Flared bars and crits

I recently switched my bars to Salsa Cowchippers which have a pretty large flair. I really really like the angle this lets me put the shifters at. I have a jacked up shoulder and elbow and having that angle on the hoods makes everything feel better. The drops themselves I could take or leave. It feels wide, but i presume i will get used to it like anything else.

My question is, is this going to be a bad idea if i try my hand at crits this spring if racing returns? To my eye it looks like the flair would make it more likely you would hook bars with someone. In the real world in cat 4/5 racing is this going to be a thing?

If it is going to be a thing, does anyone know of a bar that would let me get this angle in the hoods without resulting in my brake lever not being anywhere near my hands when in the drops?

What’s to stop you from rotating your hoods inward on non-flared bars? Remco Evenepoel seems to do it this way and it works for him… I tried it for a few rides, but I would want wider bars to start with, as the rotation makes your hand position more narrow.

As for racing… I’m sure there’s SOME increased chance of bumping bars. But my outside-to-outside shoulder width is about 58cm, so until my bars are approaching that width, I’m personally not too concerned. (FWIW, I’m not saying I’m nearing 58cm… my bars are 42cm Bontrager CRVF)

When I do I can no longer reach the brakes when in the drops. The end up rotated sortof behind my knuckles so i have to cock my wrist back oddly to reach them. Its fine for just riding but probably not ideal in a race where I should have the levers covered or at least within reach all the time.

The bars are 44 and my shoulders are about 52 so you are probably right and I shouldnt worry about it. If someone is that close in cat 5 I can only assume I have way bigger problems on my hands anyway.

There may well be something in the official regs about it. I’d image they would be considered an additional risk due to their ability to get snagged on other riders.
As for close contact, I’ve often had to use my forearm to fend off other riders handlebars. It’s no big deal but I wouldn’t use shoulder width as a measure of safety. Bike racers have a habit of slipping into the tiniest of gaps.