What width handlebars are you running? Do you even know, or care? Or are you very particular, if so how did you arrive at your desired width? Let us know 👇
720mm. Medium trek remedy I’m 5’5”. Think of going wider though. Running 760mm on my small scout that feels a little wide so 740-750 sounds like it might be the right number
760 is fair enough for me - im only 173cm tall. That's my middle between wide enough and good/quick manoeuvrability - I like everything with a bit more back sweep and rather go more rise than more spacers. 35-40 is cool for my frame. Atm I´m running fatbars non carbon and like them although many people think they´re too stiff.
Ive been riding mtb for 32 years. For the trails I ride I've settled on 680mm. Otherwise I start clipping trees. Im 6'1" and it feels fine. Local trails have some go arounds where the original trail is too narrow for the average bar now😅
5’8” 750mm bars As I cut them down in steps from 800mm, there was a point where I could keep my hands on the grips properly through a reasonably full turn of the bars. That point is the sweet spot.
One year ago my bike was stolen when I left it locked outside the shops. I had an airtag hidden in my bottle cage and was able to get my bike back within minutes. I would definitely buy some sort of tracker for your bike because it could save you a lot of money as it did for me.
Glad you are back and hopefully healthy! So many people with opinions on what's too expensive, etc. There are bikes for all price ranges so who cares what opinions are out there? I suppose manufacturers care, but It's none of my business how someone else spends their money and no one is forcing me to buy something outside of my budget or that I don't think is worth the price.
Hi Doddy, I liked the feel of 800mm bars but after a while I was getting some shoulder pain. After a bit of research I decided to cut the bars down to 780mm and the discomfort disappeared within a couple of rides, also helps with those tight tree gaps!
How I was taught many years ago by MBR, was to do a press up on a tape measure, placing your hands at the most comfortable place, that will be your bar width.
I tried this and my press up comfortable width is 675mm. I run 760mm bars and I'm 5'10". Maybe I'm just an old school body on a new school bike :- ) I won't be cutting them anytime soon.
Some riders don't know how to do a proper press-up. IMO, the correct hand spacing for a proper press-up is too narrow for mountain biking. The forces on the shoulders is greater during press-ups than the forces from MTB. However, if the handlebar is too wide, it places the shoulder in a weak position, so for both press-ups and MTB, a overly-wide grip is asking for shoulder damage.
This doesn't quite work because it optimizes for press, but MTB requires both press and pull -- and pull is used more. This has been studied in sports medicine literature and the median optimal push/pull posture (from which you can derive bar width) is the one that creates a 20 degree angle between the side of the torso and the inside front projection line of your arm.
@gmbntech about the alarm, the Yorkshire bike mechanic showed off the biketrax tracker the other week, it’s for ebike tho and is fitted above the motor in your frame. Seemed to work pretty well
In terms of bar length. I originally had 780mm bars, but I keep my bike in my houses sunroom and was getting tired of having to turn my wheel sideways and awkwardly scoot into the doorway because the damn bars were too wide to fit through the door. I went down to 760mm and they feel fine and I can just fit through doorways now.
I used to run a 780 bar on my first MTB in which I began to learn the basics and did my first trails. Recently got a new bike with 760 bars and I did feel the difference the moment I sat on and I worried about loosing on stability, it did felt a little twitchy at walking speed on pavement, to my surprise the moment I got off road the whole thing came together and felt pretty good, the new geometry, wider tires and rims did it's thing
@Andrew Dodd I really did struggle with bike fit for a long time before my spire I had a 2017 canyon spectral xl which is ironically about the same size as my current dj bike
That 'Shimano Premium Grease' looks a lot like 'Motorex Bike Grease 2000'. But Motorex is a lot easier to find. Seems like we got COVID around the same days, i was also with COVID last week, such a bummer when i had all this bike related stuff going around town :(
Top brands of bike in my opinion are definitely Santa Cruz and Kona, I got into Kona because of the Kona clump team freeride, slopestyle scene back in 2009 when Andreu Lacondecguy and Fabien Barrel were on the team; but also I ride Kona because of the childhood memories as my Dad had a Kona Stab in 2008, a Kona Hoss 2005 (bought in 2008) and it was cool seeing all the stuff he sent on them. I like Santa Cruz because of the VPP and they look mega cool and they ride great.
Where can I buy the Knog Scout in the U.K.? They do not have it listed on their own website and there are no search results for U.K. retailers. Found this. “Samples are being shown to retailers in about 45 countries and it will be released near the end of June,” Hugo said. Might have been worth mentioning that it is not actually released yet.
I. run rigid forks on my Gravel bike. I agree with you , save the suspension for the MTB and enjoy the challenge of negotiating trails on a stiff bike. My Cube Nuroad EX gravel bike is slowly becoming my go to bike, Fast on trails that are not to techie and lack jumps and (almost) competent to keep up with my roady mates until going down long decent. The lightness of the bike due to lack of suspension, giant tires etc makes it great for climbing
I’ve been using RideLogic formula handlebar width in millimeters: If you’re male, multiply your height in millimeters by 0.440. If you’re female, multiply your height in millimeters by 0.426. Works great for ballpark new riders or each year when kids get bigger. Personally I’m 5’10 and I run 770 on a fatbike, 760 on Party Hardtail, and the same on my xc bike but I’m planning on trying 740, as It a nice experiment and I think it might decrease some hand fatigue on big epic, look forward to finding out
On my 2014 full sus originally had 700mm bars. I increased the them to 760mm and went from a 70mm stem to a 60mm stem. On my 29er hardtail it came the 780mm bars. I have replaced them with OneUp carbon bars. Which I cut down to 780mm. I feel the slightly longer bars on the hardtail helps with steering. As my full sus has 27.5" wheels
710 for me, lots of trees to avoid. It thats what’s comfortable for me. I lopped of the 10cm from the stock bar because I like my hand to overhang the grip a little bit.
