Mountain Biking - Handlebars XC

So much experience on this forum...I love the help that I can get here.

I am a roadie and very new to MTN Biking. I just put together my new XC race bike and love it. The bars that are on it are the straight and narrow Ritchies. I am 6'5" and my bike is 22". My experienced friend told me to upgrade my bars to wider ones with rise. I am trying to accomodate four priorities in picking these new bars in this order of preference:
1) width
2) weight/material used
3) rise and sweep
4) price

I would like to eventually race XC with this bike, but will use it for all kinds of riding. It is a Ti Hardtail.

Here are three bars that I am looking at:

1) Nashbar Carbon Mountain Bike Riser Handlebar
These bars have a 25.4mm clamp size. I do not know if I it will fit my bike or is this too narrow.
Weight: 174g (WOW...that is light)
Material: Carbon (too sexy)
Length: 660MM (probably too short for me)
Rise: 40 MM (I think that is good)

2) Sunline V1 Mountain Bike Riser Handlebar
These bars have a 31.8mm clamp, which seems standard for everything that I am looking at.
Weight: 280 g
Material: Triple-butted, tapered 7075-T6 aluminum
Length: 711MM or 745mm (nice and long may be what I need)
Rise: 19mm or 38 mm

3) RaceFace Atlas FR Riser Bar
They come in RED...nice
Weight: 340g
Material: cold drawn, seamless Air Alloy material
Length: 785mm
Rise: 13mm

Is there another set of bars I should look at....thanks for any advice.

Why are you swapping the bar...is your current one uncomfortable? Not everyone needs wide risers. It's about personal preference, not what someone else says you should run.

My current ones are real short...580mm. I pulled the trigger on a set of Easton Monkey Light XCs with a 20 mm rise. They are 685mm in length, and I think they will fit me better. The short and straight Eastons that are on my bike seem a bit awkward...but then again, I am so used to road bikes, the whole MTN bike experience will take time getting used to. Getting into the Cane Creek Eggbeater pedals is much harder than my road bike clipless pedals. I guess that I will get used to that as well.

Why are you swapping the bar...is your current one uncomfortable? Not everyone needs wide risers.Seems to me, though, that at his size he might benefit more than other XCers by a wide bar. It would open up his chest area and help his breathing if nothing else.

carson - I would give the nod to the Sunline V-One in the 745mm (29.3"). I have these (mind you, I'm only 6'-1" and use them for DH racing) and like them a lot. But then I am a Sunline shill :).

1) Check your current bar and stem. One or both of them might have the clamp diameter stamped on it. If not and you end up wrong, you can always get another stem.

2) I would just go as wide as you think it reasonable. You can cut the bars down if they feel too wide.

thanks for the advice all...I took the weight weenie route and went for the Easton Monkey Light XCs....685mm long, which is over 100mm longer than what I currently have and a small rise of 20mm. I have a soft spot for the carbon look and they are half the weight of some of the Alum bars at 150g.

They should work. I would think if your narrow in your grip you do need a wider bar like dminor stated to open up your grip to allow easier breathing. Also, the one main thing sometimes overlooked can be your stem length. What length are you running???? This can set you up more or lower on your basic stance in the saddle.

Good luck.

Cane Creek Eggbeater pedals

The estimable Cane Creek would never deign to introduce a product as crappy as Eggbeaters.

So yeah, bar width is kind of like saddle or tire choice - try different options and see what works best for you. Purchase the wide ones first and chop them incrementally.