As a follow up to our popular What tyre pressures to top EWS Enduro and World Cup Downhill riders use? article we thought it might be interesting to take a look at what handle bar widths the top pro riders are using in both DH and Enduro racing.
We compared rider height to bar width to get a ratio similar to how we looked at tyre pressures. Correct bar width is still a bit of a mystery it seems, with no reliable formula. This is likely down to the fact that height isn't the only factor which affects choosing a width. Arm length, torso length, leg length, bike length, stem length and just general personal preference and comfort all have a big impact on what size bars people like to use. With that it's debatable how much can be gleaned from the tables below, but it's always fun to compare.
The data used was the most recent possible, with nothing over a couple of years included.
DH
| Name | Height (cm) | Bar Width (mm) | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rémi Thirion | 174 | 780 | 2.23 |
| Amaury Pierron | 180 | 800 | 2.25 |
| Danny Hart | 178 | 760 | 2.34 |
| Troy Brosnan | 167 | 750 | 2.23 |
| Brook Macdonald | 170 | 775 | 2.19 |
| Loïc Bruni | 185 | 780 | 2.37 |
| Mark Wallace | 180 | 780 | 2.31 |
| Gee Atherton | 185 | 790 | 2.34 |
| Connor Fearon | 177 | 760 | 2.33 |
| Sam Blenkinsop | 185 | 790 | 2.34 |
| Rachel Atherton | 172 | 775 | 2.18 |
| Tahnée Seagrave | 169 | 760 | 2.22 |
| Marine Cabirou | 160* | 770 | 2.08 |
| Myriam Nicole | 163 | 745 | 2.19 |
| Tracey Hannah | 167 | 740 | 2.26 |
| Nina Hoffmann | 170 | 770 | 2.30 |
*Marine Cabirou height data couldn't be found so was estimated from podium photos.
For the DH riders, in the mens, Brook Macdonald had the widest bars relative to his height, with Loïc Bruni having the narrowest bars relative to height.
In the womens, Marine Cabirou had the widest bars relative to height, with Nina Hoffmann having the narrowest.
Enduro
| Name | Height (cm) | Bar Width (mm) | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Hill | 175 | 750 | 2.33 |
|
Florian Nicolai
|
183 | 780 | 2.35 |
| Kevin Miquel | 190 | 780 | 2.44 |
| Richie Rude | 182 | 750 | 2.43 |
| Jesse Melamed | 170 | 740 | 2.30 |
| Eddie Masters | 185 | 770 | 2.40 |
| Adrien Dailly | 172 | 780 | 2.21 |
| Isabeau Courdurier | 154 | 760 | 2.03 |
| Andréane Lanthier Nadeau | 167 | 780 | 2.14 |
| Morgane Charre | 163 | 760 | 2.14 |
In the EWS racers, in the mens Adrien Dailly had the widest relative to height with Kevin Miquel having the narrowest.
Similar to our tyre pressure data Isabeau Courdurier had the widest bars to height by quite some margin, with Morgane Charre and ALN having the narrowest, but still wide when compared to the mens.
Height and bar data was sadly hard to find for more of the womens EWS field. More bike checks needed!
How do EWS and DH riders bar widths compare?
| Average height (cm) | Average width (mm) | Average ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DH Men | 179 | 776.5 | 2.293 |
| DH Women | 166.8 | 760 | 2.22 |
| Enduro Men | 179.5 | 764.2 | 2.35 |
| Enduro Women | 161.3 | 766.6 | 2.10 |
In general it seems that maybe enduro racers are using a touch narrower bars than DH, though not by much. The limited womens data means we can't take too much from it, but from what we've seen, women racers are using proportionally wider bars than the mens. Without extra measurements such as arm length etc. nothing concrete can really be inferred from this however.
Working out your pro bar width
If you are 175cm high male and want to be a pro DH racer you would do:
1750 / 2.293 = 764
so your bar width would be 764mm.
The amount of data we have here means it's all a bit meaningless, but it is interesting that the woman across the board tend to use a wider bar relatively.
