! One 100km ride with one of the most conservative teams in cycling. Doubtful.


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[tymon_tm]

IDK how it went exactly, but the fact is narrow bars didn't catch up then, did they?