I've got my eye on two handlebars, but can't decide between the width. Both are alt bullhorns.

I'm trying to replace 52 cm Nitto Nordeast bars (nearly flat bars), which I'd like to replace in favor of more hand positions (I also feel like they're a touch wide for my purpose). 22.2 grip diameter is a must. On my road (not touring) bike, I use 40 cm drop bars, which are fine, but I'd probably switch to 42 cm if I was starting from scratch. I've used 44 cm drop bars on a touring bike in the past and liked them.


Generic, 52.5 cm center-to-center:



Nitto b261 AA, 40.5 cm center-to-center:



Keep in mind those are center-to-center widths; they're wider at their widest points. From what I can tell, perhaps 5 cm wider for the generic one and 7 cm wider for the Nitto. I've also considered bullhorns, but it's hard to find them in both 22.2 grip diameter and ~44 cm width. Also, I like how the "horns" on these flare inward slightly. One of the advantages of the generic one is I'd prefer black, and I already have a 31.8 mm stem.

52.5 cm, and probably about 57 cm at its widest point, seems way too big for my road touring bike. But 40.5 cm is narrower than I'm used to for touring (but not road riding), and losing leverage might be a bad idea. But because they're wider at the widest point, maybe they'd feel wider than 40.5 cm, perhaps closer to their max width of ~47 cm?
What say y'all?

I would say that if you have flat bars now, move the grips in to about 405mm outside-to-outside and see how they feel. I would say 405mm sounds too narrow to me. I currently run some Casey's Crazy Bars. The bullhorns are about 400mm apart, and I sometimes use the horns, but my main hand position is outside the horns. Outside width on those is about 666mm, which seemed too wide to me, so after riding that way for a week or so, I pushed my grips, brake levers, and shifter in as far as they could go (the horns being the stopping point) and rode like that until I was sure it was comfortable. then I sawed off the excess bar, I think between 1 and 2 cm on either side. That's still a width of over 600mm, though. It's a pretty personal thing, so it's going to come down to what you're comfortable with.

My ITM Freetime trekking bars are about 53cm/ 21" wide.

Here is a very similar thread https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...bullhorns.html

That's me.

It also depends on your shoulder width and general upper-torso build. If you have wide shoulders, you'll probably want wider bars.

I have 44cm drop bars on my touring bikes and really like them. More space for mounting stuff, more space to move my hands to different positions. I also feel like the wider bars give me better control of a loaded bike (leverage, I guess).

Touring? you did post to touring section. and double posted for some reason..

I opt for wider drop bars , on my touring bike, than I did on my road bike.


I spend most of my riding time out of the drops and off the hoods.

+ the leverage is good with a front load, for control.


Your riding style and preferences are unknown..


the bull horn bars you picked may have no option in width, you just live with your pick.

where a straight bar can be cut down to your preference, and Bar ends added, Such as Ergon GR 5..




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