newfangled wide bars

So, I've got a set of those (last year) trendy Raceface wide Atlas bars and need a new stem to fit them.

I've got a 40 mm Chromag stem now with my 28" Chromag bars, but the Raceface stems I'm looking at only come in 30 or 50 mm.

To keep similar handling on my bike with the 31" bars (to be cut down later for sure), do I want the shorter 30 mm stem, or the longer 50 mm?

so you replaced two-years ago trendy bars with last-year trendy bars, and now you want to know if you should get a different length stem to give you the same handling characteristics on your wider bars, which you are definitely planning to cut down. . .

edit: wait, you didn't say replacing, i made an assumption. are you replacing a with b? are they going to be on different bikes? what kind of bike and what kind of riding - i find i use different stem/bar combos on different bikes, so this may matter wrt your experience.

Honestly man, I'm hooked on a direct mount stem and 30" bar combo.
Given your choices, I'd snag the 30mm just to keep things as close to direct as possible.

race what? 28" fubar and 50mm ranger is pretty much perfect

Go longer if you want to climb,,

oh right…

When I got the dh bike last summer it was equipped with 29.25" bars and a 28mm direct mount stem, felt really good as I was currently using 28" bars and a 50mm stem on previous bike. Both rides had the same length top tube too.

Did you actually put a tape measure on your old bars? They feel much narrower than 28.

What you forgot to mention so the random people reading would have full disclosure is that your current set-up is 25.4 and not oversize 31.8.

Get a 50mm stem and you'll be fine.

What you forgot to mention so the random people reading would have full disclosure is that your current set-up is 25.4 and not oversize 31.8.

yeah, that.

And, you can't put a Raceface bar on a Chromag stem. :fruit:

Dammit, I should just keep riding what I have until it breaks. No, wait… that was the whole point.

it's a heavier version of a Delirium. Made mostly for going down. One bike.

it's a heavier version of a Delirium. Made mostly for going down. One bike.

50mm is short enough, plus if you do any climbing at all it'll help a bit.

Is the wide bar fad still going?

with the way you run your bars swept so far back you could easily run the 30mm and twist the bars forward a bit if you find it short

I find it's a little hard to really get over the front and dig the tire into corners with too short of a stem (sub 40mm). I know it works great for a lot of people, but it feels weird to me.

The wide bars do stretch you out more, but as trails get faster, I like the feeling of a longer cockpit, so it's all good for me. I am 5'10", on a 23" TT, with 31" bars and a 50mm stem. Life is good!

Is the wide bar fad still going?

eye [HTML_REMOVED]3 wide bars…

30" on the DH bike, 29" on the AM rig.