MTBers who road ride - roadie handlebar width

[tattiefritter]

(Or even roadies who ride dirt)!

I'm looking to change my road handlebars after persevering with them for a year - I just find them too narrow. They are ITM Elle bars and they are supposed to be 40cm but I've measured them outside to outside at the widest part and they are closer to 38cm. I've roughly measured my shoulders and they are about 38cm but I just can't get on with them (I feel like I'm squeezing my cleavage sometimes ).

I ride 25 inch wide bars on my MTBs (about 57cm - why are MTB bars measured in inches ?) and think the width difference is too much. I was an MTBer for a few years before getting a roadie so am more used to the hand width. Anyone other MTBers find they need/want wider bars than their shoulder width would suggest? What width bars are you riding ? Is it just me ?

Am currently looking at 3T Eva 40/44 or Deda 215 shallow 42 (poss 44). I know one of the local roadie shops has the anatomic version of the 215 I can at least get a "feel" of widthwise.

[KnottedYet]

My road bars are 40 cm, my shoulders are 38 cm. My flat bars are 23 inches, and they are putting the webs of my thumbs 39 cm apart; which just about matches my road bars.

Sounds like I did that on purpose, but nope! I just happened to pick bars for each bike that match my grip width! (whoa, cosmic synchronicity)

BTW: 38 cm bars felt too narrow for me, too. Did you come up with your preferred road bar width by measuring your thumb webs on your mtb bars?

[SouthernBelle]

I hadn't thought of it before reading your post, but I can see where a rider's relative 'chestiness' would affect the choice of bar width.

Maybe if I went really narrow I would actually have cleavage.

[LBTC]

I starting with MTB, and still prefer it, but am trying to do more road riding each year.

My MTB bars are 61cm wide, if I try to measure between thumb webs it's about 42cm. My original road bike came with 44cm bars and I had a lot of upper body, hand and arm discomfort. I read up on bar width, did some measurements, found that my shoulders are about 38cm, so I should have gotten a 38cm bar, but I was chicken of the twitchiness, so I went with a 40cm low profile Ritchie bar.

It didn't take long for me to adjust to the new bar, I think I got just the right width, even though I was supposed to go smaller.

Tattie, if you can try any bars on a bike on a trainer, please do....you'll be pretty unhappy if you get a 44 but your optimum is 40 or 42.

Good luck!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[bikerHen]

My road bike came standard with 38cm bars which "should have" been a perfect fit for my 38cm shoulders, but I always felt a little pinched. I upgraded to carbon bars last summer and order them at 42cm. They are a much more comfortable ride. On the other hand, my MTB handle bars were too wide and I had to have them cut way down. Go figure! bikerHen