Originally Posted by
wheelspeed
Bars keep getting wider for mtb, so I wondered if roadies were gravitating to the same.
MTB bar width is a different animal where you're now trading off steering leverage / control (think freeride and downhill) against a more narrow bar that is better suited for running wooded single track at slower speeds where quicker steering can be a benefit.
Again, shoulder width remains the best rough indicator of how wide road bars should be, remembering that the wider the bar, the closer the bar will need to be to the saddle nose adjust for reach where you could end up encroaching on knee clearance to the bars for out-of-the-saddle riding.