2019 Turbo Levo wiiide bars

Cryptwalk

New Member
Oct 3, 2018
15
3
Uk
Good evening..

Collected a 2019 turbo levo fsr this afternoon and I’m wondering why the bars are so wide?

Does anyone have a resonable explanation? They just seem far too wide and I’m seriously thinking of swooping them with my monkey xc carbon bars I have on my lapierre.

Anyone swopped bars and any reason I shouldn’t?

Tia

E9FFECB1-05B8-4F86-883A-E3CA23236D4E.jpeg
 

outerlimits

E*POWAH BOSS
Founding Member
Feb 3, 2018
1,241
1,574
Australia
Bent me bars, so swoop’d them for some Spank Vibrocores. Cut them down to 780mm to match the width of the old bars.
I rate the Vibs, and they work as intended. Less vibration, and feel more solid and stiffer.
 

mark.ai

E*POWAH Master
Patreon
Jul 10, 2018
828
594
Windermere
Bars seem to come at a maximum width and then people cut them down to preference.

From what I've read bars have been getting wider and wider over the years as people find that wider bars give more precise control (someone can correct me!) Whereas with narrower bars you can turn faster maybe?

I found this video but never did it myself - as I bought some different bars and they were narrower anyway!


The main thing to remember is not to cut too much if you are unsure :eek: Do it little by little if needed.

Edit: here's the explanation video that goes with the above:

 

R120

Moderator
Subscriber
Apr 13, 2018
7,819
9,185
Surrey
They 800mm? Pretty standard these days on a LT Trail or Enduro bike - would expect a minimum of 780mm on a new bike in those categories. As the above say, better to be able to cut down that buy another set
 

Cryptwalk

New Member
Oct 3, 2018
15
3
Uk
They’re 780 on it standard. Think it’s just what I’m used to, the monkey bars I have on my normal bike are 680 but then it’s an old girl zesty 715 2008 so maybe that why it feels a bit weird. I’ll give it a run out this weekend and see how it feels.
 

mymodel6

New Member
Oct 2, 2018
74
52
Hertfordshire
Bar width has generally grown over recent years. These days most people use somewhere between 750mm and 820mm. It all depends on your size and position on the bike, if you only have little arms 800mm will be too wide, but a little change makes a lot of difference, just try trimming them down 5mm at a time until your comfy :)
 

Taiga

New Member
Sep 6, 2018
16
36
Canada
Depends where you live. Here in Quebec Canada there is'nt wide open space like in Europe. Trees all over and often very narrow. Had to cut mine from 780 to 750 and yet have to be very alert.
 

ccrdave

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Patreon
Founding Member
Jan 16, 2018
1,418
1,120
uk
I cut mine down from 780 to 760 made a big difference in the trees
 

MattyB

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Jul 11, 2018
1,266
1,279
Herts, UK
Bar width has generally grown over recent years. These days most people use somewhere between 750mm and 820mm. It all depends on your size and position on the bike, if you only have little arms 800mm will be too wide, but a little change makes a lot of difference, just try trimming them down 5mm at a time until your comfy :)
In my experience it is shoulder width not arm length that is the biggest factor in getting the "right" width for any given individual. When I got my new acoustic bike last year it came with 780mm bars which seemed way too wide at first, and I thought about cutting them straight down to 720. Ultimately though I listened to advisce online not to cut them down straight away and instead rode them for a while. What's clear is that wide bars do help when it comes to rocky/rooty sections where you have more leverage to counteract the wheel being bumped offline. They also have the effect of bringing your chest further forward, thus weighting the front of the bike slightly more. For a relative newcomer like me (I had not ridden off road for ~20 years) I think this helps get me into a better, more balanced attack position; on a narrower bar I think I would sit back more with most of the weight on the back wheel.

In the end I did reduce the width by 20mm as I felt slightly too stretched out - this was just enough to reduce some slight discomfort experienced on longer rides where the pectoral muscle meets the arm in front of the armpit. I am very glad I did not cut them down straight away though, and now anything smaller than 760mm feels narrow!
 

MattyB

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Jul 11, 2018
1,266
1,279
Herts, UK
PS - Another recommendation I received that works well is just to inch your shifters, dropper and brakes inwards in small increments, which in turn will bring your hands in narrower. This has the same effect as cutting down your bar in increments and then test riding, but it takes less time to do and avoids the costly error where you cut it down then decide the previous (slightly wider) setup was the right one!
 
Last edited:

kdr52

Member
Sep 19, 2018
23
6
Belgium
Good evening..

Collected a 2019 turbo levo fsr this afternoon and I’m wondering why the bars are so wide?

Does anyone have a resonable explanation? They just seem far too wide and I’m seriously thinking of swooping them with my monkey xc carbon bars I have on my lapierre.

Anyone swopped bars and any reason I shouldn’t?

Tia

View attachment 5955
Hey i have ordered the same bike but i though the colors where black with blue !
On your bike it seems to bee green ? Can you sent some more pics.
Is there someting you cone change?
 

Cryptwalk

New Member
Oct 3, 2018
15
3
Uk
Hey i have ordered the same bike but i though the colors where black with blue !
On your bike it seems to bee green ? Can you sent some more pics.
Is there someting you cone change?
No it’s mat black with blue writing. Maybe just the picture ?
19EA5330-E9C6-4692-84BD-E124C8B630BD.jpeg
 
Last edited:

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