Bar Ends?

[zacklaws]

Rarely ride the mountain bike apart for when snow and ice is on ground, but as the others have said, it gives more options for hand positions.

Also about 8 years ago, when I used to ride it to get to inaccessible places when I was fishing, it may have helped damage limitation to my ribs when I jacknifed and pushed the bar end into my chest breaking a couple of ribs, with bar ends it may not have penetrated far and done so much damage unless off course I got the end of the bar end into my chest.

 

[bauldbairn]

I've seen a few too many cyclists on the road that have their hands on them when they should be covering the brakes!

Not a problem on the "Cane Creek" grips/bar-ends fitted to my bike as I can still reach the brake levers whilst my hands are on them. I bought the shorter grips for the twist-grip gear changers(on purpose - I have SRAM triggers) and chopped 60mm off each end of my bars. There's not a lot of room on the grips(just enough) but I use them so little it doesn't matter to me.

 

[RedRider]

They give you that riding on the hoods position. I ride on mine all the time, they're only short and my index and middle fingers cover the brakes naturally.

 

[MossCommuter]

[edited to remove quote, never intended to quote, just reply]

I bought some pricey ones made by Scott (to match the bike) after enjoying the el cheapo ones on the 20 quid MTB I bought on fleabay for the snow.

The Scott ones were rubbish.

I took the crappy ones off the MTB, cackhandedly covered them in handlebar tape (the pink was only a fiver, other colours more expensive) and transferred them onto the Scott - it's transformed my ride. I used to get aches in my hands but no more and no more numb fingers or pins and needles either.

That 20 quid was the best 20 quid I ever spent; it's boiled down to two very nice 2nd hand tyres and a set of bar ends with a free bike attached.

 

[chugsy]

I love riding on my ends - and they make a handy spot for mounting a mirror.

 

[Tow Path Terror]

just fitted some specialized end bars. You want cheap hairspray to move your grips. Just move everything inboard about an inch, trim your grips and move them in too. Then fit your end bars, setting to correct torque if neccessary. Hairspray is an excellent temporary lube which vanishes as it dries leaving your grips firmly fixed as before. job done

 

[Tasker]

I am considering buying bar ends to put on the bike (Flat bar)
Thinking that it would give me better options regarding my hand placement.
Any one done the same and has noticed the improvement??
Also were they easy to put on and take previous grips off??
Thanks

I honestly don't mean to be cruel but you're so lacking in confidence that you feel you have to ask this? Surely not.

But if so don't stop there. Just stock up on one of them there 'New Improved' Helmet/Hi -Viz (hey!) Jackets, etc, etc. (Actually I can help out here in that i have access to the national H&S site so can get you all the gear for nowt.) How about a set of matching stabilisers? Completely free, simply £450.00 for postage and packing like..

Want to try everything out? Very sensible Squire. Why not get down to your local Gym where they have those exercise bikes with a handsome hunk to step in if you feel frightened.

ABOVE ALL don't ever do anything as foolhardy as ever to venture out on those dangerous roads where you have to take such simple decisions yourself and you'll be ok.

Gawd help us if ever there's another war...

 

[uphillstruggler]

My advice - get the L shaped ones.

They give you two hand positions over the straight up ones that only give one.

I have one of each on different bikes and the L shaped ones are way comfier over long distances.

Would agree with this, just measure the width of the bar end where they go onto the handle bar, the slice off the necessary amount front the grip.

Mine were from my old mountain bike - the ones that came with my bike were very uncomfortable.

 

[XmisterIS]

I use them on the road bike (I have a flat bar bike), but not the MTB - I find the risers on the MTB very comfortable and I don't need bar ends for that. On the road bike I find them useful for hill climbing and for riding into a headwind.

 

[som3blok3]

I honestly don't mean to be cruel but you're so lacking in confidence that you feel you have to ask this? Surely not.

But if so don't stop there. Just stock up on one of them there 'New Improved' Helmet/Hi -Viz (hey!) Jackets, etc, etc. (Actually I can help out here in that i have access to the national H&S site so can get you all the gear for nowt.) How about a set of matching stabilisers? Completely free, simply £450.00 for postage and packing like..

Want to try everything out? Very sensible Squire. Why not get down to your local Gym where they have those exercise bikes with a handsome hunk to step in if you feel frightened.

ABOVE ALL don't ever do anything as foolhardy as ever to venture out on those dangerous roads where you have to take such simple decisions yourself and you'll be ok.

Gawd help us if ever there's another war...

Wow, there was me thinking forums were places where the inexperienced and the experienced could ask any question they wanted, bet the op is glad you came to the party, great advice.......

Love bar ends, just swapped my Ritchey comps for some lighter Ritchey pros. As people have said, great for hills and getting a good start at the lights.

 

[3narf]

I honestly don't mean to be cruel but you're so lacking in confidence that you feel you have to ask this? Surely not.

But if so don't stop there. Just stock up on one of them there 'New Improved' Helmet/Hi -Viz (hey!) Jackets, etc, etc. (Actually I can help out here in that i have access to the national H&S site so can get you all the gear for nowt.) How about a set of matching stabilisers? Completely free, simply £450.00 for postage and packing like..

