REVIEWS DEALS BIKESHOPS TRAILS

Bar Ends - Do you use them?

6366 Views 48 Replies 44 Participants Last post by nopoak, Nov 13, 2006

Mtbikingfool

Discussion Starter · Jun 23, 2006

I was just curios if anyone uses bar ends. I do, and I tried getting rid of them last year, to save some weight. But I found that I just missed them whenever I had some climbing to do.

Brett

1 - 20 of 49 Posts

Sixty Fiver

· #2 · Jun 23, 2006

I have bar ends and like them for some climbs and they offer me a second hand position when I'm riding to the trails or over longer stretches of level terrain.

Pedro K

· #3 · Jun 23, 2006

I like them for climbing but I tend to get to close to trees and vines and stuff, and had a pretty mad crash where the bars got caught up.... so i ditched em. I like to get real close to trees somtimes, often I end up rubing a shoulder off of a tree.

the pup

· #4 · Jun 23, 2006

I do not have them on my current racer (ss) and I miss them! Not only do I use them for climbing but just to have another hand position really helps in longer races. I may just ditch the riser bar and go back to flat bar with barends, but then I lose the 27" width...

The quality of my problems have sure improved over the years...

rt

· #5 · Jun 23, 2006

tree hooks? nope.

around here the trees are tight. bar ends tend to be magnets for trees and there's nothing worse than gracefully flying down a trail only to hook a tree and find yourself uncerimoniously dumped onto the ground (usually right where there happens to be a sharp rock or exposed root). ouch!

nope, no bar ends here.

rt

OldSkoolMark

· #6 · Jun 23, 2006

the pup said:
I do not have them on my current racer (ss) and I miss them! Not only do I use them for climbing but just to have another hand position really helps in longer races. I may just ditch the riser bar and go back to flat bar with barends, but then I lose the 27" width... The quality of my problems have sure improved over the years...

I ride and race SS too. I have Easton XC riser carbon bars with minimalist bar ends. Do not let the fashion police keep you from putting bar ends on your riser bars. The extra hand positions are very useful on those long rides.

douglas

· #7 · Jun 23, 2006

I tried some (Cane Creek Ergo) but my hands felt cramped when not using them

anyone use/like these?

http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/index.php?category=708

mmsteinwand

· #8 · Jun 26, 2006

Hell yeah, for several reasons:
This is an issue of fashion, remember when it was long stems, flat narrow bars and bar ends? Good for climbing, not much else. Now its short stems and wide risers, great for bike control, descending and comfort, if compromised for climbing...well... i say have it all! Use a short stem, riser bar and bar ends!, allowing you to get back for the gnar and get forword for the climbs. I take it yet another step and mount my controls inward of long lock on grips, which allows me to effectivly narrow the bar for aerodynamics, and increases lverage for effective 1-finger braking. My setup affords 5 distinct had positions.

Protection from trees-anyone see a tricked out enduro motorcycle? These guys get off on having the burliest guards possible! I use the old school Onzas that curve in at the top, so they don't hook but rather glance off trees.

Comfort-key for long rides is just having different options-take a lesson from the roadies.

Ultimatly this is an issue of PREFERENCE, But anyone who is scard to try them, or to put um on risers, is a victum to a stupid fashion.

See less See more

Shiva

· #9 · Jun 26, 2006

I put em on my risers, and I could care less what anyone thinks of it.

the pup

· #10 · Jun 26, 2006

Y'know, you guys are right. I haven't put some minimalist barends on my Easton lo-risers because of my self-imposed fear of the fashion police. That is pretty stupid.
Or...maybe this is more of the 'fashion police' rhetoric...since some say it's ok and they do it, now I feel it is safe to do what I wanted to do in the first place?
Ohh, that's sad. I'm a sad little sheep....
poop.:madman:

LyNx

· #11 · Jun 26, 2006 (Edited)

All right I just have to get in here :skep:

I have never understood this bar-ends are for flat bars thing

Seriously can anyone give me a very good reason for this?? People say that riser bars are supposed to give you the "extra leverage" needed to eliminate the need for bar-ends and making climbing easier. Flat or riser it doesn't make a difference, the position that bar-ends put your hands, arms and shoulders in is much more natural and ergonomically friendly than rotating your wrists and sholders to hold onto a flat/riser bar. If you don't believe me, just stand up, put your hands next to you and see how they fall naturally -thumbs face forward, same as when you grip bar-ends.

