# The bar width and height thread



## Karve (Mar 31, 2006)

So I have been doing a bit of messing about with bar height and width recently. Going wider and lower has worked for me after having quite a high and narrow setup for a while. After watching this excellent vid

http://video.mpora.com/watch/B4c8U68lE/

I thought it would be interesting to see what everyone else is running. Bar height is important as people are always talking about zero rise bars and low rise bars but actually its the whole set up of stem headset forks etc, which is going to set where you are in relation to the ground - obviously - thus the floor to bar height measurement.

bike type - DH rig
rider height - 5.9
bar width - 760cm or 30 inches
bar height (floor to top of bar) - 112cm 44 inches


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## jcook1989 (Mar 16, 2008)

IH Sunday 

745s half inch rise.

Thinking about trying 780s.


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## whoopwhoop (Nov 7, 2008)

Reign X
Azonic double wall
30"-w
2"-r


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## ajdemo76 (Mar 25, 2009)

780's w/ 20mm rise (Boobars) I'm 6'1" with wide shoulders and the width feels pretty damn good.


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## Iggz (Nov 22, 2006)

I'm 6'1" and scrawny 

M6 / Legend
Sunline V1
28.75 wide
19mm rise

SX-Trail
Sunline V1
28.5 wide
19mm rise


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## zzsean (Nov 3, 2004)

6'0"

Intense 951
770mm wide (Deity Dirty 30's)
1060mm floor to bar


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## woodyak (Jan 20, 2004)

Sorry too lazy to measure the actual height and such so I'll just give stats.

Rider height - 5'5"
Bike - Small 2010 Knolly Delirium
Bars - 29" Chromag OS low rise
Stem - 1.5 FSA Gravity Lite
Spacer setup - 1 small spacer below the stem.


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## MM_Freak (Feb 28, 2006)

2006 Demo 8 Large 
Rider Height - 6'4"
Bars - 780mm Protapers
Rise - 1"
Floor to bar - 43"


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## Cable0guy (Jun 19, 2007)

Jedi Medium with DC fork
5-10
760mm Sunline
Flat bar
42" to end of bar


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## Iceman2058 (Mar 1, 2007)

Large Morewood Zuza (with a 2010 Boxxer Race up front)
My height: 6.0
Spank Spike 777 cut down to 760mm - 30mm rise
Holzfeller direct mount stem - short (50mm)
1060mm floor to bar (measured at the grips). Running a flush headset (1.5 headtube with 1 1/8 fork) and one small steertube spacer to keep the front relatively low.


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## bxxer rider (Jun 7, 2008)

small orange 222 (2001-2002)
5ft 10
sunline v1 711 3/4 inch rise
44.5 inches ground to bar (1130mm)
2005 888 rc's (8inch version) and high volume 2.5 intense 909 tyres

looking at everyone's else bar heights makes me think mine is stupid high


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## norbar (Jun 5, 2007)

Banshee Legend M
5ft 11
Bars:
Element Technic Nickel Wide flat bars 760mm wide
0 rise and 0 deg upsweep.
The front fork are fairly low boxxers (could drop maybe 5mm), sunline reducer headset and a dartmoor proto stem (comparable height with e13 so it could go lower)


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## hafnz (Aug 22, 2007)

Bike: Corsair Maelstrom M
Fork: Rock Shox Totem SoloAir
Bars: Easton Havoc DH
Stem: Gravity GAP

Rider height: 6 foot / 183cm
Bar width: 29.5 inches / 750mm
Bar rise: 0.8 inches / 20mm
Stem: 60mm length, 8º rise
Bar height (floor to side of grip): 41 inches / 104cm


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## kipdrunner (Aug 9, 2007)

Zumbi F44 size Large
I'm 6'3 and skinny (just under 160 pounds)
760mm/30" bars (Nuke Proof Warhead, they're pretty light)
20mm rise


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## ritopc (Jul 3, 2004)

I`m 5`7" with 760mm bars (chromag osx). grip to floor height 42.25 inches (1073mm). I have wide shoulders and it feels perfect.


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## fisherdude4eva (Apr 29, 2007)

this thread has got me thinkin' as well. 

I have easton ea70 bars on my bike and although my ride isn't a dh bike by any means, I enjoy riding the downhills more than anything else. With only 685 mm of width, I am wondering what wider bars do for you and also if they affect climbing ability and other things. Also in that video, one of the world cup riders explained that he was trying to make his cockpit as low as possible. My bars have quite a bit of rise and my headset/spacers only make things taller. What is the advantage for a low setup and does it affect climbing negatively?


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## hafnz (Aug 22, 2007)

fisherdude4eva said:


> this thread has got me thinkin' as well.
> 
> I have easton ea70 bars on my bike and although my ride isn't a dh bike by any means, I enjoy riding the downhills more than anything else. With only 685 mm of width, I am wondering what wider bars do for you and also if they affect climbing ability and other things. Also in that video, one of the world cup riders explained that he was trying to make his cockpit as low as possible. My bars have quite a bit of rise and my headset/spacers only make things taller. What is the advantage for a low setup and does it affect climbing negatively?


