coominya

I bought one of the Giant Toughroads yesterday and noticed immediately that the handlebars were much longer than my previous 2 mountain bikes. I find it very awkward to ride and can't for the life of me understand the reason they made them so long. 70cm long, my Scott has a 58cm bar and even my motorcycle, a GSX 1340 has only 63cm between the grip ends. It's evil to even get through a doorway and on the road feels like the steering on a racer I owned briefly

I'm tempted to get out the hacksaw right right now but am willing to listen to reason on the subject. The guys in the shop very non-noncommittally said to try it for a week or 2 but I can't imagine I'll get used to it. Everything else is set up right, I have the seat height perfect, the reach of the bike feels great, and when I take my hands inboard to a comfortable position it all feels normal.

I guess what I'm asking in this thread is opinions from people who have had a similar experience and promptly hacked their bars back to a comfortable length. Yes, justification for a violent assault on a brand new bike is what I'm looking for here.

PS. I will only be using the bike for exercise on the road, good road, the occasional footpath, and with no extra baggage.

giantcfr1

Of course cut them. I've always cut mine to size. In fact, they probably have the lines under the grips so you can cut them exacting right. Use a hacksaw and masking tape on carbon bars, and a pipe cutter on alloy.

Pendergast

Frames with long reach, really wide bars, and really short stems are the fashion in the mountain biking world currently. The companies seem to be catering more and more to the descent portion of mountain bike rides. The new set-up provides more control.

I bought a carbon bar to use on one of my mountain bikes recently. The length it came in was 800mm! I had them cut it to 740mm before I even left the shop. I haven't put it on my bike yet, but I suspect I'll cut it down a bit more after I've tried it. Probably will keep it a little longer than the 690mm bar it's replacing which may mean I'll be needing a shorter stem.

It's goofy to have a bar anywhere near that wide on a bike that's going to be used mainly on roads, IMHO. Give it a try to see what you think of it, but if you decide you want to cut it, that seems sensible to me.

coominya

I only have a tiny pipe cutter giantcfr but I'll see if it will do the job. I'll leave the bar a bit longer than my last bike just to be sure the first time and I'll do that pushup on a board test to see how my most comfortable hand spread compares before I do the job. Excuse my squeamishness, I haven't had much practice modifying bikes.

Pendergast. I thought there might be a reason like that, though this bike isn't exactly marketed as a bush basher, especially considering the tires it comes with.

I don't know if I could evaluate the stem length business myself. Once I put a longer stem on a Giant Yukon because I was too hunched up over the front of the bars. It made the bike seem longer to me and greatly improved my riding.

ColonelSanders

The 700mm handlebars was one of the first things I noticed on my Toughroad and I was certain I was going to replace it, as my previous bike had 600mm handlebars.

But to my surprise, after the 3rd or 4th time I had ridden the bike over the course of a week, I got use to it and it feels totally normal now.

So from my perspective it is now a perfectly functioning handlebar for me, and I have two 600mm handlebars that were contender replacements, now gathering dust.

If I decide to engage in some weight weenyism, I might eventually replace my handlebars with something that is arguably "better", but I doubt I will ever go below 660mm.

To some extent, how wide one's shoulders are will probably play a large part in how comfortable one can ever be with a 700mm bar.

mickw

What Iwould do (you asked) is make the stock grips so they can be brought in an inch or so.
Cut the grips so they have a nice hole in the end.
Keep moving them together until they are right for you.
If you ever wanted to try a set of bar ends , like these.
https://www.amazon.com/Origin8-Comp-.../dp/B00OZZZC8G
Now is the perfect time.
I sure wish my bike came with too much width , I'd have loved it.
Once you're done , you have a custom fitted bar just for your body type needs.
Cut off what you don't need and that's it.
Bar end caps are cheap , get a set when you're done.
Very cool.
Mick

coominya

Hey! What a great idea Mick, you're a legend. That takes all the worry out of it doesn't it, I can move the grips and controls back and forward for weeks if I like. You have made my day mate.

prj71

Shorter width bars = twitchier steering.

fietsbob

^ Opinion^ its not guaranteed ... Your bike has other problems if its twitchy.

Its not like you have to cut them down to be so very short as to ride thru traffic jams in NYC.


Threadless Saw Guide | Park Tool Bike shop Tool

I used this to reduce the excessive width on a set of Bull Moose Bars I fitted onto my winter bike ..
& get nice square cuts..

an inch off either end had no effect on a Bike which otherwise had nice stable steering






./.

coominya

I know what you're saying, perhaps twitchy was the wrong term for me to use, but having my arms spread so wide I find it hard to keep a smooth line down a smooth road. But if I move my hands inboard and grip over the gear levers I have good control, so for me the fix is obviously to cut the bars down.