A few years ago the trend was all about riding as wide as bar as you could. Now we are swinging back around to shorter (better sized bars). This industry loves to go in circles.
My 2022 bike came with 820mm carbon bars, I cut them down to 780 and felt it wasn't right, ended up buying some burgtec 800mm bars with a bit more rise and they felt worlds better.
I am 6'-1" with longer arms and my wife is 5'-4" with shorter arms. We both currently have Specialized Levo SLs (e-bikes) which originally came with 780mm bars. The bars on both bikes are now cut down to 740mm for our cross-country riding in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Strange that 740mm bars works for both of us; but, I can muscle the bars when needed while wife has enough leverage to be comfortable when passing through gaps between trees. Now see that the latest Specialized Levo SLs come with 720mm (for small) and 750mm (for med-XL) bars, respectively; so, I assume Specialized has now caught on. Otherwise, I have used same handlebar width on my last four MTBs; but, I do remember running sub-700mm width bars (ala John Tomac) when I was racing cross-country way back when.
Having spent time during those crazy times where we all ran our bars as narrow as possible, I jumped on the first bendy wide bar that came out, still narrow compared to today's offerings. My body has odd lengths, and since my spine surgery bends very differently, so I've been fiddling with my cockpit each week for a year. I really thought going shorter would work for me, it's what I'm used to riding, so I've tried everything from 750 to 800 with various rises. Last month I popped the grips out 10mm so 820. My brain says it's too wide, my body says it's perfect. Time to buy a new bar then!
Doddy roulette. Eventually you get a win, actually addressing the clickbait question first. As for the comments clearly they rubbed you up the wrong way, which is good to get some real heartfelt pushback to the deluge of quite correct bloated price criticism. Good to see you looking at building your own I am thinking the same thing but for an ebike.
Doddy I feel your pain - I got covid over the jubilee bank holiday. Was in bed for three days... I have a question though... is this the right channel for gravel bike content? Isn't that a more natural fit with GCN? I admit I don't know the answer, only now coming back to mTB after 20 years and safe to say EVERYTHING has changed. As I can tell from my shiny new spectral 😁
What is the product that holds bike tube/tools mounted to the rear bottle cage shown at 13:40 of the video? Looking for something that can hold my tube/pump/levers but don't want a holder that mounts around the seat tube or down tube that could scratch the frame
washboards on gravel roads in Colorado are brutal! only reason I'd go suspension fork over rigid. it's terrifying having to have a loose grip on the bars to keep your teeth from chattering out of your mouth but then also needing to clamp down on the brakes to avoid flying off the side of a mountain... especially on mile 50 if an endurance ride
Great vid! I'm currently running 820mm bars on my trek remedy as they came that length stock and I haven't been bothered to cut them since. They feel great as I've gotten used to them but I'd like to try something shorter just to see if it's right as they are very very long. I'm 5'9" so it doesn't make a lot of sense for me to be running that lenght but hey, it feels good.
I just put a set of Fasst Flexx bars on my bike and they're still at their as-shipped 800mm width. I need to start trimming them down. I'm thinking 760 is probably where I'll want to be. That Scout alarm is slick.... their website says out of stock (of course) and it's $94 (Australian). Not sure if they're available anywhere in the US, but at that price I'm in no hurry to get one.
Im 5.7 and was running 740 on my old Bronson v2 for many years, but just recently went to 780 on a Bronson v4, after a few months it felt to wide so have just cut down to 760, i will give that some time, i may even go to 750, but will see after some time.
I read through probably 90% of the comments last week. ( something that is very rare for me.) I feel the producers or editors or the presenter, which ever picks out the comments to read, could have found many more comments that were more accurate in reflecting the consensus of comments. The ones picked were too easy to deflect. Having said that, it is pretty hard to buy a bad bike now at most any price point. The hard part is finding the one that will suit all your needs, and wants. They're all a compromise.
THE ULTIMATE RULE FOR BAR WIDTH (XC/Trail): Put yourself in a comfortable position on the floor for doing push-ups, do a couple of them to make sure it's your position, and let someone mark the on the floor the distance between the bases of your pinkies - on the external side of your hands. Repeat three times and take the mean value. That's the width you should be riding. Trendy fashios says I should be using 780mm bars; a first and quick try clearly showed I shouldn't be using wider than 760mm; after 5-6 rides of weird feeling, I did as above and measured 735mm, so I trimmed it to 740mm. It really does feel natural now.
This has been the practice before. I used to do push ups a lot. I use to be able to do 50 reps per set. Measuring my hand position, it says i should have a 600mm bars. And yes. Old school bars are around that width but are paired with longer stems. Right now, my bars are 740mm on my modernized 2004 xc bike. But i run both 780mm on my trail bike and enduro bike. 45mm stems.
