bobotech

Seems like all the old seventies era drop bar bikes that run through our bike co-op all seem to have very narrow bars. Why is that? Most people who want to fix up their bikes seem to like the wider bars except the hipsters building up their fixies.

Based upon shoulder to bar width, most seventies era bars were too narrow for proper fit.

jimc101

Looking at photos from that era, those bars would be the correct fit for the build of riders then. Take a bike from are recent 15 years ago, and things will look odd compared to a current bike, tires back then were narrower, think 19mm vs current 25/23mm

oddjob2

+1

Compared to the other 6.7 billion inhabitants of the world, Americans are wide bodied. Domestic cars are long and wide by global standards too.

Italuminium

-people got fat.

-lemond practically introduced the wide drop bar because he believed it opened his lungs more (I think this is a bogus argument).

-40/42 is about middle of the road, so when sleccing millions of bikes for the boom, best not to fiddle around hundreds of shapes and sizes.

The Golden Boy 

I'm actually comfortable on narrower bars- but I don't like the way my handlebar bag is snug in there.

I'm also comfortable on more regularer bars too. Six of one, half dozen of the other.

Revracer

+1

I am always finding that I need to replace the bars to be comfortable. Although, I rode a 38 for a week and when I returned to a 44, that felt odd. I never felt I had as much balance or climbing ability when on the narrow bar though.

thinktubes 

38 cm seemed to be a really popular size back then, even for higher end stuff like cinelli.

dedhed

We were all much tougher then and didn't need all that extra leverage to turn.

shoota 

Narrow bars suck. The same reason a narrow wheel base on cars sucks.

Cache

BMX racing in the early 80s, wider bars felt to me like i had more power to accelerate and made passing me a bit more difficult.

stanman13

Because it makes you tip over in turns? Or does a narrower wheelbase on a car make it harder to breathe? Bicycles do have a pretty narrow wheelbase already.

shoota 

Because it feels less stable.

Road Fan

Huh? Bar width is supposed to be based on shoulder and chest width, which are skeletal properties that should d not be affected by a modern layer of fat (at least for me). Style, wide bars in proportion to wide tires, isn't really a part of it except for pure looks rather than good fitting, good comfort, and good performance. I can see a person wanting or appreciating more leverage with wide tires, high trail, and low tire pressure. However, my UO-8 was most likely built with 38 cm handlebars, 27x1 1/8 70 psi tires, and a very low trail. It steers reasonably quick considering it's overall length and laid-back angles.

If you want to get rid of a few pairs of 37 or 38 cm handlebars, pm me with what you have. I'd like a few.

Road Fan

Thank you for that clear explanation.

shoota 

You're welcome.

Road Fan

So what in heck did you mean?

We get that you don't like some things.

shoota 

Wider = more stable, better handling. It may not be a large difference but I can sure feel it with narrow bars.

Road Fan

With bars, I've found wide bars can be too sensitive due to greater leverage, with narrower being more stable.

As far as track on cars, compare the handling of an E36 BMW with a Cadillac DeVille, both from the early '90s. Wider track in cars does not necessarily create better handling.

shoota 

Ok you win.

big chainring 

I didn't even know that bars were available in wider sizes and for the most part they weren't. 38cm was the standard whether you road a 19" frame or 25" frame. I rode 38cm bars from the early 70's till the mid 80's when wider bars were finally somewhat available. And even then I only could find 40cm. bars.
What I prefer are bars with more throw, or longer ramps. Makes for more comfortable hand positions.

noglider 

I think they've gotten wider over the years, and it doesn't seem good to me. Maybe I just have narrow shoulders.

seedsbelize 

And how does all this relate to stem length, a subject that's been on my mind lately? Seems narrower bars on a short stem would tend toward twitchiness. Or not.

bikemig 

No. 1.

Zinger

For stems I like to keep my nose even with the c/l of the bar tops looking up with my hands on the drops. I even go to the trouble of taping a string on my nose with a washer tied on the end and have someone standing beside me tell me how it lines up. I don't like to go by putting my elbow on the front of the seat and barely touching the bars because that seems to give me a little too long of a stem with a Brooks saddle....personally.

If the stem is too long on a relatively shorter frame it affects handling when climbing up out of the saddle.

Bars should approximately match shoulder width c/l to c/l.

And yeah I'm tall and narrow in the shoulders and found myself not needing to replace the bars on new bikes that I bought in the '80s.

Harlan

Yeah...No.

My mazda miata was on rails. My much wider subaru is not. There is just so much more that goes into making a car handle well like suspension, height, tires.