raymellott

I have an older Trek hybrid on which, a few years ago, I cut the bars down to about 19 inches. It's twitchy, but I like it. If I Could have made the bars even shorter, I would have. I also cut down the grips, making room for bar ends; and of course, a mirror to round things out. I'm now looking to upgrade to an FX 7.5, but this Isozone bar they have on the bike - even the 600mm version I might be able to have my shop put on my sized bike without charging me for it, doesn't appear to be shorten-able. To make it the same as the old steel bars on my current bike, total width would need to be about 500mm.

Any thoughts you have would be appreciated. Thanks.

Speedway2

I cut my flat bars on an old MTB to approx 22". They felt good for bombing around the streets. However, when I installed a set of mini bull bar-ends it felt too cramped so off they came.
The bars on my recently purchased Hybrid were cut down to 24" and feels right for a variety of riding. The OEM width felt like I was steering a bus.
I recently installed 420mm (16.5") bullhorn bars on my SS roadbike and it feels perfect. However, I would never go that short on a Hybrid. I guess the width depends on the application......

hokiefyd 

The IsoZone handlebar is a proprietary part to Trek, and only their IsoZone grips work (at least not without a Trek-sourced adapter). The quickest way around this is replacing the handlebar with a standard bar...assuming it uses an industry-standard 31.8mm clamp size.

raymellott

Thanks. I was getting to that point, myself. That if I bought that bike, I'd need to dump their bar and get a standard flat bar..... Losing that 'isozone' thing - which seems to be, given that the foam inside the bar is probably minimal benefit- nothing more than well padded grips and a Trek marketing gimmick unless you are into wide bars. I like the geometry of a hybrid, but I'm not into those wide bars, nor bailout sprockets, and all that. Because for me it's a street bike. Not a gravel bike. Or a dirt bike.

Unless there's a different idea??

raymellott

Thanks for the thoughts. My bar is now about 500mm. And, of course, as you know since you only get one kind of hand position with a flat or even semiflat bar, the bar ends, for me, have been life savers. Particularly as I have a chronic carpel tunnel issue with on of my hands. So, for me, bar ends are a must. Just one more reason for dumping that Trek proprietary flat bar in favor of something a little less.... well, proprietary.

MrChrome

- I just bought an FX 4 and ditched the isozone bar almost immediately for a carbon bar that I had spare that was not as wide and bought some Cane Creek bar ends.......I know most people don't have parts just laying around but everyone needs to consider that with most new bikes, the frame and drivetrain may fit but the cockpit / seat & seatpost probably won't fit and will require some tuning to find what works best........I also replaced the stem on my bike with an 80 mm 8 degree stem for better comfort (again, had a spare in the parts bin)...........