It's mostly a «feel» thing. And you «won't know what you're missing until you tried it» kind of thing too. So bottom line, if you can't try then, or are in the financial position to do it, you won't be really missing anything.

I used to run those exact same bars and they felt great, then I made the move to last year's Easton Havoc with 711mm, same rise just wider and the feeling was intantly great, I felt I had more leverage, going downhill was a bit more stable and it «made me» get my body lower on the bike, meaning a lower center of gravity and that added stability I mentioned earlier.

A couple of weeks ago I made the change to this year's Havoc at 750mm and a 10mm lower rise (yet I changed the stem too, which is longer and a couple degrees taller, so it's sort of the same) and although it feels weird at first, even when mashing on the pedals uphill the bike seems to stay in the same position, not going from side to side, yet again it feels even better than before going downhill.

There are a couple of tradeoffs, I don't use my seat higher than what I need to go down and still pedal somewhat comfortably when seated (it's as high as most DH bikes we see nowadays, I guess), but I imagine that if I did raise it, it would feel very «over the bar at any moment now» with an unbalanced feel when seated.
Also, there's the hands getting caught in all sort of vegetation, with small spikes and all, when riding. Of course, depending of the kind of trails you ride.

For AM bikes, the 711mm seems to start being the norm now, so in your place I'd try those first and see if the mix of going up hill and downhill with them suits you and your trails.

The adjusting time to wider bars is quite fast, in a couple of hours it will feel natural and you'll wonder why you didn't do it earlier, but going narrower again is quite a challenge, everything feels too narrow and without enough leverage.


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## norbar (Jun 5, 2007)

Its not a feel thing at all. 

Lower bars mean more weight on the front wheel which improves your front wheel traction and allows you to corner better. For xc its ever better as you get more weight over the front wheel on the climbs.

Also lower and wider bars position your torso lower which lowers your bodies center of gravity (much important that bikes CoG as you are heavier). Plus wider bars give you more leverage which is never bad.

Actualy I wouldnt go with 711 first. Buy really wide bars first - try them and then cut them in 20-30mm incremets if you dont like them. I cant switch back to 711 on my big bike.


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## hafnz (Aug 22, 2007)

norbar said:


> Its not a feel thing at all.


Bottom line, I'd say it is.
Just like 800mm flat bars aren't for everyone and the stem length and rise is also part of the equation for feeling ok or not.

After getting my 750mm bars with the new, slightly higher, stem I thought about flipping it over, and turning the 8º higher rise into 8º lower rise. It didn't feel all that good, with time I guess one can get used to anything but a more natural «instant» feel is what we should be aiming at.

Also, as we're all different, with different torso and arms lengths, that «sweet spot» isn't the same to everyone. A couple of years back 685mm would be thought of mega wide and silly, the same way 800mm flat bars are percieved by some, those 685mm are still good for some people. The WC video in the beginning of the thread is quite interesting in that (I never thought Rachel would be riding with only 700mm bars).

Yet, going the widest possible now and cutting it later, is indeed a better option than going 711mm now and wider later (I had to spend money twice, when I could've just spent once).


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## norbar (Jun 5, 2007)

In that way kinda yeah

You have to take into consideration other things on your bike when you drop the bar height with the stem. How high is your fork, headset, headtube and what is the headangle. On slacker bikes you can get away with lower bars as they will be stable anyway. Same goes for tt length - on shorter frames you can get away with wider bars.

Also when was 685 silly? I rock 685 on my xc bike since 2003, had similar bars on my dh bike not so long ago.


As for the pros not incredibely wide bars - they often use longer TT bikes so they cant get away with as wide bars as people of similar stature and shorter TT.


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## Triple8Sol (Aug 21, 2009)

Funn Full Bore: 710mm x 50mm
Stem: 50mm x 0°


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## Demodude (Jan 27, 2007)

freaking Brendon Fairclaugh's bars are 830mm or 32.67 inches! Thats freaking wide!


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## hafnz (Aug 22, 2007)

Demodude said:


> freaking Brendon Fairclaugh's bars are 830mm or 32.67 inches! Thats freaking wide!


I believe that was just for giggles, he clearly moved the grips to the edge of the bar (and no one can ride with the brake levers that far).


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## IJBCape (Jun 14, 2010)

31"


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## connorfearon (Jul 6, 2010)

Cove shocker-
Bar width- 755mm
rise- 0mm
* only running flat bars because i have the forks slid all the way down in the crowns to slacken the head angle. flat bars keep them low.


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## sdo1982 (Jun 14, 2010)

Norco A-Line
Width 72cm
Highest part of bar to floor 111cm

Chopped the bars down from 78cm as it forced me too far over the front end.


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