Advice on narrower handlebars, please

I'm looking into replacing the handlebars on my roadbike. I measured them at 44 o-o/42 c-c, and I've always felt a little awkward on them. I don't get any aches and pains from them, even on long rides (for me, anyway -- 80+ miles), but I feel like they make my elbows splay and I often just feel -- awkward -- on them (this is important because I tend to spend a lot of time hanging out on the drops, more than the hoods). My new Axis has bars that I measured at 40 o-o/38 c-c, and they're vastly more comfortable. However, the smaller bars also have smaller, shallower drops which i actually don't like as well as they don't offer as many hand positions.

This may not play much role in determining proper handlebar width, but for what it's worth, the road bike has very different geometry than the Axis -- much more stretched out and less upright. I guess what this means is that more of my weight will be on my hands on the road bike.

I measured my shoulders and (while I won't vouch for absolute accuracy since I was doing it myself) I came up with almost exactly 38cm.

So I have some questions:
1) If I go to a smaller bar on the roadbike, will I **lose** some of the power I get from my upper body when sprinting or when doing strenuous seated climbs? If so would it make sense to go from 42 to 40, rather than to 38? Would I notice a 2cm difference?

2) Does anyone know of bars that come in smaller sizes -- 38 -- that have longer drops? The bars on my Axis are Deda Piegas, and I'm not wild about the short drop or the shape, a hybrid between traditional and anatomic that would probably be more comfortable if it were more one or more the other. (The Felt has stock proprietary Felt bars, so I can't just look for the same bars in a smaller size).

3) Bars I've looked at online as possibilities are: Salsa Poco, Salsa Short & Shallow, and Ritchey Biomax Pro. Thoughts on any of these? Also, if a given bar has significantly shorter reach than one's current bar, should that change how one thinks about other aspects of setup (like stem length)? Some of the bars vary by as much as 15mm.

4) What's the deal with flared drops? The Biomax and some of the other Salsas have them -- what are the benefits and drawbacks?

Sorry this is a bit long and rambling. I will REALLY appreciate any advice anyone can give me!

Maybe you can find a bike shop that will let you demo some bars (even if on different bikes). It does sound like the 42s are too wide for you. You might prefer 40s or 38s. Don't go too narrow because you need adequate side-to-side leverage to control the bike. I've got 38 shoulders and I much prefer 40 bars. I'm not familiar with many of the bars on the current market, but I recently tried some anatomic bars (while on a trainer) and didn't like the limited hand positions on the drops.

I messed up my handlebars in a crash this last weekend. I'm in the market for new ones so I'll be watching this post.

Could you tell me how you measured your shoulders? I've measured my shoulders several times and I think I must be doing it wrong because the measurement I get is way off...I've read some websites that tell you how to measure but I must be misunderstanding what I'm reading.

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Originally Posted by Artisan

I messed up my handlebars in a crash this last weekend. I'm in the market for new ones so I'll be watching this post.

Could you tell me how you measured your shoulders? I've measured my shoulders several times and I think I must be doing it wrong because the measurement I get is way off...I've read some websites that tell you how to measure but I must be misunderstanding what I'm reading.

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Sure, I just stretched a cloth measuring tape from one bony end of my shoulder to the other. Others may be able to offer more precise ways to find the right place. However, I basically just squared my shoulders and felt for the end of the bone.

I just replaced the bars on my Waterford.

My shoulders measure 38 cm, I got a pair of 40cm Salsa Short-n-Shallows. (the old bars were 42 or so Cinellis)

I really like the Salsas! I like the ergonomic drops. The reach isn't all that short, and you have a good bit of leeway on the curves as far as where you want to put the hoods, so you can adjust the reach a bit that way. I tried Ritchey Biomax Pros, too. They felt much the same as the Salsas to me, but the Salsas were about half the cost.

As far as I know, the reason for the flared drops is so you don't smack your forearms on the upper part of the bar while you're riding in the drops.

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

I tried Ritchey Biomax Pros, too. They felt much the same as the Salsas to me, but the Salsas were about half the cost.

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I'm running the Biomax bars on 2 of my road machines. I love them. However, as stated, they do not have a deep drop. They have a shallow drop which I really enjoy.

I on the other hand did not like the ergo bend bars that I tried - I found that they didn't make it any easier to reach my brakes/shifters from the drops and the were so shallow that I was banging my forearms on the ends of the drops - especially when sprinting. I prefer traditional bend bars even though I'm small w/ small hands.

I'm partial to Salsa Pocos and have them on both my road bikes (38cm size), but like everything else in cycling, this is a YMMV thing. I love the ergo bends and the shallowness of them and find riding in the drops very comfortable. Like saddles, some folks have to try a few bars to find the perfect ones for them -- I was lucky that these were the second bars I'd ever tried. I had the Terry t-bars on my older road bike and did not like them as much as they didn't have enough flat part on the top (curved too quickly to the drops).

Emily

I agree with Emily, bars are as personal as saddle. I tried the 40 cm salsa pocos, and as Emily noted they have a nice flat part on top, I HATED the ergo bend. Its one of those things, if the bend matches your hand shape I bet its great, but if not its NOT. Before those I had the 38 cm terry t-bar, and found it too narrow, and too shallow, but liked the round rather than curvy bends. My current bar is the 41 cm nitto noodle which is just perfect. Flat on top, shallow ramp, and nice big and round drops. BUT, I have large hands (womens glove size L). I like the noodle cuz I can have the drops parallel to the ground withoug having too big a drop between the tops and hoods. Also be aware that diff bars have differnt reaches, from ~7-9 cm, so bar choice can effect stem length. I like my bars slightly wider than my shoulders to open my rib cage for breathing and improved control.

my bike came with the Salsa Poco's, 36cm. They were too small. I got a pair of Eva bars instead, they are 40's and are much better even though i don't have 40 cm shoulders.

The great design feature of the Eva bar is that they are flared at the drop. A common size is 36cm/40cm, which means the hoods are 36cm -- perfect shoulder width for many women so you don't get shoulder/neck pain. And the drops ar 40cm, which means you have more leverage to corner and descend. Great design!

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Originally Posted by Triskeliongirl

I like my bars slightly wider than my shoulders to open my rib cage for breathing and improved control.

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Agreed. My 38cm bars are a little wider than my shoulders, which are around 36 cm, but 36cm bars just feel too narrow and squirrely to me, and anything that opens my chest up for better breathing can only help. You just don't want to go too wide compared to your shoulders, resulting in pain.

Emily

thanks for all of the responses.

The Eva bar sounds like a good idea -- I did a search for it online and the narrowest I could find was 38/42 -- which I worry would put me in a similar position to my current bars. The smaller size sounds like it might be perfect.

Anyone who has tried the Ritchey biomax -- how significant is the flare in the drops? Apparently it's three degrees -- but how does that translate into added width?

I suppose I really should visit my bike shop -- however, there's not a single woman on the staff and I often -- usually -- feel like they treat me in a patronizing way because I"m a girl. So I go there to buy tubes and Co2 and do all the important searching online. (Probably not the best plan... :rolleyes:). Also I doubt they'll have a wide selection of smaller bars.