@@djogz I wouldn't size my handlebar depending on the stem, but on my torso width and arm length - the way I've mentioned. I'd say the stem is for a fine sizing of your bike, after having chosen the frame depending on your height and leg length.
I honestly don’t know what the width of my bars are. They’re the stock bars off my base rockhopper. I’m still relatively new to the sport, but I’ve been taking note as to what width would feel better, as well as sweep and rise. But so far I’ve just adjusted my riding to these bars.
I'm a 5'11" fifteen year old, I run 800s. I knew I liked them wide, so I just left them how they came. They feel good to me, but I haven't experimented with anything. I am kind of questioning if I have them too wide but I haven't really noticed anything off.
I run on my hard tail xc bike 760 with 50mm stem and on my trail bike 770 with 40mm stem. I got to those lengths by trying. I am setting my cockpit separately for every bike,so I think i am quite particular for that
The other aspect of bars is also stem length and stack height... we are seeing riders like rude and moir who are downsizing on bikes and in rudes case a bike check from last year quoted him with a 50mm stem whereas moir has a fat stack of spacers to bring his bars up
I used to have Magura rim brakes on my Ridgeback back in the early 90s! Now i'm thinking if i should buy the latest their latest brake disc system or make my dream come true with XT brakes!
My last bike was a 2020 Marin Rift zone with 540mm bars. Yes thats right 540mm bars. You want scary downhill, try that. :-) Bought a new bike Transition Scout Carbon and it has 800mm bars, which I may cut down by 20 - 40mm once I get used to it.
I know 800 is too wide for me. My thumb palm is telling me by cramping. Have cut down to 780 to see how it feels. If not satisfied will cut down to 770 knowing I can't go back to longer so one step at a time. Old bar was was 760. A good width. Now I'm obsessing about sweep. Oh dear!!
800mm because they came on my bike, felt comfortable, and the trails I ride here in Utah, USA aren't especially tight. I'm 6'1". I'd curious to test out a narrower bar on this bike but I've been hesitant to cut it down in case I find I like the wider size better, and all my old bars are a narrower diameter. Been wanting to try out a Carbon bar, so maybe I'll order one and start testing with my current bar while it ships.
Where do ur hands sit naturally, when not covering the brakes...at the ends or a little inboard? If inboard, then trim down...but just by 5mm each end, then go ride and retry. Repeat until ur hand naturally sit almost at the end of grips
QUESTION: Looking to upgrade my fork on my Specialized Chisel XC bike. Current is 100mm w/51mm offset. Want a 120mm SID or Stepcast but they are 44mm offset. Will that change the geo too much or will that less offset balance out the extra 20mm of travel I'll have? Can it all be worked out as well with shorter/longer stem and/or handlebar rise? THANK YOU!!!
The counter to "no one's making you buy it" is "but they are trying to make you want it." Companies spend quite a bit of money on advertising. There's also a significant functionality difference between the affordable bikes and the upper tier bikes, just look at the cheaper forks or brakes, anything less than deore level is downright dangerous on the "awesome" trails.
Get 800 bars...and gradually trim down until its right... where do your hands sit on the grips when ur not thinking about it... if inwards from the ends, then maybe drop 5mm each side, and repeat until hands naturally sit just shy of the ends
Bar width is purely subjective to what someone is accustomed to. Keeping the same stem and installing a wider bar will bias your weight more to the front of the bike, throwing off the balance, so there is a danger in throwing on wider bars without either running a shorter stem or increasing the bar rise, or both. I run very narrow bars by today's "standards" and a longer stem as well but I see no benefit in changing to a shorter stem and wider bars.. what can I gain from it except a lighter wallet. I mostly ride freeride and it doesn't hold me back.
Those loam lab bar end protectors would literally staple themselves into the trees common in Michigan. Only moto style bark buster style hand protectors would actually survive. Yet those bar end protectors you see on motoGP bikes look like a design that might really work for mtb…?
Is it just me or are modern MTB's just too agile to be stable. I struggle to ride no handed when cruising on easy gravel sections on my Bossnut as the steering wants to flop from side to side, it's almost impossible to make it track straight by balance alone! Plus being in my 40's and not riding for 20yrs, 700+mm bars felt intimidating at first and defo make me nervous in narrow passes!
I've been riding this bike for 7 years now! th-cam.com/users/postUgkxHL1v1R3NE5x4KiYfyt8dnQmyNYz7qi5L It was a great bike the day I got it, put it together, and went on my first ride; more importantly it's an even better bike today. I've ridden trails, street, and skatepark all on this bike. I have replaced almost every part on the bike. Some stuff has broken: derailleurs, wheels, shifter. Everything else were upgrades. The only ramaing original parts are the frame, bottom bracket, and crank set. BB and cranks will be upgraded soon. The geometry isn't great but that is really the only draw back to how good a value this bike is. Even after all the money I've spent upgrading it's still a more affordable bike than I'd have bought from a proper bike shop, especially with full suspension. I've also learned a lot about bikes working on it over the years. It really is one of the best perchases I've ever made and hopefully it'll still be around for another 7 years.