I use risers and bar-ends and don't plan on stopping - actually have a set of the Ergon MAGs inmy basket now waiting to ship. They give me the ultimate hand/arm position for climbing and as said also give more positions for riding extended flats. I actually find I have better control when using the bar-ends climbing than holding the bar - if they had shifters to mount on them I'd prob climb everything using them.

As for them and trees, I find I bounce ff trees just fine with or without them, it's the damn vines that get hooked up in them or my helmet or some other thing. Another thing is I don't think after a nice, but cheap set of bar-ends saved my HOPE brake levers and resevoir that I would consider not using them - endo's not paying attention and lifting my front wheel going into a stream and the bar-ends broke off,. If it wasn't there I would have been looking at a lever and resevoir for sure.

See less See more

RonSonic

· #12 · Jun 27, 2006

I don't get the "bar ends are bad because they catch trees" thing. If the thing weren't there, it'd be your knuckles or brake lever catching. Maybe I'm just thinking of the big ol' hockey stick shaped things I've used, but if you catch a tree, branch or vine inside of that, you're already going down.

Ron

Mtbikingfool

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jun 27, 2006

I guess I'm oblivious to the fashion police, I've had my bar ends on my risers for 5 years now and didn't know that it was frowned upon. I just feel like something important is missing when I try riding without them, So its bar ends for me.

rickm

· #14 · Jun 27, 2006

I used to use them, but had an encounter with a vine and a tree and had ditch them. Bar ends on riser bars are definately a fashion fauxpau

mtn hack

· #15 · Jun 27, 2006

rickm said:
I used to use them, but had an encounter with a vine and a tree and had ditch them. Bar ends on riser bars are definately a fashion fauxpau

So is lycra (vs baggies)
and bashrings on xtr cranks
and 5" suspension on xc courses...

Guess I'm outta the cool club

Oh wait, who f'en cares

Irving

· #16 · Jun 27, 2006

Hi,
I use barends constantly, but I've made the following observations:

When riding on narrow technical paths with trees/bushes, I want to get rid of the barends 'cause my hands want more "outward freedom", and bushes get hooked in them.

When I go flat out on gravel roads or wider paths, I love my barends because they allow a variety of hand positions, especially in uphills and downhills. If I can't change position every now and then, my hands get numb.

Since most of my riding is XC, I will keep my barends until I can afford a dedicated singletrack bike.

My evening prayer is that I be strong enough to focus on a good ride and ignore the mocking of the fashion police.

Zen_Turtle

· #17 · Jun 27, 2006

I've been using bar ends (short carbon stubs kind) for a while now, with riser bar.
In the las 3 years I only hooked once on a branch and went overboard all ended with big laugh luckily.:eekster:

I find them useful in long rides with lots of climbing and races, but only nice to have in regular rides. So I'm taking them off and using grips with clamp-ons.
I only have one bike and bars will be coming back for races (as well as different pedals and lighter wheelset/tires). I don't race that often and when I do I can just tune-up my ride for the occasion....

CaptStu

· #18 · Jun 27, 2006

I use bar ends, always have. I have hook a small tree once but didn't spill. I had heard that the fashion police frowned upon them, but that only makes me want to use them more. Their great for climbing and without them my hands feel exposed. Plus the point someone made about protecting your brake levers is a good one.

eric

· #19 · Jun 27, 2006

Some extra thoughts.......

I've always felt a little bit cramped on 23" bars, even more so with bar-ends. Now I'm running 25" risers on both bikes, but with a 200 k race coming up, and a broken hand that 'll be out of the cast only a week before I'm thinking: "Maybe alternate hand positions will be nice."

Any thoughts?

I-S

· #20 · Jun 27, 2006

the pup said:
I do not have them on my current racer (ss) and I miss them! Not only do I use them for climbing but just to have another hand position really helps in longer races. I may just ditch the riser bar and go back to flat bar with barends, but then I lose the 27" width...

May I suggest you invest in a Titec Hellbent Flat Tracker handlebar? Same sweep and rise angles (9 degree sweep, 5 degree rise) and same width as a riser bar, without the rise step. Weight is around 180g (or 3/4 of an EA70 riser) for the 7075 version and stronger than a riser also (the bends are the weak points).

I just need the bar ends now (I put my one set on my ss, which needed them more urgently...)

See less See more

1 - 20 of 49 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.