Handlebar Preparation

Preparing mountain bike handlebars is quite simple, but easy to do wrong.

Cut to Length

I cut my example to about 25.5" These bars will be going onto a singlespeed, so a little wider is better. On a geared bike, I would cut them about an inch or so narrower.

Cutting handlebars too narrow results in extremely poor handling and leverage against the terrain. Leaving the bars too wide results in bumping trees or bridges too much, plus you are limited in terms of narrowest crossings.

Square and Clean up Ends

Make and Install Delrin Plugs

The 0.765 measurement of the plug on this drawing is the actual size of the bore of the bar. The plug needs to be cut about 0.002-0.003" larger than the bore so that it will be held tight via press fit.