This is a better summarization of my thoughts. Stem length (and its separate relationship to fork offset) plays a role as well - my 780mm bars on longer stem feels comparably comfortable and provides similar steering authority as my 810mm bars on a 50mm stem. For the varied intention of these bikes, it makes tons of sense, and for size-appropriateness I do feel like anybody who correctly fits a bike with 485mm reach to even get comfortable, even 760mm bars are going to feel tight, and the defaults can be wider (should be at least 780mm). I know it makes things a bit more challenging on the product manager end, but most OEM-able cockpit setups come in varied lengths anyway.
At this point, considering the costs involved in high end bikes, the way forward should be size-varied stuff for: Chainstay length, Dropper Post length, Handlebar Width, and Crank Arm Length - the latter ones will have a lot less variation by sizing, and the former can incorporate some adjustability to reduce the unique part number count in a perfect world, but I think this is a large part of why some bikes that are loved by people in one size/shape cluster can be ported to another size range and be met with confused distaste, and riders who think they must have set things up wrong - nope, it's basically become a different bike by only selectively scaling a few things.
March 29, 2020, 10:54 a.m. - Tehllama42
This is a better summarization of my thoughts. Stem length (and its separate relationship to fork offset) plays a role as well - my 780mm bars on longer stem feels comparably comfortable and provides similar steering authority as my 810mm bars on a 50mm stem. For the varied intention of these bikes, it makes tons of sense, and for size-appropriateness I do feel like anybody who correctly fits a bike with 485mm reach to even get comfortable, even 760mm bars are going to feel tight, and the defaults can be wider (should be at least 780mm). I know it makes things a bit more challenging on the product manager end, but most OEM-able cockpit setups come in varied lengths anyway. At this point, considering the costs involved in high end bikes, the way forward should be size-varied stuff for: Chainstay length, Dropper Post length, Handlebar Width, and Crank Arm Length - the latter ones will have a lot less variation by sizing, and the former can incorporate some adjustability to reduce the unique part number count in a perfect world, but I think this is a large part of why some bikes that are loved by people in one size/shape cluster can be ported to another size range and be met with confused distaste, and riders who think they must have set things up wrong - nope, it's basically become a different bike by only selectively scaling a few things.