Son_Rising

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dsbrantjr

I cut my bars so that my arms are straight while holding the grips, which ends up being approximately shoulder width.

Retro Grouch 

Does that work with risers?

The issue I've found with risers is that the space required for the riser reduces the space available for grips and levers. In the past I've cut them down to the shortest I could and still get everything to fit onto the bar.

Ironfish653

I’ve got 630mm risers on a couple of bikes. 30mm low-rise however, I presume that a taller rise would take up more of the width, so you could only cut them so much narrower.

Have you mocked it up yet, so you know how narrow you can go, before you start cutting metal?

canklecat

The current trend is ridiculously wide, at least for local folks who converted road bikes to fixies. They're like longhorn cattle coming at me on the narrow MUP. Another reason I rarely ride the MUP unless it's the only practical route between city streets.

On my diamond frame 1993 Univega with longish top tube relative to seat tube, I've used 63cm riser bars and 57cm flat bars. Both seemed fine. But my shoulders fit the average 40R jacket and I don't like having my hands much wider than shoulder width. Even the flared albatross swept bars I have on one bike measure only around 54cm wide, and I catch quite a bit of wind resistance on fast rides.

That's the main problem I see with some fixie conversions, including a friend who's a stringbean like me -- about 5'10", 135 lbs (I'm 5'11", 150). His fixie bars seem too wide for his body, and it shows on fast group rides. Usually I struggle to keep up with him on his road bike, but I can keep on up his fixie because he's catching more wind resistance.

Another friend who rides a Bianchi road bike converted to fixie has fairly wide flat bars, but he's so damned strong it just barely slows him down to human pace on group rides. His bike handling skills are phenomenal, but I doubt the bar width is a factor. He just rides like he was born on a bike.

ramzilla

this:


I believe these are described as Dimension 25.4 Urban Cruiser Bar 600mm Wide 70mm Rise 50 Degree Sweep.

ramzilla

These are the same bars in alloy silver:

ramzilla

These are more basic hybrid riser bars. Basic riser bars with practically no sweep:

ramzilla

Over the years I've converted almost two dozen drop bar bikes to upright bar bikes. I highly recommend it. Just don't cut corners. It requires a new stem, grips, brake levers, brake cables, and, usually new shifters & shift cables. Even with economical parts it can cost well over $100 to accomplish this on a DIY basis. But, it's the best thing ever if it gets you back riding on an old friend. Have fun. Be good.

ramzilla

Biggest problem with selecting upright bars with on-line vendors is the lack of description. You need to know rise, width &, sweep to make a good decision. I've ordered upright bars made by Dimension, XLC, Origin 8, & Wald. Sometimes handlebars were ordered based only on the image provided. The Wald chrome steel North Road bars are the narrowest. The Dimension bars are the best deal on cost. I ordered several pairs of the bars above BITD from Niagra for something like $25 each.

ramzilla

These are the same Dimension bars on a 1984 Lotus Excelle. This bike is listed for sale on the Jacksonville CL.

adipe

as narrow as to fit through cars in traffic but not narrower than that.
as wide as needed if having a short stem.

so the answer is: go with wide enough if you are limited to a short stem.
reasons to stick with a short stem:
1. having a frame that's a bit longer than optimal and being lazy in looking for a replacement;
2. being a short person and therefore having issues with a shorter frame - toe clearance thing;

on a fit frame i'd say a 90-100mm stem with a 620-580mm bars is what is useful for a riser setup.
if you want to have narrower bars than that then you should understand that only with a longer stem you will be comfortable in maneuvering the bike;

basically you should pick the stem at most 1cm shorter or longer than what would be optimal for your height (not being able to have the perfect reach as a function of top tube length, seat tube angle being quite a constant between frames) and you choose the bars as wide as needed for that.
only if you have the precise correct frame size (effective top tube length) you would have no compromise in picking the best stem length and bars as to have a proper fit. you should not settle for more than +/-1cm in stem length from the optimal.

you can try the same riser bars uncut to final size with several stems to find out how it works and see if the frame is alright to keep.

road bike geometry has the narrow drop bars quite in front and the frame is much shorter than on a mtb. a road bike has also less trail (as a consequence of 44+mm fork offset and ~73 head angle).

Wilfred Laurier

I don't think the trend is to add extra-wide bars, I think the trend is changing handlebars without knowing that they need to be cut to length.

Ironfish653

And if you're using a 31.8mm MTB bar (most commonly available) the trend in MTB bars is to the 750mm width. What works on a trail bike isn't always suited to converted roadsters.

25.6 MTB bars pretty much stop at 650mm, and swept 'cruiser' or 'northroads' bars are a whole other animal entirely.

canklecat

Most of the folks I know who use wide bars are very knowledgeable about bike stuff and do all or most of their own repairs. They just like the look and handling. But I suspect there's some fashion statement sensibility going on as well. In another year or two they might whack the ends off those bars to something more sensible.

stardognine

I have some pretty old chrome risers, that I salvaged off an old & rusty Giant MTB. They have a lot of rise, and they're very wide, which is why I love them. 😎 FWIW, I'm about 6'2", with orangutan arms, and usually feel cramped, on most bars, whatever style.

ramzilla

I met this guy in Aspen Colorado a few years ago that was into refurbishing Peugeots with upright bars & selling them for high $$$$.




Some of the bars looked like Wald chrome steel North Road type.

FiftySix

Same here.

A single speed with no brake levers sure takes up less bar space than a dual shifter bike with two brakes.

Due to me being used to at least one shifter and two brakes on the bars, I'm used to that width. So, when I cut a set of riser bars for my single speed with one hand brake, the bar initially felt much too narrow.

bwilli88 

I have 700mm on my flat bar roadie, this is a fun bike, All Ultegra level except the DT lever for the FD and the FD which are Dura-Ace



I have 650mm on my Market bike



And 650mm on my MTB with bar ends and I plan to change this to a 720 riser bar and 3x10.