Narrower handlebars

Thegingerbear

Am new to cycling and bought a road bike recently, I am of slight build and was wondering if it is possible to have narrower handlebars fitted to the bike. I find the current handlebars just a little too wide and that tends to hurt the shoulders. It's a Felt F5 if that makes any difference. It's fine otherwise as the guys in the shop made sure the bike was set up properly for me before I took it out. Any advice appreciated.

Raam

Yes, it's very easy to replace. The only tricky bit is doing a neat job wrapping the bars back up with the tape.

Tonyandthewhale

Yeah, all you need to do is buy a set of allen keys and a narrower set of handlebars (just make sure the clamp diameter is the same, usually they're 31.8mm but some are 26mm). Handlebars normally range from 39cm to 46cm. The most common size would probably be 42cm.

Thegingerbear

Thanks for the quick replies. I bought it in Wheelworx, if I brought it back to them they could do the whole lot. Any idea on the cost?

Lumen

There are some 36cm bars kicking around. I don't think I've seen many narrower than that.

Sometimes it's difficult to tell whether they're measured C-C or O-O.

Raam

Thegingerbear wrote: »

Thanks for the quick replies. I bought it in Wheelworx, if I brought it back to them they could do the whole lot. Any idea on the cost?

Bars cost from 15 quid to a grand.

triggermortis

Your bars should be the same size as your shoulder width.

seamus

triggermortis wrote: »

Your bars should be the same size as your shoulder width.

Or just a little bit wider. You should avoid using bars that are narrower than your shoulders as this can create all odd kinds of muscle strains.

Edit: that said, excessively wide bars will also cause odd shoulder pains. Bars should be as close as possible to your shoulder width.