Bar width for touring frame - advice?
 

Hi

I am thinking about fitting a pair of Nitto B114 bars (from early 80s) to my steel touring frame which is being made up as an Audax / weekend tourer. The bars are only 40cms wide and are a lot narrower than i am used to on my Surly cross check.

Before i build up the bike with these - is there a down side to narrower bars?

Andy

AFAIK, its simply a comfort thing. As long as you don't feel cramped, should be OK.

Andy, A general rule is that the handlebars should be as wide as the rider's shoulders. My shoulders are 44 cm wide and my handlebars range from 42 cm to 45 cm. A 40 cm wide handlebar becomes uncomfortable for me as the ride progresses. If the handlebars are too narrow there could be issues when in periods of high exertion the heavy breathing may be restricted by arm/chest interferance, something the 40 cm h'bars didn't cause for me.

Brad

since you already have the bars, give them a shot. i'm 6'4" and find i like 42mm bars best. remember, they are measured from the drops not the tops.

Hi Illwater

What do you mean - drops not tops? I measured width across the very top line of bars.

Drop bar width is measured at the opening where you put the end plugs, *BUT* some mfgrs measure center-to-center, while other measure from outside-edge-to-outside-edge

what shimagnolo said. you probably have 42mm bars, if not even wider.

The nittos you reference to do not expand as they drop, so the measurement would be consistent.

Conversely, the bars on my Voyageur do expand from 40 to 42 as they drop. Both have their advantages.

Hi

Ah haa - once again i learn something from you all - Smartest bike folk hang here!!

Yes when i measured them at the bottom they are 42. I measured my Surly at the bottom and they are 50 !! No wonder these seem narrow. I reckon i am 50 wide across shoulders.

I think i gonna swap these out for wider bars.

Andy

Andy, Be sure to measure the handlebar where the stem clamps it in the middle. There are different diameters available, for example 25.4 mm and 26 mm. The old handlebars may also have the clamping area diameter marked on them.

Brad

PS Handlebar width is most often expressed as the center to center measurement of the drops. This is also accomplished by measuring from the side of the tube to the corrosponding side of the other drop, for example inside edge of LHS to outside edge of the RHS

You adapt.
I once went quite a while riding only with upright mtb bars, and when I got back on my road bike the drop bars --which had always been very comfortable for me-- felt outrageously narrow. I felt like my dad when he says "how can you ride that thing?" But I got used to them again and they feel fine now.
I consider 42cm my ideal width. But when I was younger I did a 9-month tour on 38cm bars and never gave it a second thought. I'm glad I didn't know.

I think you'll be happier with wider bars. For track or weaving in and out of traffic the narrow bars make sense, but you want to open your chest for longer rides ... wider bars accomplish that. And, they usually make the front end seem more stable, more leverage if your are yanking on the bar while climbing. My two cents.