Anyone use 38cm bars?

[ridebikeme]

There have been some great websites listed here for information. The skinny about all of this is that the width of the handlebars should match the width of your shoulders....not only can it alleviate some of the problems listed here, it also puts you in a position to open up your lungs a bit more. Have fun!

[Triskeliongirl]

This question doesn't mean much if people don't also tell you their shoulder measurements. While I have relatively long femurs and a short upper body, so do better on a bike with women's geometry, I have broad shoulders so prefer wider bars (WSD is not one size fits all). My shoulders are 40 cm, and my favorite bars are 41 cm, nitto noodles. My first drop bar bike had 37 cm bars, much too narrow for me, so I moved up to a 40 which I liked much better. Then on my most recent bike I fell in love with the way the nitto noodle felt to my hands, but the smallest it came in is 41 so I tried it and like it even more, opens my chest up a bit more for breathing. Also be aware that some manufacturers measure their bars center to center and others end to end, and some bars flare a bit so the center to center and hood to hood measurement isn't always the same either (like on my noodles, center to center is 41 but hood to hood is 40).

[extra-vert]

I have the 38cm Poco (Salsa) on my klein - love it. Do make sure you choose the bar size on your shoulder width. Let the bike store guy measure and tell you your size - very important.