Fahrenheit531 

Getting ready to convert my wife's Trek 7900 to drops. The bars showed up yesterday. Soma Hwy 1 with a mere 75mm reach, very hood-riding friendly:





...And then I pulled them out of the box. Now, y'all without sin may cast the first stone:



Those are 12" tiles, and these bars are 46cm wide. My first thought was "what monster could actually use these?" They can drape over any other drops I own with a cm or more to spare on either side; I didn't even realize bars this wide existed. I was going to chalk it up to experience (never assume anything when on the eBay) and put them in the 'sell' pile until I started reading a couple of the threads on drop conversions. Now I'm thinking these bars may be good for the job. The extra-wide tops will be good for extra control while riding there, which allows her to keep her favorite hand position on this bike, but she'll still have the drops and hoods to use as well.

Of course we all know I have no idea what the heck I'm talking about, so I'd like to get your views on potential problems (or kudos for my accidental genius). These bars are 6-8cm wider than what she would typically use on a road bike. Aero? Not so much.

Henry III

If she typically rides on the flat section of the bars and just visits the hoods for braking I don't think it'd be too much of an issue but they're still pretty wide bars. How tall is your wife?

I've got those same bars and love them. Took a while to get them because distributors were out of the color and size I needed. They make riding in the drops for some folks a lot more comfortable.

Fahrenheit531 

5'4. We're going to give them a try (reusing her old tape as it's an experiment) because they're actually narrower than the butterfly trekking bars that are on there now.
But if she ever has cause to bump someone off the road she'll still have the reach advantage.

Note that she'll also be running bar-end shifters, so she will be reaching out there with some regularity.

Velognome 

I've got one set up with 46cm bars that I use for long distance rides. My first impression every time I take it out, is that feels like a truck! Within a few miles I forget all about it let my hands enjoy the acreage.

trailangel

Too wide. Should be about 40cm for someone 5'4''.

JReade

I have some MTB bars I put on uncut.. I think 710mm from the factory. I decided to try it as it is, but it's like doing wide arm push ups sometimes.

eschlwc

bar width is too important, good used bars are too inexpensive, and taping bars well is too much of a hassle to even think about using bars too wide.

i bought two sets yesterday for $15 -- some cinelli giro d'italia bars for $10 and some raleigh stamped bars for $5.

going to polish out the raleigh stamping and use those on a trek without decals -- pretty easy to do with a metal file and five minutes.

cyclotoine

I prefer 46cm bars, I am 6'3" and have reasonably broad shoulders for my medium/slender frame. I ride some 44s too but like the 46 better. I find 42 unbearably narrow. My mtb bars are 725 and this is pretty much standard these days. In fact most would consider it narrow for all mountain riding where many are running 780-790mm bars.

Fahrenheit531 

Damn you and your flawless logic!
This is more or less what I was thinking before I started saying, "Well maybe..."

Need some Soma Hwy 1's?

cyclotoine

it's tempting, but I don't have a bike I'd put them on at the moment. Thanks for asking.

ThermionicScott 

The wider bars may be more confidence-inspiring, but I'd get some narrower ones lined up just in case.

(Just as a personal note, 42cm bars are about right for me now, but felt narrow and twitchy when I was first learning to ride a road bike.)

JohnDThompson 

Looks like a good stoker bar for a tandem.

Fahrenheit531 

Well that's the thing. She's not new to road bikes. She's got her Specialized Dolce Elite and she rides the heck outta that thing, so we're not looking at a confidence or "get used to drops" issue. My only reason for even considering using these bars (other than the part where I'm out 20 bucks) is the possibility that the wide tops will be more useful for up and down curbs, dirt, that sort of thing. The 7900 is her commuter and/or general anarchy bike. And those wide bars essentially give her a full mtb-type bar, but with drops and bar-ends attached.

So that's the positive part of my amateurish analysis. The negative (and more sensible) part is along the lines of why even bother having the drops if they're so far out she'll feel like she's riding spread-eagle whenever she goes to 'em. I'm very tempted to put my narrow SR Randonneur bars, currently on my Super Sport, on her bike and then put something else on the SS... but before I do that I think we'll make a run to BICAS and see what they've got.

Damn it's frustrating buying the wrong thing. Seems I do it entirely too often. Gotta pay more attention and keep a measuring tape handy at all times.

EDIT: Upside: We're tracking down a bike for a 6'6 friend of hers right now. There's a big ol' Voyageur II on CL that looks like a winner, and I bet someone that tall could use these suckers.

repechage

30-40 years ago, yes. Concepts have been changing, but 46 cm I think might be a bit wide, in that I agree.
Some of it depends on how a person is built.
A typical fit guru suggested I be on 44 cm bars, the majority of my bikes are 40 cm center to center.

seedsbelize 

Put some interrupter levers on there; make use of the space. I'm 6' and ride bars from 44cm to 38 cm and I'm comfortable on all of them. And one of my bikes has a 60 mm stem. None of these old wives' rules are cut and dried.

acoffin 

I always though bar width was based on the breadth of your shoulders. Why would height be the determining factor?

repechage

Height is a crude but easy to document metric. You are correct though, its all the discrete measures that make a true difference.

Fahrenheit531 

This, too, has crossed my mind.

I was just figuring in general proportions. Bigger body generally, though not always, equals broader shoulders. And although my wife does have somewhat broad shoulders for her height, I can place these bars all the way around them.

whatwolf

I don't think these are worth trying but if it's re-used bar tape and you both feel like giving it a shot then what the heck. I do think it might not be good long-term to ride with her arms so far out of line of her shoulders, assuming she uses the hoods.

If you're interested, I think I will be freeing up a set of 38cm hwy 1 bars in a week or two. Need to see if they'll work for an upcoming build or not. I suspect I'll want wider than my normal 38cm because it will be an off-road bike.

Essthreetee

I have the Hwy 1 44's on my bike...I wish I would have gotten 42. Not that it is a huge difference, but I think it would have made a difference as my shoulders are usually letting me know at the end of a long ride. Oh, and I am 6'2".

Fahrenheit531 

PM sent.

Kobe 

I ride 48cm Noodles and love them, but I am 6'5". When I ride a bike with 38cm I feel like ape in Mario Kart.

If you decide to sell the Hwy bars let me know.

Henry III

I don't really believe in the bars as wide as your shoulders idea. I like them about 2-4cm wider to give your chest room to open more and breathe easier. I have a bike with the 40cm to which my shoulders measure and then the 42cm Hwy1 bars and would love to switch all my bikes over to 42cm. Though 46cm would be a bit of a stretch for someone that size. Though on a dropbar mtb if it's really being used on more rugged terrain then you'd want the extra leverage of a wider bar.

fietsbob

48cm Nitto Noodles

I put wide bars on my touring bike . it has racks for 2 pair of panniers too..