Originally Posted by
Hermes
I assume that you know this but many times as one narrows the bars and rounds the shoulders, the head pops up. So any gain in narrower bar width is more than offset by the head being in the wind. This is especially true with aerobars where racers try to get their arms as close together as possible.
As long as the head position remains the same or is improved a narrower bar is generally faster.
A few years ago, Scatto 34 or 35 cm bars were the rage at the track and about a .1 seconds faster in the flying 200 meters than more traditional width bars. I have Scatto bars. They are nice but narrow and not as comfortable. I practice turtling my head a lot so it is not a problem. I find them not as good for standing starts due to the width.
Well, I just tried 38's (40 in the drops), and it's actually pretty comfortable. My jacket size is 38-40. I'll have to take some pictures to see what it looks like, but it "feels" good. I guess proof will be actual speed vs watts.