Is wider better....

[Sithlord]

I cant believe I use to ride with handlebars as narrow as this..

:shock:

So a question springs to mind... is wider bars better ... ? and why. ? ....can they be too wide ?

 

[Rod_Saetan]

is wider bars better ... ?

Yes they is, mostly.

and why. ?

More control, more leverage for acceleration/hill climbing (why narrow bars on fixies confuses me) plus if your arms are too close together cos your bars are narrow it can effect your breathing.

....can they be too wide ?

Yes.

 

[jonnyboy666]

nuff said!

 

[tintin40]

21'' is fine by me. To wide is just daft.

 

[sylus]

with bars that small you look like one of them remote control kids toys..have you airbrushed the ariel out?

 

[brocklanders023]

Remember seeing an Orange in Airevalley around 1990 with even shorter bars then that :shock: Thought it looked cool at the time so sliced a bit off mine.

Wider is better to a point imo although some of the widths now are daft and make the bike feel like a clowns bike.

 

[one-eyed_jim]

(why narrow bars on fixies confuses me)

Messenger chic.

Bars are typically at about wing-mirror height. Messengers often cut their bars down to let them squeeze through the narrowest gaps. Fakengers follow suit.

http://www.vimeo.com/24136878

 

[Rod_Saetan]

I know, I get that, but then there are people rolling round on £1,000 resprayed 'nagos and stuff with bars that short too, Im not sure messengers use beautiful, shiny, newly painted classic bikes day to day - my point being that of all the stylistic cues to take from 'messenger style' the least practical one pervades. And yes in the city it is useful to have narrow bars to squeeze between cars, but I do alright with 560mm bars, plus I imagine I am much more in control.

Harrumph!

 

[Drencrom]

A point worth making is that we are all anatomically different - I couldn't (and still can't, funnily enough) run narrow bars. It's just a question of body type.

The fashion to run wider bars in the mid-90's was a blessing for some of us. No more strange looks for not having shifters clamped up by the handlebar centre bulge.

 

[highlandsflyer]

As an ex messenger of great disrepute, I can report that we used to wheelie through most obstacles, no real need for the narrow bars.

The practical side of things was that we lived in reduced circumstances, and our bikes were usually the grudgingly tolerated occupants of our front halls, and would not have further protuberances accepted by our housemates.