Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

I've got chopped "Race Face Deus XC Low Riser" risers on the Inbred and need to swap them for something approaching full-size MTB bars again.

What width is normal these days (I had DH bars that most XC bars are wider than now) and what's a good bang for buck option in 31.8?

Any reason to go to flat bar instead of a riser?

I have a set of funn full-on bars 760mm wide going spare if they’re any use to you?

chopping bars ended with David Cameron, we dont chop bars anymore, you mention it one more time and you will get CANCELLED

Out of curiosity, what percentage of your bike style/setup tips do you think I'm taking on board? Just a finger-in-the-air guess? :P

They were chopped down almost 6 years to the day for slick-tyred, commuting duties.

Now everyone rides 800mm bars on their shopping bikes so I reckon some nice skinny 780mm flat bars should help honking the overgeared pile of shit up hills a bit.

750 for me the (SS) hardtail. Enough width for honking but narrow enough for twisty, treelined, local stuff.

what percentage of your bike style/setup tips do you think I'm taking on board?

At least 100%

I've got 800mm bars that I expected to cut down, but I've left them there. There's one narrow gate on a high speed descent that I have to slow down for, but other than that haven't really clipped anything.

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.

800 with a decent rise on the full bounce, 760 with a 10mm rise on the hardtail.

187cm tall.

6'3" fat bastard with +5 ape index. My sweet spot is somewhere between 780 and 800 mm.

I used to run into stuff with 90s XC bars so I expect to do that comedy 'handlebars into two trees, rider does superman' move very quickly.

Who am I kidding, I'm older, way more chicken and much slower these days. I'll probably have a full 5min to navigate gaps like that.

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?

780mm was the (surprisingly wide) average for some MTB magazine article I read and now can't find online again. MTBR peeps maybe.

That would make sense on my anecdotal evidence.

780 on my full sus. 186cm (Damn you @Dammit ) with 0 ape index and normal shoulders

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.

Cutting down is easier than growing when it comes to bars. The relationship between stem length and bar width if I remember correctly is for each 10mm of stem change you add/subtract 20mm on the bars.

I've got full size Renthal Fatbars on the hardtail, 800mm <-> and 40mm rise (26" and 160mm forks) on a 60mm stem
Full springer has Renthal Carbon Fatbars in 800mm and 10mm rise (29" and 170mm) on a 50mm stem

I am 198cm tall and have a wingspan greater than my height

I forgo handlebars and just hold onto the stem with my teeth. That way I can flap my arms like a giant eagle while smashing it downhill

giant

you're not wrong there

Fenella, who is 5'5.5" has 760 bars on a Bird Zero AM.

Mine are currently 580mm.

XLC bars? Will I break my face when they snap? They seem quite cheap so perhaps useful for testing wide flat bars out with.

You are 5'10" wide from previous comments IIRC?

Obligatory @hippy is fat comment

I was the one that made that joke!

oops.. typo