Squee! Thank you Doddy, not only for showing off my daughter's new bike with her epic art (did you notice she included an ACDC logo, coincidentally just like the forks you have on set? Soooo proud of her!) but also for the super enthusiastic smile and energy you had whilst talking about it. Can't wait to show her when she gets home. Needless to say - I love the show, all the content and the presenters (sorry about the recent nose/hooter caption contest entry over on the dirtshed - but I just cannot resist a good pun).
I run 760mm on my Ragley mmmbop, i always used 780 as a 6'1 rider with longer arms but cutting them down definitly improved my riding position a bit, it's crazy what 20mm on your bars can do
Funny, I also stuck to one brand at some point. In my case it's Trek. Wasn't intentional, I got to buy, ride, and resell a couple of bikes and I ended up keeping the Treks. It's just that their geometry seems to fit me soooo well, both road and MTB
It makes me laugh when I see everyone running too wide of bars for their size , you can see their grips sticking out with their hands half on the bars and half on the grips
Bike for every budget! Bought a demo/rental GT Sensor a few years back for $1500. Barely used too. Since then, the only stock parts that remain are the shock, cranks, dropper post Lever! I still love how the frame rides, so even a ‘cheap’ bike will eventually turn into a full custom bike as you replace almost all the parts over the years….if the frame is good, starting cost is irrelevant
I've got two Air Tags on my bike. One on the downtube under the water bottle cage that's almost meant as a decoy. The second is in the head tube using a 3D-printed holder I got off Etsy. Works great. And now I need to go cut my bars.
Snap! #Decoy the steerer tube is the one they won’t find… you hope. Keen to know if the Knog has actual GPS that works with Apples “find my” or just low energy Bluetooth like on AirTags? Where obviously full blown built in gps is much better and would prompt me to pay the extra over the air tag… plus the alarm siren is added deterrent
@@tigermint69 It's very possible it could work with Find My. I have both Apple Air Tags and a Chipolo air tag that is Find My compatible. Chipolo makes a credit card-sized one that I got for my wallet. Pretty slick.
I do the same. One AirTag that’s fairly easy to find, and another AirTag that isn’t. That one is named in such a way that it comes up as a serial number and looks like it belongs to the police. Then there’s a gps tracker hardwired into the battery. Less than $150 in trackers for each bike and $60 a year in services for peace of mind.
What width handlebars are you running? Do you even know, or care? Or are you very particular, if so how did you arrive at your desired width? Let us know 👇
820mm. The best width for me, but would probably not be the best in racing in tight woods.
I run 780 on my enduro and 800 on my Dh bike
720mm. Medium trek remedy I’m 5’5”. Think of going wider though. Running 760mm on my small scout that feels a little wide so 740-750 sounds like it might be the right number
770-780 sweet spot
760 is fair enough for me - im only 173cm tall. That's my middle between wide enough and good/quick manoeuvrability - I like everything with a bit more back sweep and rather go more rise than more spacers. 35-40 is cool for my frame. Atm I´m running fatbars non carbon and like them although many people think they´re too stiff.
Ive been riding mtb for 32 years. For the trails I ride I've settled on 680mm. Otherwise I start clipping trees. Im 6'1" and it feels fine.
Local trails have some go arounds where the original trail is too narrow for the average bar now😅
5’8” 750mm bars
As I cut them down in steps from 800mm, there was a point where I could keep my hands on the grips properly through a reasonably full turn of the bars. That point is the sweet spot.
One year ago my bike was stolen when I left it locked outside the shops. I had an airtag hidden in my bottle cage and was able to get my bike back within minutes. I would definitely buy some sort of tracker for your bike because it could save you a lot of money as it did for me.
Glad you are back and hopefully healthy! So many people with opinions on what's too expensive, etc. There are bikes for all price ranges so who cares what opinions are out there? I suppose manufacturers care, but It's none of my business how someone else spends their money and no one is forcing me to buy something outside of my budget or that I don't think is worth the price.
That’s probably the most non biased comment I’ve seen on the matter anywhere, fully agree
I recently upgraded my 20 year old mtb with new handlebars. Going from 600 to 720. Feels enormous! Can't imagine going to 800.
Thanks for doing what u do. An inspiration! Nice to see u back. Learned a lot from u. Thanks
Hi Doddy, I liked the feel of 800mm bars but after a while I was getting some shoulder pain. After a bit of research I decided to cut the bars down to 780mm and the discomfort disappeared within a couple of rides, also helps with those tight tree gaps!
How I was taught many years ago by MBR, was to do a press up on a tape measure, placing your hands at the most comfortable place, that will be your bar width.
I put my hands under my shoulders when I do that…. Guess I’ll find some 90’s bars.
I tried this and my press up comfortable width is 675mm. I run 760mm bars and I'm 5'10". Maybe I'm just an old school body on a new school bike :- ) I won't be cutting them anytime soon.
Some riders don't know how to do a proper press-up. IMO, the correct hand spacing for a proper press-up is too narrow for mountain biking. The forces on the shoulders is greater during press-ups than the forces from MTB. However, if the handlebar is too wide, it places the shoulder in a weak position, so for both press-ups and MTB, a overly-wide grip is asking for shoulder damage.
