Which handlebar size

Narrow handlebars will give you more speed and agility, while wider handlebars will give you more control and stability. Both road bikes and mountain bikes come with a wide range of width options for handlebars.

Like many things in cycling, sizes vary a lot. Unlike the seat height which can be adjusted quickly with an Allen wrench, changing your handlebar requires more work. But what is the ideal width for handlebars? Handlebars for road bikes often fall between cm.

There are lots of different factors to take into consideration, but your body size, and particularly the size from shoulder to shoulder is key.

How wider is between your shoulder joints will be an indicator or how wide your handlebars should be. This will put your arms in a relaxed position.

While your body sizes matters, riding style also matters. Different styles of riding have a big impact. Some riders prefer to stay in the saddle and some prefer their elbows out. Along with riding style, your riding position is yet another factor. When all the measuring is complete, you still need to feel comfortable and have good control of your bike.

While being measured is a necessary step, personal preference is just as important. For example, there may be a trend towards wider bars for a few years only to be replaced with an opposite trend in the future. The specification of parts on the road bikes we see in stores is often influenced by what the professional riders are using. While trends change frequently, there is currently a general move towards the smaller widths with 38cm and 40cm being particularly favored by professional riders.

Initially, mountain bikes had quite narrow bars as they took their influence from road bikes. However, as stability is key in mountain biking, the sizes started gradually increasing as the bikes evolved. By the time mountain biking was fully established, the widths available had become unrecognizable from road bikes. Currently, MTB handlebars are usually mm or mm. This is significantly wider than the equivalent on a road bike.

Paypal Returns will refund you the return cost! Home How to choose your MTB handlebar. How to choose your MTB handlebar. A wide handlebar promotes manoeuvrability, downhill stability and balance for pedaling in a standing position on the bike and opens up your rib cage for better breathing. A narrow handlebar facilitates the passage between tight trees and gives better aerodynamics on the rolling parts. See our MTB handlebars. Back to menu. Alltricks Who are we? Sponsored Events Are you in a Club?

Delivery Payment Methods. Languages alltricks. Need help? Secure Shopping. Our Partners. Switching from a 44 to a 42 completely eliminated that problem. It also looks like you dropped your stem another spacer, is this because of the bar change or some different reason? Thanks, Tyler. Bike fit is a very complex subject, the interaction of a lot of geometry and individual physiology. You had the benefit of having a bike that was pretty well dialed in, and could focus on a specific aspect of fit that you wanted to improve.

For people who are purchasing an entirely new bike, they may want to consider initially going with less expensive alloy seat post and handlebar, then plan on upgrading to more costly components later.

This will give them time to get accustomed to the new bike and make informed decisions on the final configuration. If riders buy the top-shelf bits up front, they may be less inclined to replace them to improve the fit, and that would be a shame. I removed the spacer simply because I wanted to get into a slightly more aggressive position, but in hindsight the taller positioning of the Ritchey bars on the hoods probably counteracted that measure, which is perhaps why my positioning feels so similar, just much more comfortable for my hands.

Thankyou for this. We need more information like this in a world of amateur bike builders and manufacturers that may not always be able to fit to each specific rider. I have my evil eyes out for some 48mm Zinn bars! How flipping sweet will those be! Do wider Handle bars Help with climbing better?? Note: The shoulder not a bone. The acromiocavicular AC joint is a non-moving joint between the distal head of the clavicle and the proximal head of the acromion which is part of the scapula.

There is a soft spot between the seam of two tightly packed bones where you can feel the ligament. Just what I needed to help show me there is more to bars than just keeping my face off the front wheel, great insight thanks. Great write up. As a coach and a fitter I can tell you that one size does not fit all and you have done a great job of explaining this. Width, drop and reach are all important but reach can really have a big impact on efficiency.

As Eddie explained, to far and you pull your sit bones off the saddle which will affect your pedal stroke and causes the body to overcompensate for position — the same applies to not enough reach. A precision bike fit is a great investment that will result in greater comfort and efficiency and less tension and shearing. Moving your hands in opens up the space between your shoulder blades alright, but that requires you use muscle to support what bone used to.

I actually stopped riding road bikes for a few years because of neck and back pain that led to migraine headaches.