When getting parts for building out an old Paramount road frame, I bought some 42cm Cinelli 64 Giro D'Italia Alloy Handlebars.

My previous bike I've been riding for over five years had 38cm Cinelli Giro D'Italia on it. I'm wondering if I made a mistake going wide as I now am using STI shifters and riding on the hoods and drops more than the tops closer to center as I did with the previous bike.

Does width play a part in why I feel a little more straight armed as other aspects of fitting? I've also got a 100mm stem on it. Think I need to shorten that.

Thoughts anyone?

It would be helpful to know how wide your shoulders are. I do not know if a)You have been riding with too narrow handlebars for the last five years, or b) you just bought too wide a handlebar. I am endomorphic (small framed). When it comes to Cinelli handlebars (been riding with them off and on for over 40 years now) I only have ever used/ considered the 38cm width (I have always preferred the slightly deeper drop mod. 63 ). It should only make the slightest difference in reach with the wider bars. I cannot imagine that it should perceptible.

Bar width makes little difference in reach. It is more a matter of breath (too narrow is bad), wind resistance (the narrower the better) and handling (bike will feel more secure with wider bars, turning is a little slower).

On the first point - breath - the old "rule was that you didn't want to go narrower than your shoulders. We would pick up bars we were thinking about and placed the bar ends against the balls of our shoulders. An exact fit was considered good (and served me very well racing).

I put very wide HBs on my "mountain" fix gears for better leverage climbing. Nice side benefit - great control going very fast at high RPM downhill. Second benefit - less aero going very fast downhill at high RPM. (Less aero is better you ask? When more aero means spinning even more ridiculously fast, yes, you bet!)

There is also riding in the peloton if you race. Wider - better for the bumps with other riders that happen. Narrower - you can fit through smaller gaps.

So you can see handlebar width is a compromise.

Ben

I'm a pretty firm believer that everything is a compromise. Please don't ask me how that discussion went when my spouse wanted to talk about our "being perfect for each other"

My shoulder's outside to outside are 17" or 43.1 cm. And as I stated earlier the bars I rode for over five years where 38 cm. I also believe my previous bike of 35 plus years was in the 38 cm ballpark too. But I don't have it to measure.

I'm a 'narrow bar' kind of guy.
Except on tandem or mtn bike.

i think it depends upon what you used in early days of road biking. Mine were 38s.
my personal opinion of the 'wide bars let you breathe better' = total bull-pucky.
Ride the handlebar width that feels most natural.

The wider bars are not bothering me. But I know I'm not fitted quite right. My elbows are a tad too straight. I thought perhaps the wider bars might be making me straighten my arms a little more.

Probably I should simply shorten the stem as that will be the easiest to change. I just don't have any shorter ones to try at the moment. When I ran through the calcs for stem length, I was looking at bars with a shorter reach. I failed to take that into account when I switched the order to the Cinelli's. It was only a 10mm difference in reach.

I know it's hard to say without seeing, but assuming my seat is correctly positioned for the crank and my body is in a comfortable lean for normal riding posture, will a 10 mm change in stem length be noticable, or would something like a 50mm to 70mm stem be an appropriate change to get more angle in my elbows?

I got a professional fit and he recommended I go from 44mm bars to 46 mm bars. He also recommended I get a longer stem to stretch myself out on the bike. If your elbows are locking, you should try a longer stem.

I got a fitting and even though I ride small frames that normally come with 40cm bars, my fitter recommended a 44 cm bar. I will never go back to 40 cm bars. He measured between my shoulder blades and said I have very wide shoulders for my physical size.

An 'outside to outside' measurement is useless for the present purposes. The skeletal structure supporting your musculature is what is significant. Measure between each of the bony prominences at the top of your shoulder blades. In any case I don't think you were properly fitted with a 38cm bar. It just shows that people can adapt to almost anything within reason. Think about that the next time you agonize over the 165mm cranks vs the 170mm.

10mm is probably too small a change... 50mm is probably too large... <snap!> what about an 80mm stem (20mm change) for a first try at things?

Yeah.... that's kind of my whole point. I've adapted to a bike I rode for over 35 years. I didn't have any pains other than a sore butt if I didn't ride for a while or a sore knee from lugging in too high a gear.

I'm just trying to figure out if there are any good indicators that I need to go smaller or bigger still. Not feeling uncomfortable or any pains. I just realize my elbows are straighter than before. The original question was asking if the handle bar width had anything to do with the bend of my elbows or is it just fore and aft adjustment of my reach.

I do... for the same reason as above. I rode 165mm cranks since the early 1970's. Maybe even in the 60's. So I'm sure adapting might be part of it. But I don't think I want to spend another 35 years adapting. I should have ordered my cranks a few days earlier before someone else got the last ones that were 165mm in silver finish.

I was watching one of the Vuelta stages the other day. I was thinking about my bar issue at the same time and noticed that some riders have some really wide bars compared to what their body size is. Admittedly it's hard to tell on TV.

Race, I don't do myself... but I sure enjoy watching the grand tours.

Longer stem.... I would have thought shorter stem. So maybe by lowering the angle of my trunk, my arms won't be supporting as much weight and I won't being trying to straighten my arms? Is that the thinking?

Yes, you want to make sure you have a proper 90 degree angle. My fitter said that a longer stem and stretching you out will help tilt your pelvis and increase aerodynamics.

So would I...


I thought it was a typo myself. I am dismayed to learn that there is actually "thinking" behind it. I don't agree. Lower the trunk by increasing the drop between bar height and saddle height. Increase bend in elbow (towards) 90* with a longer or shorter stem. Aerodynamic? You just came off a 5 year layoff. You will be doing good to get 45* forward lean. But keeping the bars an inch away from your fingers with the elbow at the saddle AND having your bars ~1" below your saddle height is a good place to start for someone under 50 y.o. coming back after a layoff. On a 56cm frame a stem in the 80mm to 100mm range would not raise any eyebrows. FWIW.