This doesn't quite work because it optimizes for press, but MTB requires both press and pull -- and pull is used more. This has been studied in sports medicine literature and the median optimal push/pull posture (from which you can derive bar width) is the one that creates a 20 degree angle between the side of the torso and the inside front projection line of your arm.
@@kiltymacbagpipe they should be just outside of your shoulders with your chest on the floor.
@gmbntech about the alarm, the Yorkshire bike mechanic showed off the biketrax tracker the other week, it’s for ebike tho and is fitted above the motor in your frame. Seemed to work pretty well
Great call out! I watched that video as well… but then promptly forgot about it - thanks for reminding me
Fox’s (new to me) “Stepcast style” gravel suspension fork looks pretty sweet. Not a gravel grinder, but I saw it on Fox’s website.
In terms of bar length. I originally had 780mm bars, but I keep my bike in my houses sunroom and was getting tired of having to turn my wheel sideways and awkwardly scoot into the doorway because the damn bars were too wide to fit through the door. I went down to 760mm and they feel fine and I can just fit through doorways now.
I used to run a 780 bar on my first MTB in which I began to learn the basics and did my first trails. Recently got a new bike with 760 bars and I did feel the difference the moment I sat on and I worried about loosing on stability, it did felt a little twitchy at walking speed on pavement, to my surprise the moment I got off road the whole thing came together and felt pretty good, the new geometry, wider tires and rims did it's thing
cheap brand - trek
solid brand - santa cruz
ovber the top - canfeild
800 mill bars for me, i like the minute control u can have on the tips
Something similar to the Loamlab stuff? They're called bar-ends!
Yeah, and the Loamlab bar ends look like they have the same problem…catching a small tree and causing accident.
I’m 6’10 and I ride a double xl spire from transition and my bars are at 800mm but when I ride bike park I switch to a 820mm
6’10”!
I was thinking about getting an xxl Spire and I’m 6’5”. Maybe the xl would fit better
Yeah I got the xxl because it had 535mm reach
My dad is 6’5 and I would put him on a xl
@Andrew Dodd I really did struggle with bike fit for a long time before my spire I had a 2017 canyon spectral xl which is ironically about the same size as my current dj bike
I just got nukeproof short stem an riser bars for less than 40 quid, nice 👍
That 'Shimano Premium Grease' looks a lot like 'Motorex Bike Grease 2000'. But Motorex is a lot easier to find. Seems like we got COVID around the same days, i was also with COVID last week, such a bummer when i had all this bike related stuff going around town :(
Top brands of bike in my opinion are definitely Santa Cruz and Kona, I got into Kona because of the Kona clump team freeride, slopestyle scene back in 2009 when Andreu Lacondecguy and Fabien Barrel were on the team; but also I ride Kona because of the childhood memories as my Dad had a Kona Stab in 2008, a Kona Hoss 2005 (bought in 2008) and it was cool seeing all the stuff he sent on them. I like Santa Cruz because of the VPP and they look mega cool and they ride great.
Where can I buy the Knog Scout in the U.K.? They do not have it listed on their own website and there are no search results for U.K. retailers.
Found this. “Samples are being shown to retailers in about 45 countries and it will be released near the end of June,” Hugo said.
Might have been worth mentioning that it is not actually released yet.
I. run rigid forks on my Gravel bike. I agree with you , save the suspension for the MTB and enjoy the challenge of negotiating trails on a stiff bike. My Cube Nuroad EX gravel bike is slowly becoming my go to bike, Fast on trails that are not to techie and lack jumps and (almost) competent to keep up with my roady mates until going down long decent. The lightness of the bike due to lack of suspension, giant tires etc makes it great for climbing
I’ve been using RideLogic formula handlebar width in millimeters:
If you’re male, multiply your height in millimeters by 0.440.
If you’re female, multiply your height in millimeters by 0.426.
Works great for ballpark new riders or each year when kids get bigger.
Personally I’m 5’10 and I run 770 on a fatbike, 760 on Party Hardtail, and the same on my xc bike but I’m planning on trying 740, as It a nice experiment and I think it might decrease some hand fatigue on big epic, look forward to finding out
On my 2014 full sus originally had 700mm bars. I increased the them to 760mm and went from a 70mm stem to a 60mm stem. On my 29er hardtail it came the 780mm bars. I have replaced them with OneUp carbon bars. Which I cut down to 780mm. I feel the slightly longer bars on the hardtail helps with steering. As my full sus has 27.5" wheels
650. Lots of tight trees in New Hampshire USA. Everyone else runs wide bars and gets hung up in the tight stuff.
710 for me, lots of trees to avoid. It thats what’s comfortable for me. I lopped of the 10cm from the stock bar because I like my hand to overhang the grip a little bit.
A few years ago the trend was all about riding as wide as bar as you could. Now we are swinging back around to shorter (better sized bars). This industry loves to go in circles.
My 2022 bike came with 820mm carbon bars, I cut them down to 780 and felt it wasn't right, ended up buying some burgtec 800mm bars with a bit more rise and they felt worlds better.
