Bar ends

divingmoose

Anyone use bar ends on their bike and do they assist in climbs

mcnultycop

I used to use them in the 90s, so put some on my bike when I started MTB a few years back. They don't really help me on the climbs, they just let you change position with your hands. They aren't really cool anymore, but I wouldn't let thst stop you.

If you want to try some you can have mine for the cost of postage. Onza ones, longer ones with a bend. They are in the shed somewhere.

cooldad

Also depends if you have normal bars, or silly fashionable superwide jobbies.

njee20

Meh, hands either side of the stem on the road - bar ends aren't aero - they open you up like a sail!

Wouldn't bother wider wider/riser bars - the sweep tends to negate the benefits. If you're running <600mm flat bars they're good though.

The Rookie

njee20 wrote:

Meh, hands either side of the stem on the road - bar ends aren't aero - they open you up like a sail!

+1....

On a straight level road/track I can run one gear higher holding either side of the stem as your shoulders roll in and your arms break up the airflow ahead of your torso.

Long_Time_Lurker

I have them on the rat-bike. Never transfered them over to the XCer.
I would possibly consider moving them over for a very long-ride, such as the C-2-C (4 hour + sat in the saddle without a break), as it is good to change your grip once in a while to stop your hands getting uncomfortable.

Wouldn't bother on anything else. (I once got pulled from a bike when a bar-end caught on a branch.)

rockmonkeysc

I used them back in the mid 90s but tried them six years ago when I got back in to mountain biking and didn't like them. I do like nice wide bars though and bar ends won't work with them.

batmo

We like rides of longer duration, so I had these on my old bike, and may yet transfer them if I decide to shorten the bar on the new bike. The missus swears by her Ergon grips with integrated bar ends, and was most insistent that the invisible bike fixing gnome move them over when she changed bikes.

njee20

cyd190468 wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Meh, hands either side of the stem on the road - bar ends aren't aero - they open you up like a sail!

Wouldn't bother wider wider/riser bars - the sweep tends to negate the benefits. If you're running <600mm flat bars they're good though.

It puts your wrists in a much more comfortable position so you can lower your torso into a TT tuck. Holding the stem is actually the best solution but it makes corners a bit scary. It's like the position when you TT on a normal bike and you put your forarms on the tops of the bars and hold the very top of the hoods with your palms facing down.

Well done, captain obvious! Although holding the stem isn't ideal, I assume you mean (as I said) holding/resting a few inches either side of the stem. Again on the road though, having your hands on the hoods isn't that aero - hold either side of the stem and tuck your arms in, or just don't hold on - imaginary aero bars FTW.

The Rookie

That's were I hold on my commuter (flat barred hybrid, mostly MTB parts anyway), between the stem and the controls, so hands about 8-10" apart (middle to middle) perfectly good control even on packed gravel tracks, it narrows the shoulders, brakes up the airflow and pulls you forward slightly.

Levi_501

I have bar ends on both my bikes; but both bikes have 130mm stems and 590mm flat bars.

I really like them, they aid climbing and also a change of hand position is good.

paulneenan76

I don't miss them one bit. The benefits are limited and they tend to be magnets for branches, hedges and vines which grab on to the point where you either pull up 10kilos of shrubbery or separate you from the bike.

They are great for carrying shopping bags