How wide????

It can be like listening to someone talking about the fish they caught and watching how wide their hands spread.  

Exactly how wide is that handlebar? Mountain biking has changed since I started riding. Of course, back then they were heavy, poor braking, no suspension, too high strung, fun, joyful and exciting bikes.

Everything has changed except the fun, joyful and exciting parts. Even in the last few years. The one thing that was difficult for me was the handlebars. When I raced, I started out on a fully rigid bike and ended on a hardtail. I still own both and both are definitely old technology. I love the new technology.  

But again, handlebar width is a new technology that I am embracing in increments. Some are really wide.  Maybe we are at the other end of the spectrum at the moment. Regardless, as much as I have adapted, I still probably run them narrower than you.  

Once upon a time – we ran really short bars. Literally barely wide enough to fit all your stuff (brake levers, shift levers etc.) on them. Why? We rode tight singletrack and often we had trees that those bars barely went through. I admit that was a signature of mine; you could tell the trails I built…I loved those tight trees. The bars of current mountain bikes would not be able to use those trails at all. When you look at widths, my mountain bike bars were similar width as my road bars. That is not that narrow. We all rode mountain and road, and our setup was not very different between the two.  

Tight singletrack was the name of the game. We did not ride open expanses in the desert; we rode east coast tight and gnarly singletrack. Narrow bars were just part of it.  

They say that ‘what goes around comes around’ and that history repeats itself. They say gravel bikes are just old mountain bikes. I disagree with that statement but that is another topic. Will narrow bars return?  They are definitely getting narrower on the road. The theme used to be ‘open up your lungs,’ but now it is ‘close down the pathway of air and be aero.’  Look at what the pros (and the wannabe pros in your neighborhood) are riding. They are riding crazy narrow road bars with turned in hoods. I am not a fan and do not subscribe, but then again, I do not race. One thing is for certain, narrow has returned but to another discipline of bikes.  

What do you think? Road bike bars – good they are getting narrower? Just for racers?  Mountain bike bars – good they are very wide? Gravel bars – flair, shape? There is no such thing as ‘just handlebars’ anymore.