Having some wide drop bars on your gravel or adventure bike seems like the ultimate choice. I can only tell you from experience with 50 mm bars. I know they are not the widest options out there, but they just feel so right!
But as more and more wider drop bar option shit the market I am wondering if I should get some really widCure ones like the Curve Walmer bar? I have done some research while I investigated for my own purchasing decision and I have compiled my findings in this blog posts, in hopes that it helps you to.
If you are after drop bars for gravel riding and are looking for bars with some nice flare to them. I previously published this article talking about some of the best flared gravel bike handlebar options.
My current bars are 500 mm wide but it is not that wide when we compare then to some of the widest bars on the market which hit number like 675 mm or even 750 mm. I feel that my 500 mm bars are just right. But could I be wrong? And maybe are bars like up to 750 mm really appropriate?
Issues With Wider Bars
Yes it is possible that you may run into some issues with drop bars being too wide for you. If you are a small person and run really wide bars for example this could cause issues.
If you have a bar that is too wide what you might see is your wrist rolling inward to counter the bars that are too wide and this can cause wrist pain. This pain comes about sometimes when the body is too far stretched and it wants to fall back into a less wide position.
If a wide bar creates more or less then a 90 degrees angle with your arms this can cause neck issues and other pains. There are other pains that can come up from using too wide a bar. These being inside elbow pain, and other palm and hand pains too. And also you might get shoulder blade issues as they begin to fold forward from too much reach.
These are possibilities to what issues you could have. It is a bit of trail and error to see what works for you. But keep in mind that if you get a rather wide drop bar and you experience any of these types of pains you know it is from too wide a bar.
This whole new trend of wide drop bars breaks the whole notion of bike fit. Especially when looking at it from a road cyclist perspective. I remember about 6 years when I first got into cycling (I started as a road cyclist when I was around 17 years old). And back then the idea for a “good” bike fit was to make sure that your handlebars are no wider then your shoulders. But obviously that is not the case now with some of these bars in the gravel scene. And as bikes are being built with a more upright riding position in mind this rule can be played with a bit and it is not carved in stone.
Bike Fit Changes With Wide Bars
The wider the bar the wider your reach will be going further. So as you get a bar that goes wider your arms are reach out further and further and your body is shifting forward resulting in more reach.
Also the wider the bar the more you need to rely on your chest and shoulder muscles to hold you up as your body goes further forward.
But can you make any changes to your bike to compensate for a wider drop bar if you start experience discomfort because maybe the bars are making you reach to far forward?
The number 1 change would be getting a shorter stem and bringing the bar closer to you. Try not to mess too much with bringing the saddle further forward as this could mess up with your current fit for your hips and legs while pedalling.
Another thing to consider is the positioning of the hoods on wider bars. I found with my “not extremely” wide bars but wide enough bars, that is the hood were pointed too far inward this would create a extra bend on my wrists and if I was riding some gnarly stuff over long days in the saddle my wrists would bend some far it started creating some pain. Try to position the brake levers or hoods more vertically is ideal to combat this and eliminate any unnecessary bending of the wrist.
The ideal here is to fit this kind of wide gravel bar on a bike the is equipped with a more appropriate geometry. Meaning you would never want to add wide bars to a road bike. It would just be silly. I am assuming here that if you are looking for a wide bar it is to go on a adventure type gravel bike. Which has a longer wheel base and better reach geometry numbers that would make sense to fit a wide bar on.
My Wide Handlebars
On my gravel bike converted Surly Long Haul Trucker I have the FUNN G-Wide handlebars these were the best option with the most flare I could find in a drop bar at the time. With 25 degrees and rather wide at 500 mm.
They are at the higher price range for a drop handlebar that is cheaper then some wide drop bars for the width you get. I found it rather difficult to find anything wider then 500 mm when I was looking about half a year ago. But however since then there are some wider drop bar options.
Widest Drop Bar Options
If you want to go super wide here are two bar option that offer so much width. These can be great if your bike is fit to accomodate such wide bars and you don’t come across any pain after riding. There are many wide bars at around 450 to 500 mm but these two are much wider then that.
Curve Walmer Bar
You can pick this bar up in a range of different width. 46, 50, 55 and 60cm wide at the hoods or 60, 65, 70 or 75cm at the drops. Yes that is correct 750 mm at the drops making this the widest drop bar on the market. The team at Curve never fail at creating some intuitive adventure cycling designs.
If you are concerned about going too wide the 46 and 50cm options are perfect flared dirt drop bars for gravel grinding. There are some concerns running anything wider when riding tight single track for obvious reasons. But if you plan to ride the open dirt of outback Australia then the wider the better in my opinion.
The Walmer Bars bring the stability and control of MTB bars combined with the multiple hand positions of drop bars. The extra width also offers more storage space for bikepacking handlebar bags and other accessories.
Why would you get bars as wide as 750 mm? Well they give you the ability to change hand positions regularly which prevents pressure and tension build up. Also helps minimise numbness and blisters. A wider handlebar also offers more stability and control, particularly when descending sketchy terrain on a loaded bike. It also gives added leverage when tackling technical climbs.
Crust Towel Rack Bar
These bars run wide but not quiet the widest compared to the Walmer bar. You get the option between 615, 645, or 675 mm wide. These are another good wide bar option.
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