I am 6ft1 and I have 730mm on my downhill bike and 650mm on my dirt jumper. Very good for tabletops
I run 800mm bars on everything, but I run 685 on older Kona's pre 2010 just because that's what I like and I'm used to
I am 6'-1" with longer arms and my wife is 5'-4" with shorter arms. We both currently have Specialized Levo SLs (e-bikes) which originally came with 780mm bars. The bars on both bikes are now cut down to 740mm for our cross-country riding in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Strange that 740mm bars works for both of us; but, I can muscle the bars when needed while wife has enough leverage to be comfortable when passing through gaps between trees. Now see that the latest Specialized Levo SLs come with 720mm (for small) and 750mm (for med-XL) bars, respectively; so, I assume Specialized has now caught on. Otherwise, I have used same handlebar width on my last four MTBs; but, I do remember running sub-700mm width bars (ala John Tomac) when I was racing cross-country way back when.
Currently 770, but I really miss 760, bit off the end with the hands makes a whippy ride
Glad your back
Having spent time during those crazy times where we all ran our bars as narrow as possible, I jumped on the first bendy wide bar that came out, still narrow compared to today's offerings.
My body has odd lengths, and since my spine surgery bends very differently, so I've been fiddling with my cockpit each week for a year.
I really thought going shorter would work for me, it's what I'm used to riding, so I've tried everything from 750 to 800 with various rises. Last month I popped the grips out 10mm so 820. My brain says it's too wide, my body says it's perfect. Time to buy a new bar then!
Doddy roulette. Eventually you get a win, actually addressing the clickbait question first. As for the comments clearly they rubbed you up the wrong way, which is good to get some real heartfelt pushback to the deluge of quite correct bloated price criticism. Good to see you looking at building your own I am thinking the same thing but for an ebike.
Doddy I feel your pain - I got covid over the jubilee bank holiday. Was in bed for three days...
I have a question though... is this the right channel for gravel bike content? Isn't that a more natural fit with GCN?
I admit I don't know the answer, only now coming back to mTB after 20 years and safe to say EVERYTHING has changed.
As I can tell from my shiny new spectral 😁
Love the show, always fun to get some more technical info to help me on the trail. Is that some Slick Honey you got their?
I've always had 700mm handlebars. I ride mostly in the forest on fast, tight and twisty trails. Measure the width of your shoulders and add 200. Done!
What is the product that holds bike tube/tools mounted to the rear bottle cage shown at 13:40 of the video? Looking for something that can hold my tube/pump/levers but don't want a holder that mounts around the seat tube or down tube that could scratch the frame
washboards on gravel roads in Colorado are brutal! only reason I'd go suspension fork over rigid. it's terrifying having to have a loose grip on the bars to keep your teeth from chattering out of your mouth but then also needing to clamp down on the brakes to avoid flying off the side of a mountain... especially on mile 50 if an endurance ride
Great vid! I'm currently running 820mm bars on my trek remedy as they came that length stock and I haven't been bothered to cut them since. They feel great as I've gotten used to them but I'd like to try something shorter just to see if it's right as they are very very long. I'm 5'9" so it doesn't make a lot of sense for me to be running that lenght but hey, it feels good.
I just put a set of Fasst Flexx bars on my bike and they're still at their as-shipped 800mm width. I need to start trimming them down. I'm thinking 760 is probably where I'll want to be. That Scout alarm is slick.... their website says out of stock (of course) and it's $94 (Australian). Not sure if they're available anywhere in the US, but at that price I'm in no hurry to get one.
I’m running 800 wide. I’m playing around with widths so I can always come down in size from where I’m at, but so far feels good
Im 5.7 and was running 740 on my old Bronson v2 for many years, but just recently went to 780 on a Bronson v4, after a few months it felt to wide so have just cut down to 760, i will give that some time, i may even go to 750, but will see after some time.
Can't go full top 10 but my favourite brands are Revel, Production Privee and Orange 🤘🤘
760mm (I'm 6 3"), went up to 800mm and now slowly back down to 760mm. I have narrow shoulders, at 800mm my wrists were too bent.
I just set up my bars by feel, but saying that i just measured armpit to fingertips and both measure the same, 720mm.
Ergon gp2 very similar to the counterpunch bar ends. Iv been using ergon gp2 for this reason for years.
I read through probably 90% of the comments last week. ( something that is very rare for me.) I feel the producers or editors or the presenter, which ever picks out the comments to read, could have found many more comments that were more accurate in reflecting the consensus of comments. The ones picked were too easy to deflect. Having said that, it is pretty hard to buy a bad bike now at most any price point. The hard part is finding the one that will suit all your needs, and wants. They're all a compromise.
THE ULTIMATE RULE FOR BAR WIDTH (XC/Trail): Put yourself in a comfortable position on the floor for doing push-ups, do a couple of them to make sure it's your position, and let someone mark the on the floor the distance between the bases of your pinkies - on the external side of your hands. Repeat three times and take the mean value. That's the width you should be riding.
Trendy fashios says I should be using 780mm bars; a first and quick try clearly showed I shouldn't be using wider than 760mm; after 5-6 rides of weird feeling, I did as above and measured 735mm, so I trimmed it to 740mm. It really does feel natural now.
This has been the practice before. I used to do push ups a lot. I use to be able to do 50 reps per set. Measuring my hand position, it says i should have a 600mm bars. And yes. Old school bars are around that width but are paired with longer stems. Right now, my bars are 740mm on my modernized 2004 xc bike. But i run both 780mm on my trail bike and enduro bike. 45mm stems.
