Champagne Cork Bar End Caps?

[AnotherServant]

I don't have a classic or vintage bike. I have a hybrid. But the Ergon GE1 grips have a hard plastic on the ends that is slowly getting chewed up each time I rest the bike against something like the side of my stucco house. So, I went out on a limb and decided to make bar end caps from champagne corks. Used a Dremmel. Opinions?



In the pictures I have yet to slide the grips on. I wanted to hide most of the cork inside the handlebars so it's nice and clean.

 

[TheDoctor]

Looks good! I can't see the cork lasting all that long though, if hard plastic gets chewed up by the wall.
Do you have a good supply of champagne corks?

 

[Keith Oates]

That's a new excuse to buy more Champagne, I like your thinking.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dogtrousers]

Nice. I rode with one champagne cork bar end in my Dawes for a while but it fell out eventually. Mine was hacked with a Stanley knife rather than crafted with a Dremel though.

 

[mjr]

Are Sherry corks a better size for flat bars? But nice touch.

 

[biggs682]

@AnotherServant i like those might try some on one of the retro machines

 

[Poacher]

Nice work. Champagne Cheap Cava corks fit into old-style drop bars without any need for trimming:

 

[tyred]

I wanted to do this on my Raleigh Trent but couldn't manage to source any corks by asking around my wine drinking friends as apparently most bottles have screw-tops now (I don't drink so wouldn't know). My budget doesn't stretch to having Champagne drinking friends!

 

[stevevw]

I wanted to do this on my Raleigh Trent but couldn't manage to source any corks by asking around my wine drinking friends as apparently most bottles have screw-tops now (I don't drink so wouldn't know). My budget doesn't stretch to having Champagne drinking friends!

How about going in to the local pub and asking for any old corks they have.

Normal wine corks fit old drops too, I just push in leaving 1/4" hanging out. I wonder if it is possible to use the screw top caps over the ends of the bars? I may have to pop in to the offey on the way home.

 

[Sara_H]

I love that!

 

[coffeejo]

One of my friends did that to her Thorn bike last summer while we were in Brittany and one of her end plugs fell out. She was devastated at having to buy and drink a bottle of wine just to get the cork.

 

[AnotherServant]

I can't see the cork lasting all that long though… Do you have a good supply of champagne corks?

I have a ridiculous supply of corks, though mostly wine corks. I used to do cork art and so I established a good relationship with a local wine bar. From my experience I expect the cork bar ends to last a very long time.

...Normal wine corks fit old drops too, I just push in leaving 1/4" hanging out.

On my hybrid (2015 Trek 7.3 FX) I wanted to only leave the very end of the cork hanging out, and I wanted enough so that it would wrap around the end of the bar itself. It's hard to see in the pics I posted, but after I put the grips and bar ends back on it should give it a nice clean look. I'll post more pics after.

One of my friends did that to her Thorn bike last summer while we were in Brittany and one of her end plugs fell out. She was devastated at having to buy and drink a bottle of wine just to get the cork.

Mine fit quite snuggly. In fact, I'll be extremely surprised if they fall out. I think I'll need a corkscrew to remove them! Crafting them with the Dremmel allowed me to customize the fit pretty well.

 

[Toshiba Boy]

Have ridden with Champagne cork in handlebars (left side only) on my old faithful commuting road bike (Peugeot c1985). Has been replaced twice over past five years and for personal reasons, this is always a cork from special occasions. Why left side only, I have no idea/reasoning!

 

[TheDoctor]

Some things don't need a reason!

 

[ChrisEyles]

After much deliberation over the perfect end cap (yes, that is as sad as it sounds I'm afraid), I've now got brandy corks on the bar-ends of my commuter and ten speed. I personally think they look a bit smarter than champagne corks. They're also conveniently a near perfect fit, no dremelling required!

I'm lucky that as well as doing an absolutely fantastic job all the time's I've pestered him, my favourite (long-suffering) mechanic at my LBS knows one of the bar-tenders in a cocktail bar below the shop, and asking very nicely for a couple of pairs of matching corks came up trumps Otherwise it would be quite a lot of brandy to get through!

Guess it's a matter of taste but I particularly like the dark green cork ends with the brown faux-leather tape on my racer