Narrow Handlebars?

Nearly every brand markets similar bends in aluminum and carbon. Nearly every brand has 40mm bars, but 38 might be hard to find except in compact WSD models. Go shopping man, on the web or on the street. You'll find one if you look for it.

I think if you are building your own racing bike, you need to build the bike to preference. I think if you want to race with alloy bars over carbon, this should be what you do.

quenya said:

So I had my race bike stolen... Super bummer, but I'm building up a new race bike and that's super exciting!

Anyway I have longish arms and torso but a pretty narrow frame. So I'm hunting a narrow bar 38-40 that isn't a compact drop.

I'd prefer an alloy bar as I'm not a fan of racing on carbon but I guess since I'm riding a carbon bike I should be open minded.

You should be able to find a pair of vintage CINELLI handlebars which are 38cm wide in very-good-to-NOS condition without any problems.

alfeng said:

You should be able to find a pair of vintage CINELLI handlebars which are 38cm wide in very-good-to-NOS condition without any problems.

Yeah, and then you can help him find a stem for a 1.25" steerer with a 26.8mm clamp.

Here's one that might interest you, available in 40mm. excelsports.commain.aspOpen ↗. The illustration shows the compact bend, but the round bend has an 80mm reach and a 130mm drop. It's the one I use, in the 42mm width.

Here's a trad bend by 3T, 83mm reach and 139mm drop. excelsports.commain.aspOpen ↗.

And here's Bontrager's take on that concept, 89mm reach and 145mm drop. bontrager.com11229Open ↗. Available through your local Trek dealer. I'm sure it won't be in stock.

Cinelli used 26.4 MM prior to 1998 and then switched to 26.0 MM diameter.

Shims are available, for sure, to bush most of the old bar clamp diameter standards to a modern 31.8 MM stem. The real question is 'why' bother going that route? Or tracking down those hybrid stems?

With all the modern bars in just about every reach/drop combination known to man and in classic round drop, modified decreasing radius drop. anatomic and semi-anatomic bends AND in ovalized, oversized, flatted, teardrop and who knows what other shaped flats...in carbon, aluminum and carbon wrap...there's bound to be a modern bar for every taste and budget.

Good list OBC!

Alf, I loves me old Cinelli classic bars. Almost every bend was tasteful to the eye, applicable to the type of rider and ring style and just stiff enough. I would not sell any of my spare old bars, but on a modern bike? I'll hit the internet every time for one of the new 'big' bars.

Oddly, the flimsiest bars I ever owned was a 2007 FSA 'Energy' bars. Like holding on to wet spaghetti. They were on a bike I have that had my first carbon steerer and for a while I though I had a flexible steerer.

I love my Cinelli bar, too, a 66 on a 1A stem (26.4) attached to my 1980 Masi. I think the newer bends work better with STI and DoubleTap levers, though, and one should never need to fuss with handlebar shims on a modern racing bike.