Want to try everything out? Very sensible Squire. Why not get down to your local Gym where they have those exercise bikes with a handsome hunk to step in if you feel frightened.

ABOVE ALL don't ever do anything as foolhardy as ever to venture out on those dangerous roads where you have to take such simple decisions yourself and you'll be ok.

Gawd help us if ever there's another war...

Did you actually paste this reply into the wrong post?

 

[gussington]

I honestly don't mean to be cruel but you're so lacking in confidence that you feel you have to ask this? Surely not.

But if so don't stop there. Just stock up on one of them there 'New Improved' Helmet/Hi -Viz (hey!) Jackets, etc, etc. (Actually I can help out here in that i have access to the national H&S site so can get you all the gear for nowt.) How about a set of matching stabilisers? Completely free, simply £450.00 for postage and packing like..

Want to try everything out? Very sensible Squire. Why not get down to your local Gym where they have those exercise bikes with a handsome hunk to step in if you feel frightened.

ABOVE ALL don't ever do anything as foolhardy as ever to venture out on those dangerous roads where you have to take such simple decisions yourself and you'll be ok.

Gawd help us if ever there's another war...

I sat here for a while slightly irked by your reply trying to think of a clever response - but in the end decided that just the single word TWAT would probably cover it. At least with TWAT the reply retains the same level of intelligence as the original comment.

If that war comes, I'll be very happy knowing you're on the front line protecting us - but not because I think you're competent...

 

[Panter]

I sat here for a while slightly irked by your reply trying to think of a clever response - but in the end decided that just the single word TWAT would probably cover it. At least with TWAT the reply retains the same level of intelligence as the original comment.

If that war comes, I'll be very happy knowing you're on the front line protecting us - but not because I think you're competent...

 

[ColinJ]

At first, I thought Tasker might be a troll and was going to ignore him/her. Then I got annoyed and was going to post something, but I decided to sleep on it. I've checked his/her other posts and I've come to the conclusion that the troublesome post was a failed attempt at humour to which there is only one response ...

Hello everyone, new member here and I will introduce me properly later.

Thing is I've been contemplating a short tour and though I'd love to just jump in and take a Hammock or tent and all the exciting stuff to go with it, after reading through all the posts here I have to reluctantly realise that to start with I'd be better off using B&B's, small hotels etc. so I can get some experience of long distance (for me) travelling.

My question is, what do you do with your bike? I mean, lock it up outside on the railings, take it into your room for safe keeping or what? Will they let you do this? Sorry but a terrible worrier here. Even though I'd make sure I had the money to get home I'd be devastated to wake up and find my trusty steed nicked. I mean, what's your experience been when you're in some town looking around for somewhere to stay but you have to be sure there's a safe place for the bike too?

Sorry if this sounds such a stupid question but it's beginning to bother me and as I said, I'm a bit of a worrier.

I honestly don't mean to be cruel but you're so lacking in confidence that you feel you have to ask this? Surely not.

But if so don't stop there. Just stock up on one of them there 'New Improved' Helmet/Hi -Viz (hey!) Jackets, etc, etc. (Actually I can help out here in that i have access to the national H&S site so can get you all the gear for nowt.) How about a set of matching stabilisers? Completely free, simply £450.00 for postage and packing like..

Want to try everything out? Very sensible Squire. Why not get down to your local Gym where they have those exercise bikes with a handsome hunk to step in if you feel frightened.

ABOVE ALL don't ever do anything as foolhardy as ever to venture out on those dangerous roads where you have to take such simple decisions yourself and you'll be ok.

Gawd help us if ever there's another war...

I couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[Bicycle]

Bar ends?

Wonderful invention.

Fabulous things. On an MTB, I don't know how folk manage without.

A couple of years ago I did a 70-mile MTB enduro without bar ends and I was regretting it from mile one. The only place where I could put my hands was on the grips.... I had quite a few hours to mull on my late E-Bay purchase of a bike for the event and the laziness that stopped me putting a pair of bar ends on it... (

Bar ends give you the ability to crawl all over a bike, move your weight around more easily and give your arms a rest from the classic flat-bar pose.

If mounted flattish, they also let you ride withfairly open hands sort of resting across them while 'hovering' to cover the brake and gear levers.

Alsothey make it easier when getting into a climb (in classical bar-end 'thumbs up' position).

Riding an MTB on the road, unless I'm in central London, my hands are on the bar ends 90% of the time.

To fit them, you can either move the levers inboard a few cm, slide the grips in to join them and fit the bar ends on the exposed bar - or take a craft knife to the outer 3 cm of the grips and use the exposed bar there...

I'm familiar with the fancy ergonomic styles of bar-end, but I prefer the 'old-fashioned' tubular ones, slapped on and pinched in place with an allen bolt.

What surprises me is seeing folk with them set almost vertical... I can't see that being comfortable, but I might just be the missing link between man and gibbon. Mine are usually tipped right forward, maybe 10% above horizontal.

I ride a road bike too (drops) and an home-made fixed (bullhorns), so I don't have an axe to grind, but for hybrid or MTB, bar ends are excellent.

I hope that helps, if you had the stamina to read it all.