@@djogz I wouldn't size my handlebar depending on the stem, but on my torso width and arm length - the way I've mentioned. I'd say the stem is for a fine sizing of your bike, after having chosen the frame depending on your height and leg length.
I honestly don’t know what the width of my bars are. They’re the stock bars off my base rockhopper. I’m still relatively new to the sport, but I’ve been taking note as to what width would feel better, as well as sweep and rise. But so far I’ve just adjusted my riding to these bars.
phil & ted make the best vfm prams imo
I'm a 5'11" fifteen year old, I run 800s. I knew I liked them wide, so I just left them how they came. They feel good to me, but I haven't experimented with anything. I am kind of questioning if I have them too wide but I haven't really noticed anything off.
Definitely not too wide. Just stick with that width and maybe go wider as you grow.
@@th_js wider than 800 what are you on about?
@@Rob_Fe I run 810mm mate that is wider than 800.
I run on my hard tail xc bike 760 with 50mm stem and on my trail bike 770 with 40mm stem. I got to those lengths by trying. I am setting my cockpit separately for every bike,so I think i am quite particular for that
The other aspect of bars is also stem length and stack height... we are seeing riders like rude and moir who are downsizing on bikes and in rudes case a bike check from last year quoted him with a 50mm stem whereas moir has a fat stack of spacers to bring his bars up
I used to have Magura rim brakes on my Ridgeback back in the early 90s! Now i'm thinking if i should buy the latest their latest brake disc system or make my dream come true with XT brakes!
Bought a new bar that is 820 and i find it a little nervous to steer. Like it moves instantly with a little twitch. Cutting it down to 800 now.
I wish barkbusters,would introduce some handguards for MTB, they've been used on enduro motorcycles for ever.
My bikes are old school from the late 90's to early 00's. I run very small handlebars, I would guess around 700mm or less.
Great show!
My last bike was a 2020 Marin Rift zone with 540mm bars. Yes thats right 540mm bars. You want scary downhill, try that. :-)
Bought a new bike Transition Scout Carbon and it has 800mm bars, which I may cut down by 20 - 40mm once I get used to it.
My “gravel” bike is an old hard tail with 120mm fork just without much sag and just went back to having bar ends on it.
Nice rig!
Where do you find that knog scout? I can’t find it anywhere online.
Press release stock only for a while I guess... was same with their solar charger...
@@rupedog well that’s a bummer looks like a smart product.
I know 800 is too wide for me. My thumb palm is telling me by cramping. Have cut down to 780 to see how it feels. If not satisfied will cut down to 770 knowing I can't go back to longer so one step at a time. Old bar was was 760. A good width. Now I'm obsessing about sweep. Oh dear!!
Use an AirTag on mine. Have the internal storage so it’s way down in the frame.
800mm because they came on my bike, felt comfortable, and the trails I ride here in Utah, USA aren't especially tight. I'm 6'1".
I'd curious to test out a narrower bar on this bike but I've been hesitant to cut it down in case I find I like the wider size better, and all my old bars are a narrower diameter. Been wanting to try out a Carbon bar, so maybe I'll order one and start testing with my current bar while it ships.
Where do ur hands sit naturally, when not covering the brakes...at the ends or a little inboard? If inboard, then trim down...but just by 5mm each end, then go ride and retry. Repeat until ur hand naturally sit almost at the end of grips
@@rupedog definitely a little inboard! Gonna give it a go!
i have aprox 700mm on my XC, 193cm(6"3). But i'm not very wide. Also to mitigate wrist pain.
QUESTION:
Looking to upgrade my fork on my Specialized Chisel XC bike.
Current is 100mm w/51mm offset.
Want a 120mm SID or Stepcast but they are 44mm offset.
Will that change the geo too much or will that less offset balance out the extra 20mm of travel I'll have?
Can it all be worked out as well with shorter/longer stem and/or handlebar rise?
THANK YOU!!!
The counter to "no one's making you buy it" is "but they are trying to make you want it." Companies spend quite a bit of money on advertising. There's also a significant functionality difference between the affordable bikes and the upper tier bikes, just look at the cheaper forks or brakes, anything less than deore level is downright dangerous on the "awesome" trails.
Need to work on your Lloyd Grossman impersonation Doddy.... 😜.. who would live in a house like this 😁
Magura weren't 'always' yellow. I had Tomac edition HS33 in red.
Get 800 bars...and gradually trim down until its right... where do your hands sit on the grips when ur not thinking about it... if inwards from the ends, then maybe drop 5mm each side, and repeat until hands naturally sit just shy of the ends
640mil is the absolute best.
I guess Doddy likes DnB🔊
Aaaaand there comes the bar ends revival. It‘s still a bit shy and pretends to be a protection thing but it will find its courage.
Bar width is purely subjective to what someone is accustomed to. Keeping the same stem and installing a wider bar will bias your weight more to the front of the bike, throwing off the balance, so there is a danger in throwing on wider bars without either running a shorter stem or increasing the bar rise, or both. I run very narrow bars by today's "standards" and a longer stem as well but I see no benefit in changing to a shorter stem and wider bars.. what can I gain from it except a lighter wallet. I mostly ride freeride and it doesn't hold me back.
i am the previous owner of the cube haha
Those loam lab bar end protectors would literally staple themselves into the trees common in Michigan. Only moto style bark buster style hand protectors would actually survive. Yet those bar end protectors you see on motoGP bikes look like a design that might really work for mtb…?
