[mtblife]

I'm setting up my bike for XC racing. Is it smart to put bar ends on a riser bar, or should I stick withd a flat bar instead?

 

[Bike Nazi]

It can be done

I'm setting up my bike for XC racing. Is it smart to put bar ends on a riser bar, or should I stick withd a flat bar instead?

but be prepared to be ridiculed by the fashion nazis.
I sometimes miss my bar ends but I could never go back or would I want to defile an uncut pair of monkey bars, if it looks fast, it feels fast and is fast.

 

[Fast Eddy]

Nope. Velogay.

Flat bar with bar-ends, or a riser. No combinations are allowed. For a race, the bar/bar-end combo is ok, for all other riding, risers are best. Clear?

 

[radair]

Flat bar with bar-ends, or a riser. No combinations are allowed. For a race, the bar/bar-end combo is ok, for all other riding, risers are best. Clear?

This gayblade obviously didn't get the memo:

 

[InnocentCriminal]

...

This gayblade obviously didn't get the memo:

Dammit! I sent that email right after I sent the ones about the TPS reports!

...iC...

 

[kristian]

Whataposeur!

This gayblade obviously didn't get the memo:

Only weirdos and losers use bar ends on a riser...

 

[kapusta]

If it feels good....do it.

 

[Vecsus]

I use bar-ends on a riser and am not ashamed to admit it. The same utility that bar-ends give on a flat bar is present on a riser. people who refuse to use bar-ends on a riser simply because it's considered uncool are mindless lemmings. if the early mountain bikers had been worried about appearance they never would have cobbled together the first generation of mountain bikes.

ignore fashion and do what feels right and works best for you.

 

[max-a-mill]

barends on risers act as tree catchers in the tight woods out east.... the sweep puts em out in just the right spot to make you just wider than you want to be.

barends on flat bars (provided they angle in) can actually save your hands from smashing the lumber.

but if you dig it, why not?

 

[jonowee]

Screw the fashion nazis, if you want even more leverage for climbing get them. I use Stabilizer-Al bar ends on my risers, makes my risers 2-3" wider without being 2-3" wider.

Unless your trails are lined with weeping willows, bar ends pose no more 'hook-up' factor than the width of normal handlebars.
Deleting bar ends from handlebars are not going to stop you stop hit the tree because you can't pick a good line.

If you want more leverage for even more climbing ability, get them and use them.

ignore fashion and do what feels right and works best for you.

but if you dig it, why not?

If it works, use it, why put up with crap that don't work?!

 

[george_da_trog]

Get a taller stem, flat bar, and bar ends..... it's stronger and lighter than riser bar with bar ends.

Don't be scared.

Nuff said.

george

 

[kristian]

I disagree

it's stronger and lighter than riser bar with bar ends.

True, but it doesn't have the "feel" of a riser. I tried that setup and I didn't care much for it--the bar wasn't wide enough and I missed the sweep. Sure you could get a wide, swept flat bar and put it on a 45 degree stem but that would REALLY look stupid (especially with bar ends).

 

[george_da_trog]

Sure you could get a wide, swept flat bar and put it on a 45 degree stem but that would REALLY look stupid (especially with bar ends).

I know Titec makes a really wide flat bar with sweep and I'm sure there are others. And this is what gets me with the whole bar end riser bar argument and that the only reason for NOT doing it is fashion. The only reason FOR doing it is fashion. The stronger lighter (and probably cheaper) set up looks stupid.

If you want bar ends, get a flat bar and a high rise stem. Unless you're worried about how it looks.

george

 

[kristian]

Or...

If you want bar ends, get a flat bar and a high rise stem. Unless you're worried about how it looks.

Or...get a high rise stem, a riser bar AND bar ends (my setup for years until I retired the high rise stem last week in favor of a DH stem).

K (a fugitive on the run of the fashion police)

 

[HammerSAC]

Fashion Statement

Risers are just a fashion statement. You could get the same results by changing the length and rise of the stem

 

[Vecsus]

screw fashion! seriously. if someone's biggest beef with me is the appearance of my bike then I consider myself fortunate. If i tried hard enough I could find something I dislike about every single rider I see on the trail. But ya know what, without those differences we are all just clones. I've known myself for 33.65 years and I'm honest enough to admit I'm not awesome enough to want everyone else to be a carbon copy of me. I love to see the odd, goofy, and absurd things people do with their bikes. Originality and individuality rock way more than slavery to a fashion I was not consulted on.

Here's my ride. Clearly not the gucci setup some ride but I built it all myself from second-hand parts. Had to keep to a budget or my wife would cut me off.

 

[Tracerboy]

Personally I think...

That the best combo of bar/stem and hell, even bike build - is the one that makes you want the get and stay on the trails. WTF does it matter what someone else says if your bike keeps you sassified?

Equally, WTF is a gucci spec'd bike worth if you don't like the way it feels and hence don't ride it much?

 

[tube_ee]

I'm setting up my bike for XC racing. Is it smart to put bar ends on a riser bar, or should I stick withd a flat bar instead?

Works for me. IMNSHO, bar-ends and rise bars solve two different problems. Rise bars solve the problem of low bars. MTBs have small headtubes, and one's ideal MTB frame is much, much smaller than one's ideal road frame. Rise bars also tend to be wider. Not because they have to be, but that's just how they make 'em.

Bar-ends solve the problems of any straight bar, regardless of rise: Lack of hand positions and an unnatural wrist angle. For most of us, when we stick our arms out in front of us, our hands end up largely vertical, with palms facing in. Bar-ends allow for a position with a neutral wrist angle. This can be of great comfort on the flats. Also, standing up while climbing and rocking the bike feels much more controlled and natural when grasping the bar-ends than when on the grips, at least to me.

FYI, on my singlespeed, I'm running Azonic DH bars, 71 cm width and 2 1/2 inch rise, with medium-length curved bar-ends, wrapped in black CatEye cloth handlebar tape. I always tape my bar-ends, there are few things in this world more slippery than sweat-drenched aluminum. Climbing on a single speed involves lots of standing, pulling hard on the bars, rocking the bike, sweating, and cursing. (if I have the breath) The bar-ends more than pay their way... I use them all the time.

If you like bar-ends on flat bars, you'll probably like them on rise bars, and for all of the same reasons. Ditto if you don't like them on flat bars. Mountain Bike Action, aka "Your BIke Sucks", may frown, and your buddies may not get it, but ride what works for you.

--Shannon, hiding from the MBA fasion police, in
San Diego, CA

 

[Mr. GT]

ya really wanna make ppl b!tch
use a flat bar on a double crown fork


i like it so i dont care what ppl say
as long as u like it ride it..

 

[kristian]

Climbing on a single speed involves lots of standing, pulling hard on the bars, rocking the bike, sweating, and cursing. (if I have the breath) The bar-ends more than pay their way... I use them all the time.

True, but that puts a whole lot of stress on your bars (think of the leverage that they have on the end of the bars). If you use aluminum bars with risers on a singlespeed and stand a lot, remember to change the bars more frequently than the standard 2 years. Breaking a handlebar is not a fun thing on a ride.