I just got a Spooky Gas Mask to replace the Ridley X-trail that I was riding before. The Ridley had bars on it were 42cm with 70mm reach and 125 mm of drop. My new bike has 44cm bars with 85mm reach and 135 drop. After taking the new bike on a long mixed terrain ride with lots of underbiking on rocky singletrack with lots of switchbacks, I feel that my new bike feels much less nimble than the X-trail and I'm wondering if it could either be from the handlebars or the heavier tires that I was using. It felt much more difficult to make it through tight switchbacks and thread the needle through rocks. So, I'm thinking about different handlebars and tires as I've noticed in the past that those two components can have a huge impact on bike handling.
I'm a tall guy at 6'2", but I have narrow shoulders that measure 40cm max, perhaps less, depending on where you measure them. My question is whether reach or width have a greater effect on handling? I'm thinking of trying a bar that is 40cm with 5mm more reach than my old bars at 75mm and the same drop. Seems like the 40cm would be great for aerodynamics but wondering how much of a compromise 2cm is on torque when steering through rough terrain?
Width will have a greater effect. The wider your bars are, the further you will have to move the bar to turn a given angle. This can make the bike feel like it handles slower, which can be good or bad. It also gives you more leverage to keep the wheel pointed where you want it.
You of course want bars that feel comfortable too. Too wide and it can feel like you're doing push-ups, too narrow and it feels like you chest is constricted and you don't have room to move your arms.
There's no real right answer here. I like my bars around 40cm too (skinny 6 footer) and they don't feel too narrow. But I don't ride anything rough or singletrack-y, just farm roads. So really you just have to try it and go from there.
Cool, yeah I’ve been doing the wide bar/short stem thing on my MTB’s and can definitely feel the difference in the bike’s capability to hold a line through rough stuff with wider bars. But with it being easier to experiment with bar width, since MTB bars can be cut, I’ve found that there’s a point where handling can be compromised when bars get too wide—basically when there’s not enough bend in my elbows to keep loose.
But riding a “gravel bike” through rough terrain, at relatively low speeds, picking lines carefully and trying not to flat is different from plowing through things with suspension and big tires. So I guess what I’m wondering is whether the quicker adjustments in steering and shifts in body weight that are required for the kind of finesse riding on a gravel bike through rough terrain might actually be better suited to bars that aren’t particularly wide?
Another possible consideration here for you is fit. I moved from 42 to 44 bars a few years ago (same model) and started getting tightness and discomfort between the shoulder blades and neck on anything longer then an hour. I moved back to 42s and pain was gone. So in my case, any benefit from handling was negated by whatever the wider bars were doing to my shoulders.
I just got a Spooky Gas Mask to replace the Ridley X-trail that I was riding before. The Ridley had bars on it were 42cm with 70mm reach and 125 mm of drop. My new bike has 44cm bars with 85mm reach and 135 drop. After taking the new bike on a long mixed terrain ride with lots of underbiking on rocky singletrack with lots of switchbacks, I feel that my new bike feels much less nimble than the X-trail and I'm wondering if it could either be from the handlebars or the heavier tires that I was using. It felt much more difficult to make it through tight switchbacks and thread the needle through rocks. So, I'm thinking about different handlebars and tires as I've noticed in the past that those two components can have a huge impact on bike handling.
I'm a tall guy at 6'2", but I have narrow shoulders that measure 40cm max, perhaps less, depending on where you measure them. My question is whether reach or width have a greater effect on handling? I'm thinking of trying a bar that is 40cm with 5mm more reach than my old bars at 75mm and the same drop. Seems like the 40cm would be great for aerodynamics but wondering how much of a compromise 2cm is on torque when steering through rough terrain?
I'm not as tall and not very broad shoulders. Wider bars always make me feel better - flat or drop type. Shorter stems and/or bars that don't hang me far in front of the bike always make bikes handle better for me. Plenty of associates I respect feel differently so keep that in mind.
Maybe a traditional shop with a lot of bars in stock can help you by setting up the different stuff to try on your own bike?
So I ended up picking up the 40cm bars and they feel better to me in all aspects so far in the week that I've ridden on them. I haven't ridden them on rocky singletrack yet but ridden plenty of rough and broken pavement as well as gravel roads, one of which is a super steep, loose and rutted descent and I got a PR on it as well as an 8th overall and that was a descent that I've also done on a MTB, so I'm going to go ahead and say that for me, anyway, wider doesn't equal better. I can feel the improved aerodynamics and I also feel like I'm in a more natural position for supporting my weight during out of the saddle climbs. I can definitely feel a difference in handling, but I prefer the more nimble feeling to handling that requires greater input. Obviously these things are all personal preference. Anyway, thanks to everyone that chimed in!
