Anthem W almost right-Wide bars.

After 12 years or so on my trusty old Proflex 856, I finally got off my duff (hearing about some heavy price hikes coming in the '09s) and got the Giant Anthem W today. I only had time to ride it around the neighborhood as a 'shakedown' and adjust for new cable stretch. Everything feels good except the handlebars. They are quite wide for a WSD (got the 14 1/2 size frame). Anyone have any suggestions on a narrower handlebar?

An offshoot question would be, are barends and flat bars passe? I had narrow carbon/kevlar flat bars with matching barends on my Proflex and loved them. Now it seems that nothing comes with flat bars and barends anymore.

I bought a BBB LiteBar from chainlove.com. It's only 600 mm wide (about 23.5") and it's perfect! The bends for the riser section are even close enough to the center that I can slide my shifters and brake levers in far enough to be comfortable.

This is probably the first bar I've bought that I didn't have to cut down.

yes, bar ends and flat bars are passe`.;)

If you aren't used to wide bars, suggested is to try them for a month, and then cut them down only 1/2" at a time. My bikes vary from 23" to 24.5" and I am a small female who likes technical trails. Wider bars will be more stable.

Gee, I stop riding in the dirt for 4 years and I come back to a paradigm shift.:o At least I can still get cleats for my Time Atacs (the original yellow/black plastic pedals). And some tires still have tubes!

I see that I have a little over 1 inch on each side that I can slide the controls in, and I do have a pipe cutter... Gotta look at those bars at chainlove.com too.

Thanks Becky and Irulan! I feel like I've been sleeping under a tree for a few years.