Violet

So I scored a pair of old, rusty bar ends for free Decided to mount them on my flat bar hybrid. It was nice except they were at the end of 61cm bars - felt like I was steering a ship. I noticed my hands were large enough for only a portion of the grip, so I shortened them and moved everything inboard - the shifters, the grips, and the bar ends. I then dropped the stem 3 spacers to get down a little lower (as I figured narrowing the grip would effectively lengthen my reach).

I have to say - the handling of the bike is much, much improved. from bar end to bar end the bars are 56.5cm, and from end of grip to end of grip 50cm. I feel much more comfortable. My arms are straighter now, instead of wide apart like I am trying to deadlift a handlebar. Still have to test it off road though.

johnread

I found the same thing. My stock bars were 620mm, but I shortened them about an inch on each side and am very pleased with the improved handling. Then I mounted aftermarket bar ends for some additional grip positions. I didn't drop the stem, but I like the new configuration - still quite comfy as a flat bar, but have improved power for hills and a more aerodynamic posture when I need it.

Violet

Yeah, I imagine a lot of hybrid bikes come with really wide bars - it's the fashion in mountain biking after all - but it's not really suitable for the kind of riding most of us do.

no1mad 

I would like to trim my bars down some as well, but they have bit more rise than sweep- my controls can't move in as far I'd like .

Violet

really flying down hills now - much easier to crouch down and get more aero. loads of immature fun

Which reminds me I really should do some brake maintenance...

jbchybridrider 

I've been thinking of the mod but I have carbon bars and I don't think it's recommended. I'm thinking though if the cut is done finely enough and slowly it might be fine so as not to start the fibers fraying but I'll research the idea further.

fire

I did a similar thing on my mountain bike a few years ago, and loved how it made the bike feel, especially when using the end bars. Much more comfortable for me, certainly. I've been toying with the idea of doing the same thing on my hybrid for awhile now too, but without some precise measuring, I'm not sure if it'll be practical, due to the shape and taper of the bars.
Honestly I'm undecided about chopping the bars because I really want to try some aerobars on there too, and I'd need to leave room for them. Anyone one else tried them and bar ends on the same handlebars at the same time, or will it look too much?

fire

I did a bit of research when my friend and I were modding a project bike a couple of years back, but we ended up using ali instead. The big deal seemed to be to use a new carbon cutting hacksaw blade with the fine teeth pitch, and keeping it straight. Wrapping it in masking tape before you make a cut apparently helps to stop fibre fray too. I looked it up on Google at the time, and there seemed to be plenty of info out there on doing it right.

Violet

You don't have to actually cut the bars straight away - just move your breaks and grips inwards and see how you like it.

giantcfr1

You've got FSA K-Force haven't you? The FSA site says you can using the correct technique, but when I looked at mine, it begins to thicken towards the centre of the bars, pretty close to where my shifters / brakes are. You may not be able to fit your shifters on after you cut so check check check. Mine definitly would not be able to.

jbchybridrider 

That would be a must for anyone doing the mod and the whole idea of cutting down bars to some degree is a good idea for anyone not going offroad to often.

jbchybridrider 

I'm a bit lucky, I use the XT duel control shifter/brake combo which makes for less clutter on the bars so there's some room to play with.

PatrickGSR94

I put my bar ends between grips and controls, and have my hands there at least 50% of the time I'm riding, if not more. Simulates the hoods position of my road bike and I can get much more aero (elbows drop down) than when my hands are on the grips (elbows point outward).

I need to take a new picture since I flattened the stem and leaned the bar ends more forward (closer to horizontal).

I have thought about cutting mine but my controls won't go in any farther. Thought about getting a totally flat bar instead and possibly cutting that down.

BaseGuy

I've cut down bars twice, converting MTBs to hybrids. But beware: DON'T cut too much. I made that mistake on my wife's bike. If you cut off just a bit too much, the result is a really twitch bike. (To get some feel for what I mean, go down a big hill and place your hands really close together on your bar. It's even worse with the bar cut, because you remove the mass as well.)

Do it in small increments. You're removing mass as well as width. That mass is the mass that's farthest from the axis or rotation, so it "counts" the most, by contributing polar moment to the steering. Removing it not only moves your hands in and not only allows for smaller hand movements to steer, it also literally quickens the steering because of the reduced polar moment of inertia.

grasse

I did cut my FSA K-Force from 600mm to 550mm (about 1" off at each end). The clamping areas are sufficient for the brake lever and shifter. It still leaves about 10mm before the diameter starts to transition up to 31.8mm. As others have said, it needs to be cut properly. FSA (or someone else, I can't exactly remember now) recommends using blades with 128 TPI or higher. I didn't want to ruin my bar so I had the LSB cut it for $10.

grasse

Depending where you live, the mountain bikers do cut their handle bar down quite a bit because of trees!