Riding "too wide" bars?

[ZeroPlay]

What is the effect of riding road bars that are "too wide".  I've bought a used bike that has 46cm (o-o) bars, but in theory I need more like a 42cm bar. What can I expect if I ride them?

 

The bike is in pieces and I'm about to order stuff from TotalCycling.com, so I have to decide now whether to get new bars or not.  I can't try the wide bars out first.

 

I remember the Columbian climber Luis "Lucho" Herrera using bars which looked way too wide for him in the '87 TdF.  That didn't stop him from finishing (and winning a stage or two, I think).  He liked to stand up a lot on the climbs, so maybe the extra leverage from the long bars suited him.

 

[widget]

I think the "stretched out" position the wide bars will put you in will cause shoulder and neck pain after a very short period, riding like a "giraffe drinking water" is not going to be conductive to a comfortable day in the saddle.

I wouldnt worry about how the pro team riders set their equipment up too much, they could ride a "dik wiel" and still beat most of us up the hills  - get the right size bar ZeroPlay, it can only be benificial.