changing race bars

[surfdude]

my wife has a ladies giant defy 2 and finds the bars to narrow for her . can i change them to a man size bars without changing all the cables as well . thanks

 

[Kies]

Yes you should be able to. I changed my Defy 1 bars for some narrower ones and the cables/shifters had lots of spare slack in them. Go for it

 

[thegravestoneman]

It can be surprising just how little cable is available once you change to wider or deeper bars, this may restrict the turning circle of the bike. I found this when putting different bars on my bike and had to change the outers but thankfully the inners had (just) enough length in them.

 

[MisterStan]

my wife has a ladies giant defy 2 and finds the bars to narrow for her . can i change them to a man size bars without changing all the cables as well . thanks

What width are you going to put on? I have a set of bars that were too narrow for me going.... will have to check their width.

 

[Dusty Bin]

my wife has a ladies giant defy 2 and finds the bars to narrow for her . can i change them to a man size bars without changing all the cables as well . thanks

Depending on how much wider you are going, then the answer is yes, providing the existing cable outers will cope with the extra width. The only other thing you will need to change is the bar tape.

 

[Dave Davenport]

The only other thing you will need to change is the bar tape.

Why?

 

[Dusty Bin]

Why?

Because a) you will not get the levers off without removing the tape and b) the tape will almost certainly not be re-usable. And even if it is, it will have been trimmed to fit a shorter bar, so may not fit the new one.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Because a) you will not get the levers off without removing the tape and b) the tape will almost certainly not be re-usable. And even if it is, it will have been trimmed to fit a shorter bar, so may not fit the new one.

I've re-used tape on different bars lots of times and when fitting new tape always use the whole length. But yes for the sake of ten quid or so new tape does always look nice.

 

[Dusty Bin]

I've re-used tape on different bars lots of times and when fitting new tape always use the whole length. But yes for the sake of ten quid or so new tape does always look nice.

If the tape has an adhesive backing, then it is generally not re-usable. Gel-backed tape can be used again. I have never used the full roll when taping bars.