johnce

Alright fella's, here's the deal, over the weekend a buddy and I were sittin' at a outdoor beer garden and a guy rolls up on a fixed gear bike (reeally nice lookin' rig BTW) anywho he had straight bars that couldn't have been a foot wide.

I don't get this, there's no way that you can have any leverage goin' up a hill! I know i've heard that narrower bars are good for scootin through traffic, but come on the differance between these and regular bars in traffic would be minimal..

I'm thinkin that its a looks thing, but it just seems like it makes riding a bike harder, can't figure it out..

So i'll dawn the flame suit now...start flamin' brohamuals....

gfrance

It's not about function....what ever gave you that idea? Going up hills? pffft. It's all about cruising around at 8 mph looking cool, dude.

santaanna's leg

No, I think you have it figured out.

SingleSpeeDemon

Despite the fact that many fixed gear riders have jumped on the chopped riser handlebar wagon, there is a practical application to having narrow bars. In the case of city riding; dodging buses and cabs, splitting lanes of gridlock, the narrow bars allow a rider to squeeze into spaces where wider bars would cause clearance issues. There is a common notion on this board that since the rider's hips and shoulders are usually wider than the chopped handlebar, then it renders the whole purpose of riding with such a narrow bar a moot point.

In reality, imagine trying to squeeze through a narrow gap on a bicycle. If you are able to steer through it and keep the front wheel straight, you should be able to make it unless there is simply no room to fit. In practice, the rider can dip a shoulder, pivot on the seat and contort the body to help facilitate clearance. If your hip or shoulder bumps into an object while tracking straight, it should have little bearing on your velocity. However, if the handlebar contacts an object, it will undoubtedly pivot the wheel causing an undesirable change in direction.

For climbing purposes, the lack of leverage is apparent, but then it is just like all things when riding a fixed gear bike on the road; everything becomes a bit of a compromise.

cs1

What's there not to get? Narrow bars aren't as useful as wider when climbing. That's true. But what if it's just a fun barhopping bike. Really who cares how wide his bars are. Let's talk about important things like why would anyone paint a bike green?

Adam G.

I hear ya on this one. I think its the latest craze fashion for fixed now. The city where I work in, I have seen at least about a dozen of people with these little poles for a bar. It looks like they are water sking, whatever floats your boat though. The people riding this type of bike do not seem like riders though, its a lot chunky guys squeezed into tight ass jeans with cuffs, shirts that are to small and major muffin tops popping out on the side.

Fat guys on a fiiiiixed bike!!

ZiP0082

well put, SingleSpeeDemon

zacked

Sure, and if you're riding up and downtown in manhattan all day it might even make sense, but how much time do you really spend splitting lanes with slow traffic in a day? In DC, traffic (on surface streets, anyway) is moving, and if it's not, you're only splitting lanes for half a block at most.

I run bars wider than my mom (56cm) and have no trouble splitting lanes when I have to. Sure, sometimes I have to slow down to slalom a couple of mirrors or switch lines to pass a bus, but being able to actually ride my bike otherwise more than makes up for that 2 second inconvenience.

elTwitcho

It's also common on bike polo bikes since it keeps the bars out of the way and there isn't a whole ton of climbing involved.

Like you said though, it's all a compromise. Me I like my bars being just slightly wider (as in maybe an inch) than my shoulders as it gives me a good visual refference for whether I will fit through gaps or not. Other's experience may vary

andrewro

Wow 56cm!!!!!!!!

I had 44cm Soma UPs and it felt like I was hugging a cow.

I have 40cm flip/chops now and it feels about right.

Can't relate to the super narrow things though!

EDIT: God, now that I look at these numbers, my bars seem a littler wider than that. I'll have to double-check when I get home.

SingleSpeeDemon

Thanks.

Wanderer

What's wrong with green? Everybody loves money!

chris wielk

when i got my first set of risers i cut them pretty short. the main reason i got them was because i clipped a mirror in a tight spot riding drops and flipped over. since then i've had 2 more pairs and each one has gotten wider. i've realized i'd rather have a bar thats more stable with the width when going through tight spots than being wobbly with just enough room to fit a hand on each side of the stem. but, i know some people that have ridden on short bars for so long that its what they're used to and they swear by it. who knows. i will definitely say that for me, regardless of width i feel more comfortable on risers or a straight bar in traffic rather than bullhorns or drops. i don't have too much of a problem with climbing, but i also don't do that much climbing.

Catnap 

my bars are chopped pretty narrow... but not narrow enough to keep from ripping the left hand mirror off some dipshiat's Mercedes the other day, when he tried to squeeze me between a city bus in traffic the other day.

*evil laugh*

tmh657 

Word police here. "don" the flame suit. Dawn = persons name.

tmh657 

ie

aMull

If you are bars are narrower than your shoulders, wouldn't that constrict your chest and thus preventing you from using all your power?

jdms mvp

that's not all, then your shoulder will be taking out side mirrors, not your bars lolol

elTwitcho

See now that is one thing I have NEVER understood with drivers. What do they expect is going to happen other than their car getting ****ed up when you press up against a cyclist with it?

stakes is high

i've found that having slightly narrower bars does make riding through traffic a little bit less stressful.
i keep mine at about the same width as my shoulders. maybe just a tiny bit narrower. i can't fathom how having extremely narrow bars is that much of an advantage.


slightly narrower bars make things a bit easier for me, but i also don't have a problem with riding in normal conditions where i'm not ducking in and out of cars. i don't know that i'd even try to squeeze into a space where your bars are cut to the point where it's just your grips sticking out of either side of the stem would be useful.

i'm thinking of switching back to drops. even though i don't use the drops often, theres still times when i'd like to have them.

johnce

I really don't care what folks do to their rigs, but i've seen some really great lookin' rides that have those type bars and it just seems to me that your losing something performance wise. There is just no way the bike can handle as well..

As far as cutting though traffic, if I have to cut my bars down that narrow to squeeze between a bus and a car I really don't want to be in that situation in the first place.

O.K. i'm callin' BS, their doin it to be groovy....

progre-ss

Funny this topic came up. I am in search of a new bike and found the following ad on nyc's craigslist...

Http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/bik/830481276.html

And a steal at $50!

kyselad

Wow, that just about sums it up for me. Those bars are indeed "super rad," especially with that price tag. I think "these are super expensive Equipe road bars" should read "these were super expensive Equipe road bars." I also now understand why these high form, low function bars don't sit well with me -- I have no steez.

shecky

Who the **** cares about someone who likes narrow flat bars? I hate when you guys go all Blackwell on me.

lanOGiro

Hey! Let's keep it narrow bars! Green is clean