Bar Ends, Help or Hinderance?

Cymru-dave
Cymru-dave Posts: 10
edited August 2012 in MTB general
Do any of you guys use bar ends on your MTB? I notice in mags and videos etc that no one really uses bar ends anymore, I had some left over from my hybrid bike and put them on my MTB an found them good for inclines, but noticing nobody really uses them I'm left wondering why.

Comments

  • oodboo
    oodboo Posts: 2,171
    They're not fashionable anymore.
    I love horses, best of all the animals. I love horses, they're my friends.

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  • MrChuck
    MrChuck Posts: 1,663
    Quite a few people had them in the Olympic MTB events I think. But yeah, it's probably fashion that's ruled them out, maybe to do with a shift in focus on going down and just being happy to twiddle up as well.
  • warpcow
    warpcow Posts: 1,448
    I use them on one of my bikes. They're good for an extra hand position and for when you really need to mash up a hill. Mostly they're just not fashionable (I even had some on riser bars :shock: ), as oodboo said
    Commie Meta SL
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  • welshkev
    welshkev Posts: 9,690
    i hate them, my mate loves them. he even had them on his 140mm full susser.

    if you like them use them, if you don't then err, don't :lol:
  • estampida
    estampida Posts: 1,008
    used them on flat bars for 20 years, you get used to the extra position, and were a good idea in the days before lok-on grips

    but I have a bull horn on a road bike......... not fashion at all but is comfy if set up right
  • Adotparker
    Adotparker Posts: 128
    they are a bit 90's, but like a chap said..... handy for hill bashing
    Orange 5 Pro 650b 2014
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  • mcnultycop
    mcnultycop Posts: 2,143
    I bought some when I got back into MTBing a couple of years back, as I used to have some on my Orange Clockwork "back in the day". I had to cut the end of my grips to put them on, which then span around and annoyed me, so I bought some proper lock on grips and threw the bar ends in the shed. I've not missed them.
    Nerve AM 7.0
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  • andhr
    andhr Posts: 88
    Bar ends help you climb because you use the biceps more, generally a bit stronger, whereas you mainly use triceps on flat bars... If you want to climb fast do some dips or get bar ends! I need bigger bars if I'm putting bar ends on, and then I'll really fall out with those stupid bike gates on the xc paths!
    Cube AMS 150 Pro | Strava
  • neddie
    neddie Posts: 101
    I love mine handy to get me up that hill, good to have a different hand position and I don't care if they're not fashionable . wait a year, they will be.

    ;-)
    Boardman Comp.

    Norco Fluid
  • MountainMonster
    MountainMonster Posts: 7,423
    I hate and love them. They do sometimes get in the way on some descents with getting hand position well, but I just bought slightly wider bars to compensate.
    My London Road
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    As far as fast climbing goes, they don't mix so well with wide bars, the hand position's a bit unnatural. (wide bars do give some of the same benefits though- they don't switch the muscle groups but they give you more leverage when honking)

    But they still give added hand positions for comfort, which I find really handy on long events, so I fit them from time to time. Looks horrible, but who cares?
    Uncompromising extremist
  • YeehaaMcgee
    YeehaaMcgee Posts: 5,740
    Are they actually needed with wider bars?
    I remember them coming in handy years ago on big climbs, but either I've got far fitter, or bike geometry has changed such that I don't actually miss them.
    I'm thinking that maybe as bars got wider and our arms further apart, that being stretched out became less comfortable or desirable? Most of the people I've seen with them are XC racer types who still run quite narrow bars.
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  • kammybear
    kammybear Posts: 500
    Got some installed on my Cube. Makes the bike look way more sexy. They're the integrated model with lockons.

    Not use them much though,
  • andhr
    andhr Posts: 88
    YeehaaMcgee wrote:
    Are they actually needed with wider bars?
    I remember them coming in handy years ago on big climbs, but either I've got far fitter, or bike geometry has changed such that I don't actually miss them.

    Lighter bikes, more AM bikes with lower gearing (and more gears) and maybe (just maybe) increased fitness will all help.... but if you use wider bars you start to use the back and bicep muscles to pull (like a pull-up style exercise), so they have a similar, though not identical effect.

    I know they do quite small, palm-sized ones which look alright. I just remember the 4-5" long curved-at-the-top ones!
    Cube AMS 150 Pro | Strava
  • oodboo
    oodboo Posts: 2,171
    I used to have some of them big long curved bar ends. They didn't clamp on either, they had a quill stem that went into the bar to make them way heavier than they needed to be.
    I love horses, best of all the animals. I love horses, they're my friends.

    Strava
  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    Are they actually needed with wider bars?

    IMO, no. Used them when I ran flat bars, never have on risers, pointless.
  • andhr
    andhr Posts: 88
    oodboo wrote:
    I used to have some of them big long curved bar ends. They didn't clamp on either, they had a quill stem that went into the bar to make them way heavier than they needed to be.

    And if you weren't careful and got them wet they would seize in there...
    Cube AMS 150 Pro | Strava
  • Bikehawk
    Bikehawk Posts: 102
    Had some on my old bike, narrow handlebars. Found them very handy on long fireroad drags, just to give a bit of a different position on the bike. New bike has wider bars, don't miss them

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