To bar-end, or not to bar-end

bulkydaddy

Fitted some Smica bar-ends to my Trek 6700. I don't know if its me, but the handling seems really 'off', ever since. I love using them for climbing, and for open stuff, but through the twisty bits, they seem to slow me down. Do you think I should persever with them, hoping I'll get used to them, or give up now?

Cheers

Will

peter413

The handling will be different because you have effectively shortened the bars because you have had to move your grips towards the middle of the bars

bulkydaddy

Is it that? or is it because I can't get my hands right round the end of the bar for extra control when it gets real hairy? Not so much manouverability on the bars?

peter413

It could be taht as well.

Do you ever use the bar ends?

If I ever need to use the side of the bars climbing, I do just that, works absolutely fine.

Steve_b77

I wouldn't be using bar ends on twist stuff, they're predominately meant for helping you climb and for road sections etc. This is of course AIMHO

bulkydaddy

I used them in a XC race on Sunday. On some of the short, steep climbs I used them all the time, and I felt I had more power with them, but through the twisty stuff I felt I couldn't put the bike exaclty where I wanted it. It's a new bike, and the 1st time riding with flat bars for a while, I don't know if its a combination of those things, or the bar ends. I really don't want to lose them as they were very useful on Sunday, but I dont wanna sacrifice the handling.

peter413

Most of it will be the new bike.

Spend a bit of time getting used to it then you can start making calls about wether or not you want to lose stuff

MacAndCheese

As said above I think the only problem is you have effectively shortened the bars by about 30-40mm, might be an idea to try wider bars if you can.

Thewaylander

Bar ends smell.

Plus there only another item to possibly be imbedded in you in a nasty way if you crash lol

bulkydaddy

Mine are the none smelly type. Could'nt be doing with taking the oust out on the trail.

I agree with Peter413, need to spend more time on the bike before I start tweeking, then maybe give the wider bars a try, as suggested.

Cheers guys

speshyalex

i wouldn't be without my flat bars(600mm) and bar ends, they don't seem to slow me down in twisty singletrack. i say perservere and you'll get used to them....

Northwind

Don't rule out psychology, I know a lot of people are afraid of hooking their barends on trees (though of course, you shouldn't be hitting trees! And if you do get one solidly enough to allow a bar end to be hooked up, chances are you'd crash anyway without them)

Has anyone ever really heard of someone being properly injured by a bar end btw?

andrewjoseph

Just to be clear, are you holding the bar ends on twisty stuff?

if you are, then you shouldn't.

if it's just lack of control due to shorter handlebars, you will get used to it, depending on how short the bars are now. A few mm won't make much difference, a few cm will. If you have cut them down a considerable amount then handling may be compromised, but this depends on lots of variables including bike size and body size.

Another factor may be brake lever position, moving the hands inboard (due to bar ends) and not moving the brake levers to match, may make the whole setup feel awkward.

frogstomp

Adding bar-ends you are effectively adding counterweights which will affect the momentum of turning the bars, leading to a different feel.

This, coupled with the effective shortening of the bar span (by moving your hands in), may make the steering feel a bit less responsive..

El Capitano

Thewaylander wrote:

Bar ends smell.

My new KCNC ones do smell. They smell of awesomeness...

As others have said, it sounds like you need to spend a bit more time perfecting your cockpit position. Also, try only using the bar ends for climbing and fireroad riding, using the 'normal' hand position on the grips for the technical stuff.

bulkydaddy

Thanks for all the replies.

Took the bar-ends off this morning and had a little blast round some woods. The bike felt completely different - responsive, comfortable and went where I aimed it. So for now, they're staying off.

Weren't bar-ends left in the 90's anyway?

wobbem

I've been using these for last 6 mnth
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/categ ... grip-17008
Bloody great for climbing and resting your hand palms on to relieve pressure off the bars and if I knock a tree- knuckles are saved.