Handlebar width: measure your shoulders before buying bars

Handlebars are like shoes: the right size is your body's, not whatever came from the factory. Stock bikes ship an average width per frame size — and shoulders don't follow that average.

The measurement that matters: shoulder to shoulder

Measure the distance between your acromions — the bony tips at the top of each shoulder, where the shoulder 'ends' before the arm begins. Have someone measure straight across your back. That's the base measurement FitRide uses for its recommendation.

Reference by discipline

• Road: bar width (centre-to-centre at the ends) close to your shoulder width — arms fall naturally, chest neither pinched nor stretched.
• Gravel: same as road or 2–4 cm wider, often flared, for stability on loose ground.
• MTB: much wider than the shoulders for control leverage — the common market range runs ~600 mm (XC) to ~780 mm (trail/enduro), refined by your torso and riding style.

Symptoms of the wrong width

• Too wide (road): opened chest, more frontal area, overload on the outer wrists and a tense upper back.
• Too narrow: restricted breathing, nervous steering, numb hands from resting on the wrong spot.
• On MTB, too narrow robs descending authority; too wide punishes shoulders on tight trails.

Before investing in new bars, confirm saddle and reach: a lot of 'handlebar symptoms' are actually excess weight on the hands coming from behind.