hoggle Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 Does anyone know if there is an Optimum width for Handle bars as per Height and size etc ? The reason i'm asking is ....... I'm only 5ft 6ish and after riding a Trials ( Say 4 hours or so ) the outside of my wrists are painful for a few days afterwords. Could this be because the width of the bars are simply two wide for my Height and Length of arms ? Though surely if you have wide shoulders the Height factor will have nothing to do with it ! I'm relatively new to Trials so it could well be that my wrists are not yet used to the bending and Gripping that goes with riding the bike. If anyone does have an opinion on this i would be Grateful as my sore wrists are affecting my grip at nights !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02-apr Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 Back in my youth it was the advice of a well known local trials rider, now living a bit north of you as it happens, that this problem was best avoided by sleeping with the boxing gloves on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 In my opinion (yep disclaimer I could be wrong........well sometimes I am ) The width of your bars should be such that your Hand, Wrist and Forearm are in a relative straight line. Your elbows should be gently bent when riding. The wider the bars the more your hand points toward center of the bars, the narrower the bars the more your hand points to the outside of the bars. Causing an unnatural side ways bend to the wrist. You need to find something in the middle that suits you. I don't think there is any formula for it. Just take your hand and move it in and out on the bars until you find a comfortable spot. It could be just a small distance of 1/4 inch or even up to 3/4 or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggle Posted November 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 Back in my youth it was the advice of a well known local trials rider, now living a bit north of you as it happens, that this problem was best avoided by sleeping with the boxing gloves on! Good advice 2/4............... will be investing in a Pair then ! Though any advice on the Wrist problem would also be appreciated ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majesty Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 No offence Mr Hoggle, but if I were you, I think I would be more concerned with my choice of face cream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jse Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 Good advice 2/4............... will be investing in a Pair then ! Though any advice on the Wrist problem would also be appreciated ! You may want to ask a more experienced rider to take a look at your bars for you as the width may not be the problem. It's common for new riders to set up the bars like a "normal" bike that you would sit down to ride. This position puts the wrists at an uncomfortable angle in a standing position and perhaps rotating them forward a little would help. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copemech Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 Agree with Jon, as rotating does change the angle, but basically they should be be verticle or beyond when viewed from the side it seems. Keeps the weight off the arms too! My stock bars measure 32inches bar end to bar end toward the rider. I have never known folk to cut more than about 1 in off each end even for the youth riders. You do loose leverage it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eiaprilia Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 While were on the subject of handlebars, I bent mine this weekend I was toying with replacing them with a set of fat bars but Renthal only seem to make the trials bar in a 4.5" rise? Me being quite a lanky bugger this aint enough, is there another fatbar crosser alternative I could use? 5.5" rise would be enough as i'm gonna have to machine a new set of clamps so i can add a bit of height with them too. Sorry for highjacking the thread peeps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric23 Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 Went through this several years ago. The advise I got was to do push ups and adjust the width of your hands until you feel the least amount of strain on your arms and shoulders. Then measure the distance of your hands. That would be the ideal handlebar width. When I did this procedure the width was quite short, so I cut 1/2 off of each end and it made all the difference in the world without sacrificing leverage. Just remember to start with small cuts so you don't ruin a set of handlebars finding what works for you. If your bars are forcing you to take a wider grip than what is natural for your body, it will lead to arm fatigue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b40rt Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 What do you do for a living ? If your behind a desk all day, I'm not surprised your wrists hurt. If you have a more active job it is less likely to be over use. I personnal go for bars approx same width as shoulders, levers 10 /15 degrees below horizontal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil king Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 While were on the subject of handlebars, I bent mine this weekend I was toying with replacing them with a set of fat bars but Renthal only seem to make the trials bar in a 4.5" rise? Me being quite a lanky bugger this aint enough, is there another fatbar crosser alternative I could use? 5.5" rise would be enough as i'm gonna have to machine a new set of clamps so i can add a bit of height with them too. Sorry for highjacking the thread peeps [/quote/] Renthal 609 are about 5.25" and seem to work reasonably well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jse Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Agree with Jon, as rotating does change the angle, but basically they should be be verticle or beyond when viewed from the side it seems. Keeps the weight off the arms too!My stock bars measure 32inches bar end to bar end toward the rider. I have never known folk to cut more than about 1 in off each end even for the youth riders. You do loose leverage it seems. Mick Andrews showed me a good way of checking bar width. Close your eyes, stretch out your arms comfortably and lower them on the bars. If they are fairly far in from where the grips are, you might want to consider shortening them, but keep in mind you'll lose a little leverage in the process. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle8 Posted March 28, 2022 Report Share Posted March 28, 2022 I know this an old topic, but i was just checking my MTB bar width & thought i would check my other bike bar widths, Suzuki RM250 2 stroke 820mm, KTM exc 4 stroke enduro 800mmm, Sherco 300i enduro 800mm & Honda tlr 250 Renthal bars 840mm. I didn't think there would be such a difference between my enduro bikes & my Trials bike ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.