tony_merlino

Is there some kind of rule of thumb for an optimal width for handlebars, maybe depending on shoulder width, intended use, etc? I want to replace the drops on an old beater road bike with straight bars with bar ends, to put the brakes closer to me and allow a position that doesn't kill my neck. (Stenosis, arthritis, ... mainly just getting old...)

The straight bar that I want to use (recycled from a bike my son outgrew) seems really wide, so I thought I'd cut it to a better size. Are there any opinions about what that size should be for riding in a dense suburban/urban environment?

Thanks!

dabac

Rule-of-thumb for drop bars is that c/c should match the distance between the bony knobs on the top and slightly on the back of your shoulders. Straight bars need to be a bit wider(maybe 4" or so to get the same distance between the centerlines of your wrists.
But straight bar and bar ends won't really put your brakes that much closer.
Wannabe messengers tend to cut their bars real short, as half a fashion statement, half functional statement to get a bike that'll fit better through narrow gaps. Unless you're frequently rubbing shoulders with vans and buses, I don't see the point.
But what I suspect you should be doing is moving your bar up and back to get the result that you're asking for. That may be doable with a new stem rather than with a new bar.
Apart from aestethics, and maybe new cables, there's nothing stopping you from raising a drop bar as high as the stem will allow.
Depending on what style of shifters you're using, a flip & chop bullhorn bar + a new stem might interest you

tony_merlino

No, I'm not going for the messenger look - just trying to be more comfortable. I was planning to go up and a little back via the stem route - I'm buying a "touring stem" . But the stem on this bike is already fairly short. The issue is that the drops put the brakes maybe 2-3 inches in front of the stem. I'm trying to also gain back those inches - the flat bar would bring the brakes all the way back to the stem.

I've also considered (and not ruled out) the flip & chop bullhorn bar, which I could make out of the existing drops. The bike has stem shifters, which I'm happy enough with, so that's definitely a possibility. Since they continue to use the road levers, does that really bring the brakes closer? Or just higher? And, if I decided to put mountain levers on the tops, they'd be REALLY close together, which I thought might be an issue.

As I said, the main issue is that, in the kind of dense, low-speed traffic I'm in a lot, I'm having to be on the brakes a lot, and being down that low and having to extend my neck back is getting really painful. Not to mention that the visibility of traffic really stinks when I'm down that low. (The environment isn't Manhattan urban, but is pretty urban by most standards.)

I plan to get the bar tops a couple of inches above the seat, and to bring the brakes closer. The point of the bar ends was to orient them upward to give me a way to get much more upright, just to rest my neck from time to time, when I don't need to be on top of the brakes. I'm not looking for beach cruiser upright - just not so aggressively roadie.

But I think you answered my question - the width of the distance between the shoulder blades + 4. Thanks!

fietsbob

Like your shoulders...

zukahn1 

Well the standards say bar width should be just shorter than shoudler width and the stem and seat sould line up on a vintage bike with the rider in a good position.

tony_merlino

Last night I was just estimating the difference in distance from memory. I went out to the garage and measured this morning, and the difference in distance to the brake handles between flat bars and the drops that are on there now will actually be a good six inches or a little more - pretty dramatic. It's true that this needs to be coupled with raising the bars so that they're above the seat to get the geometry that will relieve my neck pain.

Retro Grouch 

How straight is your son's straight bar?

If it has any rise at all that will limit how much you can narrow it. Trial fit your brake levers, shifters, handgrips, bar ends, computer, bell and anything else that you plan to mount on the handlebar. Move all of that junk in as far as possible. That's the most you can trim your handlebar.

For a frame of reference, a straight mountain bike handlebar is about 22" wide. That's 3" or 4" wider than a road bike bar. A mountain bike riser bar will be about 24" wide. The riser bar also sweeps back more and makes bar ends look goofy. I once tried cutting a mountain bike bar to match the width of my road bike bars and it felt too narrow. My advice is to cut about 3/4" from each end and try it that way for awhile. You can always cut more later but you can't add back.

tony_merlino

This is good advice. The bar is pretty straight - very slight bend to it. It had bar ends on it to begin with (the ones I would use in this mod.) I was considering just leaving the bar alone initially, but experimenting with different placements of the brake levers and bar ends. Then, when I found the best position for the stuff, I'd cut off whatever still stuck out.

This bike has stem shifters, so the only things that need to be accommodated are the brake levers (which I'm also cannibalizing from my son's old bike.) I might mount a bell, but no computer - this is the beater bike that I can just leave locked up on the street when I need to do longer errands. Besides, for riding around in traffic, a computer is pretty useless.

I have another recent CL purchase bike - an early '90s Bianchi Advantage hybrid - that I want to add a way to get additional hand positions for. It's currently got a shallow riser bar on it. Overall, it's a really comfortable bike for me, but I do miss having other hand positions on longer rides. I was going to put bar ends on it anyway, despite the goofiness factor, then cover the whole mess up with cruiser foam to make ersatz trekking bars. (Got the idea from MrBeanz on the C&A forum.) Or I may just spring for another set of trekking bars - I have them on my more "serious" errand bike, and I really like them. I guess I'm too old to worry about looking goofy.

dabac

Then I'm not sure what "closer" it is that you are referring to. Is it getting your hands closer to your body, or your brakes closer to your hands?

For the hand position "on the hoods" (w/drop bar) to "on the bar ends"(w/ flat bar), then getting your hands 6" closer sounds about right.

But from the bar ends, you'll still have to move your hands to get to the brakes - so the brakes aren't getting that much closer to your hands.

tony_merlino

I meant the distance from the brakes to the rest of me. The position of the brakes on the straight bar is on the bar, as on a MTB. FWIW, I made the change, but didn't cut the bar - I just mounted the stem from my son's old bike, which had a positive angle (points up instead of down), used the brake levers from that same old bike, and used the bar and bar ends from an old Specialized HardRock that I had swapped out for trekking bars on the HardRock.

Overall, I'm a little higher up and a lot less stretched out when I'm riding on the bar with my hands on the brake levers. The bar ends are to give me a way to stretch out more when I want to, and a different hand position.

I don't remember if I said, but the reason I need a less aggressive position is because of arthritis and stenosis in my neck, which make it very painful to ride for long in an aggressive posture. This bike doesn't need to be aero - it's my beater for riding around within 5-10 miles or so of home, mostly in a pretty densely populated older suburban area. (Think grid and city street layout, not big wide roads and strip malls.)

dabac

Well, OK. Never heard it described like that before. Most would consider the brake levers as a subassembly to the bar, and just talk about moving the bar closer.