Need help choosing handle bar.
 

Hey guys I am a new cyclist and am looking for some advice. I would like to get new handlebars for my bike. I currently have a 57 cm 2006 Lemond Reno.

1. Does anyone know the stock width of the bars? I am 6'1". I think I have pretty wide shoulders. They feel a little narrow. How should I know what size to get? I rode my mountain bike (2002 Specialized Rockhopper) for the first time in a while and it felt really nice with the wide MTB bars. I dont expect my road bike to be as wide as the MTB but a little wider I think would be better.

2. I am looking for a pretty specific shape bar. This is the stock photo of my bike.

http://2006.lemondbikes.com/images/2...large/reno.jpg

Here is a picture I drew of what I am looking for to help illustrate.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...f/eb2c3d33.jpg

Ok so...

First, The light blue/aqua circle. I prefer to have that (whatever its called) parallel to the ground or at least the top tube.
Second, the orange line shows I would like to have the brake levers perpendicular to the ground.
Third, The grey line shows I would like to keep the brake lever as close as possible to the drops because I have fairly short hands/fingers.
Last, The blue line shows how I would like the transition between the brifters and bars. A horizontal line would be best.

I must say these bars are pretty close. Specialized lists them as "Specialized Pro, 7050 alloy, short-reach drop, ergonomic top shaping, 31.8mm". I might just end up with these although I only stumbled across them and would like to see if there is anything better for me or similar to these.

If you look at what my bike comes with you can see my dilemma. As set up in the picture everything is good except the steep drop when riding on the brifters which hurts my hands. So I can tilt the bars up but then the drops are awkward and it hursts my wrist. If I move the brifters up then I cant reach the levers in the drops.

I do not care about weight although light would be a nice benefit. No carbon. Aluminum or something similar. Nothing thats like $200. Under or around $100.

Any suggestons or pics of your setup would be great. Thanks!

Check out the Ritchey WCS

http://www.amazon.com/Ritchey-Logic-...sporting-goods

as seen on this bike:

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/3894/scottmh0.jpg

you probably need a 44cm wide

I concur, take the tape off and move the shifters up while rotating the drops down.

How does your reach feel now? I would set it up like that Scott above, which is to rotate the handlebars up and move the shifters down.

sounds like you need at least a 44cm. The WCS bar mentioned above is highly recommended and was one of the bars I was looking at when considering new bars for my Flyte. If you have a tape measure, find the distance between your shoulders, center (of the ball socket) to center. I recently went from riding on 40's to 42's and it was a significant change (for the better).

In a search I found this...

Which is pretty nice. Anyone know what bars they are?

I pretty much just want a flat transition into the brifters while keeping a 180* bend.

Looks like a Deda bar, though can't make out which model. I think most of them have very simular bends across the board, just different weights. I know KevinMcDade has been using one on one of his bikes.

A Deda Piega handlebar came on my 2003 Bianchi Vigorelli 57cm. Don't know if that is the same model in the picture or not.

On the 57cm Bianchi, I received a 44mm wide handlebar. I am a wide guy and also wanted wider, so found the exact same Piega bar in its widest 46mm width. I couldn't be happier since making the change.

Note that Deda measures outside-outside, while most other bars are measured center-center.

Thanks for all the replies! I am going to try out the Deda Piega. It seems to be the same as most of the other deda bars except for weight and should do what I need.

Ergo bars are all the fashion these day's but it sounds to me that you would benifit from classic curve handlebars in 2 aspects at least. Classic curve handlebars are closer to a 180º bend than ergo and classic curve handlbars are better for smaller hands because you can get your hands right up close to the levers. Personaly I just don't get on with ergo bars.

Regarding the flat transition from the bars to the hoods thats actualy a lever design issue. Campagnolo levers have a very flat transition as per the Bianchi that was posted. Shimano levers stick up a little more but you can position them a little lower on the bars to make them a little flatter.

Now as to what classic curve bars to get well they are a little harder to come by. Deda make some. Oval concepts have some that aren't that cheap and then there is always Nitto. I think if you look around there are some cheap brands available too.

Regards, Anthony