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You forget that I have no MTB bike setup/bike fit so everything I do is total experimentation based on a bit of ancient knowledge, a bit of googling, a bit of visualisation and every now and then I even ride off-road :)
I'm running a 50mm stem and I feel like wider and possibly further away bars would be nice, since it's the uphills that are more of a struggle (while I'm overgeared). Hence me thinking about going to flat bars to increase my reach a bit (though the long bars will do that anyway).
I also assume there's a reason for the wide bar change. If they were shit, would everyone be using them?
hippy-
Oh I appreciate your reasons for asking for advice for sure. My comment was aimed to anyone answering to give you some more insight into their reasoning rather than "Mine is bestest".
The worst example of this is tyre pressures - no one ever mentions rider weight or terrain which to me are the biggests determinants of mtb tyre pressure.
I always think with bar width/height and as importantly sweep, find what works for you. You are 5'10" wide from previous comments IIRC? So maybe starting wide is a good idea ;-) Seriusly though, if you can, borrow different bars to try them out. I have some here you are welcome to borrow.
velosaurus
Can we make sure any answers on bar width dont take into account rider height and ape index plz? Just like forum law says on any discussions on tyre pressure and frame/wheel stiffness, rider weight should not be mentioned.
Flat or Riser bars totally depends on forum approval and aesthetics. Not on whatever bar height you want...
6'2" here, slightly negative ape index and old school 711mm x 20 on 2 bikes and 740 x 20 on another. 780 x 60mm rise in pipeline.