Bars got stuck

So a 31" bar would have fit?

with your bars grinding against both sides of the stump, I dont think it would be possible to make it through the stump on carpenter with 31" bars. Id have to see it to believe it.

29" is the sweet spot for bars IMO

Not intended as a direct attack on your statement BB; however, it is logic like this that has shop employees everywhere constantly trying to explain to 5' tall girls that their boyfriend is a $%^[HTML_REMOVED]ing idiot because, while a 29" bar fits his 6' wing span perfectly, she can get the same effect out of a 26" or 27" bar.

Nothing is worse then watching someone trying to handle a bike with a bar that is way too wide for them. You have to have enough travel left in your arms to absorb bumps and effect changes.

On most my bikes 27" is the sweet spot. On my commuter I prefer a narrower bar. On my freeride bike I am running an inch wider (with a 45mm stem vs. the 75mm on my AM bike with the 27" bar).

It also depends on the length of your stem and the headangle of your bike. As your stem gets shorter you need a wider bar in order to effect the same steering input.

Do you run the same top tube length and stem length on all your bikes that 29" bars work perfectly on.

…

Dean, more interesting to me then where your bar width settles (29", 30") is how long of a stem you run and what your top tube length is.

As Stevil mentioned I would have assumed that with your wingspan you would be getting a similar steering input from a narrower bar.

-D

I think 31 is too wide for most people especially on the narrower shore trails. 29" seems like a good number for me though. I think I wanna try something around 32" for whistler though.

I'm running my Atlas' at 29 and 3/4 inches on my AM bike. So far so good.

anyone notice more hand fatigue with wider bars? I find I have to grip a little tighter - they seem to want to wiggle loose due to the exaggerated motion I guess

my bars are 26.5 wide and that is perfect for me.. im 5'10. ive tried wider but it didnt work better at all.. to much work to hold on to them.. wider is not always better..

Not intended as a direct attack on your statement BB; however, it is logic like this that has shop employees everywhere constantly trying to explain to 5' tall girls that their boyfriend is a $%^[HTML_REMOVED]ing idiot because, while a 29" bar fits his 6' wing span perfectly, she can get the same effect out of a 26" or 27" bar.

Nothing is worse then watching someone trying to handle a bike with a bar that is way too wide for them. You have to have enough travel left in your arms to absorb bumps and effect changes.
-D

Thank you for saying that.

Not intended as a direct attack on your statement BB; however, it is logic like this that has shop employees everywhere constantly trying to explain to 5' tall girls that their boyfriend is a $%^[HTML_REMOVED]ing idiot because, while a 29" bar fits his 6' wing span perfectly, she can get the same effect out of a 26" or 27" bar.

Word…so true. Its about balance bar stem seat post length are all factors in a proper bike set up. DH is totally different than am and xc….your height is a big fator that most over look when balancing off like rigs between two riders….but enough rainbow talk…

Dean I think the answer is that we need to change all the trails to fit our new bars and get those trees out of the way….cut em down!

The overwhelming problem with this situation, is the blanket statements like BB made: '29" is the sweet spot for bars.', it should have read '29" works for me on my DH bike, I'm 5'10, and like to ride fast flowy trails' or something. The point is, everyone is built differently, rides different things, and has different body geometry.
I prefer having a slightly wider bar on my AM bike personally, but that's only 28", and I'm 6' tall. In my experience, I have found that the sweep on a bar is a much more important metric than the width for control, because if my hands can't find a comfortable position on the grips, then my ride will be compromised regardless of how wide my bars are.

with your bars grinding against both sides of the stump, I dont think it would be possible to make it through the stump on carpenter with 31" bars. Id have to see it to believe it.

I took a pass the last time I was there (my bars are 29.5" I think - Sunline V-Ones, uncut) as I just assumed I wouldn't make it through… Next time I'll give it a shot…

I took a pass the last time I was there (my bars are 29.5" I think - Sunline V-Ones, uncut) as I just assumed I wouldn't make it through… Next time I'll give it a shot…

yeah you will make it. its pretty tight though

Let me revise…. I'm 6"1 with a long torso, 32" inseam (short legs) and I ride a 4"
slopestyle rig with a 23" TT. 29" bars are MY sweet spot :)

anyone notice more hand fatigue with wider bars? I find I have to grip a little tighter - they seem to want to wiggle loose due to the exaggerated motion I guess

Completely opposite for me I find it's much easier to control and with less hand fatigue.I went from 28 inch Diablous bars to RF Atlas(31's) and it only took about a hundred feet of trail to get used to them. They are inconvenient every one in a while when you can't squeeze between trees. My bar ends sure have taken a beating though.

went from 28 to 31.5 pretty happy. i must admit i was pretty overwhelming in the parking lot test, but on my first day back this season, within the first stretch it felt super stable and confident-inspiring. So inspiring that i hit the same size jumps at the dirt jump park on the first ride back.

I can definitely see it being a problem on tight, ladder type trails, but on everything else it is amazing.