If I was to assign causality to it I would suggest that having my upper arms in closer to my torso gives me more stability, more control.

Thanks for all your comments here. They are much appreciated.

ColonelSanders

I thought I should add this to this thread, that which I had written out for a different thread.

coominya

It's a lot easier to experiment with that I thought col. The bar caps pop straight out and the grips as you know are solid plastic tubes held in place by a 3mm hex screw. I had it modded in 5 minutes. Will take it out for a test ride after I finish this coffee.

Once I'm completely satisfied with the positioning I'll trim the bars.

ColonelSanders

I'm embarrassed to admit I never thought about simply moving the grips in a bit to shorten the effective width of the handlebars.


I might try bringing my grips in 20mm either side and make my handlebars be effectively a 660mm handlebar.

coominya

Me either, we can thank mickw for that idea (Thanks again Mick)

catgita

When I was really into MTB back in the 90s, I used bars as narrow as 53cm, and I am 2m tall! Never seemed like a stability issue even on crazy downhill and technical single track.

So when I bought a 29r a few years ago for fire road riding, and it had 80cm bars, it felt absolutely ridiculous. How do you even fit on the trail? But had to give it a chance, since that was the thing. So only cut 5cm off at a time, starting the minute I got home, giving it 100 miles between chops.

Wound up at 62cm. Still feels really wide, but somehow proportional to the hugeness of a 29r.

canklecat

My hybrid's bars are 62cm wide and still feel too wide to me. But I'm accustomed to road bike drop bars.

I know the conventional wisdom holds that narrower bars are twitchier, but I find it just the opposite. The problem with wider bars is any slight input translates to much more steering effect. I've ridden this bike for a year and still find it harder to hold a line when I reach for my water bottle. Never had that problem with a road bike, where the supporting hand is closer to center and has less effect on steering when reaching for a water bottle or downtube shift levers.

I may try the trick mickw suggested before I cut my bars to suit some new grips. I'm still using the original rubber friction fit ergo grips and while they're comfortable they pivot around too easily. But I'll try cutting holes in the ends to determine the bar length I prefer before ordering a pair of locking ergo grips.

coominya

I went down to 59cm, and while it feels a lot more stable to ride my hands don't feel like they are in a good position relative to the bars so I'll move mine out to 62cm as well. Who knows, we might start a whole new trend and in the years to come they'll be marketing 62er bars?

coominya

That's exactly my experience. It's goes completely against the concepts of leverage but there you have it. Park tool even sells a cutting guide so it's obviously being done an a wholesale basis.

bulldog1935

If you bought a bike at a bike shop, they ought to send you away happy and swapping out bars should be the norm rather than the exception.

mickw

coominya , that's what I meant on your post #12.
I forgot you might have clamp type grips , that makes it even easier than normal.
Glad to help.
Mick

prj71

Not opinion. Fact.

Narrow handlebars create a twitchy, unstable ride if cut too small. Bars that are slightly wider than shoulder width apart will help you get your shoulders into a better position, giving you better stability. It also helps you get your upper body into the pedal stroke more by pulling up as you push down on the the pedal, which is tough to do if your bars are too narrow.

fietsbob

I dont see any Numbers Just talk... How narrow , how much cut off ?

Inches, Millimeters or Furlongs

Drop Bar width lore is all about shoulder width ,


but the 'Hybrid' is Not a drop bar Bike in the common use of the term.

You May be in the wrong section.

Korina

My Giant women's hybrid came with ridiculously wide handlebars; I tried it for a couple of weeks, but felt like I was steering a Big Wheel, so back to the shop, where the guy trimmed them for me and now I'm steering a bike.

I do like the idea of moving the grips before chopping; well done mickw.

coominya

I moved my grips in progressively and have an effective bar length of 59cm, this is 2cm longer than the bars on my scott MB which has a similar geometry and is the same size. This size feels good, I have good control in tight circles and slow sweepers and there is no more wandering as I ride straight. The discomfort I felt in my hands has also gone.

I will now go back out in length now and try them at 62cm like canklecat has. It has been raining here and I have a cold so have been avoiding riding but will report back in a day or 2 about my impressions on the wider fit. I will also measure my shoulder width (once I figure out how?) and report on that.




EDIT: Here is my seat height adjustment, which no doubt effects the equation.



Now compare that to the height I ran on my Scott with its factory 57cm bars

MrWasabi

The Oval 200 bars on my Fuji Traverse feel too wide, especially with my Ergon GP5s on. I'm going to try to cut about .5" off each side but that looks like that's the furthest I can go without messing with the controls not being able to have room from the taper. The bars are 685mm.

What are some good options out there in the 620mm range if I just get new bars?

Thanks.