I've seen a couple of the bus-n-bikers have their bar ends straight up. Saw another guy at school that mounted his pointed straight back (towards the saddle). I've got mine pointed out and angled back just a little (basically trying to mimic the hoods on a drop bar).

Just curious.

The abuse of bar ends seems to be one of cycling's great plagues. What was invented to aid and make up for the limitations of flat bars for mountain biking about 20 years ago now seems to be mainly used by heel pedalers to make up for criminally poor bike fit. It's sad really.

^ What he said. I know a girl who seems to ride by holding on to the tips of the bar ends, which are pointed up. Makes no sense to me, but I feel the same way about bar ends in general. Flats, horns, or drops--pick one.

I think you've got it right. Aren't they designed to help in hill climbing, you get a better grip without putting stress on your wrists on the flat bar. Anyway, mine are set at about 30 degrees.

ARRRRGHH!!!! This winds me up so much I actually go up and tell people to lower their bar ends if I see them up.

The only function for having them straight up is to cut the blood supply to the hands, prevent you operating the brakes and increase the likelihood of impaling yourself if you go over the handle bars. if I go over the bars I don't want to catch the bars with my stomach and take the bike with me too. I want a clean exit!

I've used bar ends on mountain bikes for years, if set right, (low so you can hit the brake and shifters with the top finger), they make a a really comfortable cruising riding position and obviously give another 2 hand positions that helps with the limitations of a flat or riser bar. I also can't stand MB snobs who don't think they have a place on MB bars.

They help with climbing too obviously.

I've seen people position their bar ends in the craziest ways and I just don't understand it. Well... scratch that, I understand that they're probably using the bar ends to help compensate for a bike that they haven't been properly fitted to and might otherwise find uncomfortable. Whatever the case is, it makes me a little sad every time I see it.

I have my bar ends almost horizontal at maybe 20 degrees.

Well, I was going to reply I just leave them where they were when I dismounted the bike and asked why it mattered, but then I realized you weren't talking about shifters.

Reversed left/right and facing backwards, angled upwards to near vertical. With bar tape on them.
The ends curve sligtly inwards, so it's a comfy near vertical hand position. Kinda like holding drop bars, but with a raise instead of a drop.
I use them for cruising on long flat areas where it's nice to have the more upright position(and I'm not braking much anyway). For speed or rough places I default back to the lower MTB flat bar.




On my new under-construction bike, I'm putting the bar ends about 2/3 of the way inwards on the flat bars, angled upwards for a vertical hand position. With the brake levers attached to them also vertically.
Kinda like those aero brake levers/grips, but made of MTB parts and raised instead of lowered.

Damn, I thought the roadies were the only "bike police"!

I have them anyhow I feel like it!

Jerry

Bar ends helped on my mtb as I bashed trees and such. I replaced the stock bar ends on my
commuter as an idea to place my mirrors. I raised them higher than I care to, for the mirrors
to work. I figure the shape could help protect my fingers after I got doored last spring.

Yeah, I was a bit confused myself. I was reading the post, trying to picture my bar-ends in the configurations he was describing, and I just couldn't do it--then I realized he was talking about those bar extenders.... very much relieved... ;-)

-Jon

I put mine in a box as soon as I got my bike home the first day, that seemed to be the best position for them.

I have a hybrid, and got these fantastic grips -- the Ergon grips with built in bar-ends; they aren't too long like MTB bar ends and are relatively ergonomic. I set them about 45 degrees, and I love them because they do give me several different hand positions to help prevent numbness. For some reason, I have tried everything and I still get numbness in just my right hand (got great Izumi gloves, keep adjusting handlebar height and grip angle...).

That said, I totally agree that bar ends are overused, and seem to be part of the overall issue of too many people buying MTB's that really don't need them, since they're just riding roads and paths.

How can they be overused? They give you more hand positions when using the limited flat or riser bar. Hard core MTB's may not want to use them as they give more width to a bar and may snag stuff on a single track.

People buy MTBs as they are still the most popular type of bike and the first thing most people see when going in a bike shop. They have advantages to road bikes as they sit you upright. The handle bars feel easier to use on MTBs, as it has been said here before you tend to steer more with the bars on a MTB compared to using body weight to lean into a corner like you do with roadbikes. Wheels are smaller and again feel safer, not as high up.

If I'm going out in mega high winds, up to and sometimes in galeforce, for my commute I'll leave my crossbike at home and take one of my mountain bikes. It feels more secure.

I have a pair of the road style drop bar ends attached to my commuter that work well.

I don't remember seeing drop bar ends..mebbe you can post a picture?
I don't grip my bar ends as much as I lay my hand flat along the rise of the bar.

Not to bring back and old thread but....

Here's mine

i've got some ergon GC3's on my hybrid, and i have bar ends pretty close to flat, maybe a 3 degree rise or so.







i've got hydraulic disc brakes on my hybrid, and it can only have flat bars beause no one make hydraulic levers that will fit drop bar diameter. but the one hand position of the flat bar is not enough for me, so using bar ends to get more hand positions is a no-brainer for the solution.



EDIT: just realized that i'm responding to a post made over 3 years ago............. oops.

That bike is too clean. You must immediately ride through mud puddles, stream crossings, and mica/sandy beaches.

^ don't fret, that pic is from the summer when the bike was brand new. after 5 months of commuting, it's much, MUCH dirtier now.

At first I was like:


and then I was like:


but then I was like:


But now I am all:

I'm with Dan, Ergon GC 3,
but they're on my Brompton, to fold the bike and have the riser, snap in the catch,
I loosen the clamp bolt. it misses by just an inch, If I don't..
shorter Bar end, and that is unnecessary..

Yes, barends work great for adding additional leverage when climbing, allowing more weight transfer to the rear wheel, but additionally they give several different hand positions allowing you to reduce overall hand fatigue. I believe this is why you see so many barends on department store bikes or bikes ridden primarily on the road. Also, off-road they tend to act as grabby hands in tight, wooded conditions, which is why I believe riders who ride in those conditions remove them.

Each of my mountain bikes that get a lot of road use have barends, including my commuter and urban assault bikes (both of which often see 40-60 mile days). My 29er SS however seldom gets many road miles and is often used in tight wooded sections, and it has no barends. If I still rode CA fireroads and arroyo single tracks it would get barends too.

As for the average neighborhood cruisers having their barend pointed straight up or even backwards, think about how many "road bikes" you see with their drop bar upside down. It looks stupid as hell to you and I, but its their bike and they want a more upright seating position and barends are the simplest and cheapest way to achieve that. Whatever floats their boat.....

Re: Drop bar ends.

I had these on my prior, flat bar, steed. Simulated drops, but no real 'hood' position. I liked the options they gave me for commuting.

Around these parts the only people who have MTB bar extensions pointing backward or straight up are Freds and bums weaving unsteadily down the road or sidewalk on under inflated knobby tires and saddles too low with knees hitting chins, often salmoning upstream where they will spawn and hopefully die.