I do have a gravel bike and it does not have a fork. I want my gravel bike as light and fast as possible.
I'm 5'9' (175mm) and use 720mm or else I punch trees. My peripheral vision doesn't track with 800's.
750 for DJ and 780 for trail.
For Q1 I'm guessing porpoise hoarc.
750mm on my commuter flatbar bike
440mm on my road bike
760 on my trail bike..................
I'm 5'11" and run between 750 and 760
748 on my fuel ex perfect for me! (1,71m)
Is it just me or are modern MTB's just too agile to be stable.
I struggle to ride no handed when cruising on easy gravel sections on my Bossnut as the steering wants to flop from side to side, it's almost impossible to make it track straight by balance alone!
Plus being in my 40's and not riding for 20yrs, 700+mm bars felt intimidating at first and defo make me nervous in narrow passes!
I'm 5'6 and run 820mm
Running a gravel bike #Ninerbike RLT9 with a carbon fiber fork. It's a great ride !
710 XC !
Small is better than nothing!
Nothing is nothing!
Small times 3000 units add to a lot more!
700 15 years ago and 760 now
I've been riding this bike for 7 years now! th-cam.com/users/postUgkxHL1v1R3NE5x4KiYfyt8dnQmyNYz7qi5L It was a great bike the day I got it, put it together, and went on my first ride; more importantly it's an even better bike today. I've ridden trails, street, and skatepark all on this bike. I have replaced almost every part on the bike. Some stuff has broken: derailleurs, wheels, shifter. Everything else were upgrades. The only ramaing original parts are the frame, bottom bracket, and crank set. BB and cranks will be upgraded soon. The geometry isn't great but that is really the only draw back to how good a value this bike is. Even after all the money I've spent upgrading it's still a more affordable bike than I'd have bought from a proper bike shop, especially with full suspension. I've also learned a lot about bikes working on it over the years. It really is one of the best perchases I've ever made and hopefully it'll still be around for another 7 years.
Jesse has been running that bar width regardless of location
Squee! Thank you Doddy, not only for showing off my daughter's new bike with her epic art (did you notice she included an ACDC logo, coincidentally just like the forks you have on set? Soooo proud of her!) but also for the super enthusiastic smile and energy you had whilst talking about it. Can't wait to show her when she gets home. Needless to say - I love the show, all the content and the presenters (sorry about the recent nose/hooter caption contest entry over on the dirtshed - but I just cannot resist a good pun).
Love your energy, excellent dad stuff, your daughters lucky
I run 760mm on my Ragley mmmbop, i always used 780 as a 6'1 rider with longer arms but cutting them down definitly improved my riding position a bit, it's crazy what 20mm on your bars can do
I have those bars too
760 mm for me, too. I'm 5' 8".
760mm is the width I run with a 25mm rise as a 6'0 rider
The bike brand for me is Cannondale, always been a unique/special brand for me.i can't ride any other brand weirdly 😀.760mm for bar width for me👍🏻
Walmart brand lol
Funny, I also stuck to one brand at some point. In my case it's Trek. Wasn't intentional, I got to buy, ride, and resell a couple of bikes and I ended up keeping the Treks. It's just that their geometry seems to fit me soooo well, both road and MTB
Glad you're back Doddy! I hope you and your family are fully recovered. Your passion and energy are irreplaceable.
It makes me laugh when I see everyone running too wide of bars for their size , you can see their grips sticking out with their hands half on the bars and half on the grips
Bike for every budget! Bought a demo/rental GT Sensor a few years back for $1500. Barely used too. Since then, the only stock parts that remain are the shock, cranks, dropper post Lever! I still love how the frame rides, so even a ‘cheap’ bike will eventually turn into a full custom bike as you replace almost all the parts over the years….if the frame is good, starting cost is irrelevant
100%. Got a 2016 giant xtc which is going the same way.
800mm and just went down the first time last week by hitting a tree
I've got two Air Tags on my bike. One on the downtube under the water bottle cage that's almost meant as a decoy. The second is in the head tube using a 3D-printed holder I got off Etsy. Works great. And now I need to go cut my bars.
I've also got an airtag on each bike using Etsy 3d printed mounts. I hear from more and more people that are doing the same.
Snap! #Decoy the steerer tube is the one they won’t find… you hope. Keen to know if the Knog has actual GPS that works with Apples “find my” or just low energy Bluetooth like on AirTags? Where obviously full blown built in gps is much better and would prompt me to pay the extra over the air tag… plus the alarm siren is added deterrent
I have a 3D printer, do you know where I could get the file
@@tigermint69 It's very possible it could work with Find My. I have both Apple Air Tags and a Chipolo air tag that is Find My compatible. Chipolo makes a credit card-sized one that I got for my wallet. Pretty slick.
I do the same.
One AirTag that’s fairly easy to find, and another AirTag that isn’t. That one is named in such a way that it comes up as a serial number and looks like it belongs to the police.
Then there’s a gps tracker hardwired into the battery.
Less than $150 in trackers for each bike and $60 a year in services for peace of mind.