Can you get road drop bars wider than 460mm?

[Celtic Dragon]

Having an MTB and a road bike, I'm much more comfortable on the mtb becuase of the wider bars and not be quite so compacted.

The MTB bars are 550mm wide, can you get road bars in a similar width? the max I can find on wiggle and CRC are 460mm.

I know I will have to shorten the stem by about 3cm, in order to keep my shoulders in the same position.

[Jimbo.]

On the assumption your shoulders aren't as wide as you are tall, you're going about it wrong. Wide bars put you in a massively un-aero (and thus inefficient) position, which is what road bikes are all about. Just try and accept that MTBs are road bikes are completely different, rather than try and make one like the other: you'll only end up ruining it.

[agentnomad]

Also you will end up with neck, shoulder and back pain.

An exaggeration of this (so you fee what it will feel like) lean against a wall with your arms out stretched and wide apart (this is a stress position) this is what it will feel like after a long ride with bars that are too wide.

[scubadude]

Is there a "rule of thumb" for selecting bar width based on shoulder width or something?

I find a get abit of shoulder/hand pain after 30-40miles but have always blamed it on a weak midsection and putting too much weight through the bars.

[itsnotarace]

With your shoulders relaxed bend your elbows into your waist, forearms straight forward as if you were holding the drops, hold two pencils and get someone to measure between them

Or, of course, you could go full retard

[anonymous-user]

just remember that not all bar widths are measured the same... some are centre to centre at the curve, others are at the bottom of the bar, some flare out a bit on the drops, others dont....

Having wider bars does open out the chest a bit to facilitate breathing but thats unlikely to be an issue for club/sportive riders as position will affect this far more than bar width.

[itsnotarace]

True about the measurements. Wider bars will also slow down the steering and narrower bars will speed it up.

[scubadude]

itsnotarace said:

With your shoulders relaxed bend your elbows into your waist, forearms straight forward as if you were holding the drops, hold two pencils and get someone to measure between them

Hmm, maybe I'm doing that wrong... or my bars are 4.5" too wide, could explain alot I suppose!

Either way you probably made a bunch of people sit at their office desks holding pencils like idiots :-)


Good pic BTW, Very Aero- at least you'd see the riders passing you as they approached from behind ;-)

[Jayfish]

UCI regs for road bikes stipulate no wider than 50cm, so I doubt you'll find anything beyond that.

[MadDad]

If you are serious about getting your position correct I would suggest paying for a bike fitting.

If you are an MTB-er you will know that XC vs Downhill will have a totally different setup, so trying to set your road bike up similar to your MTB will only end in tears......of pain.

[DrMekon]

Nitto Noodle bars are available in 48cm from hubjub

http://www.hubjub.co.uk/store/index.php/handle-bar...

Agree with what's been said about need for fitting. I've been riding an audax bike for years, but the switch to something racier has thrown me, and I can't get the position right. Going for a fitting next week.