anga asked me to review sqlab innerbarends, so here is short one after the first ride.

Installation took about 10 min. Along with innerbarends there wes a montagepaste which according to it’s package allows to use 30% less torque for the same grip. So I applied it and as the manual said tightened my 411 model to 3nm.



I really like how they look. In my opinion they look very ergonomic unlike ergons gp4
woth side sticks and don’t make the handlebar look any bigger than it is.




Riding was an instant improvement as I felt stress on my wrists immediately relieved. If you drive with extensive maneuvering you will need to adjust to the steering as grip is narrower.



While my palms on these grips I can easily control brakes (hydraulic disks) and downshift both front and rear derailleur. Upshift requires putting hands back to the handlebar grips.



All in all very pleasant experience. It allows to have multiple grip positions which will help to relieve wrist stress during long rides. My most useful and anticipated upgrade I had on my bike.

How do these affect the access to the gear selector and the brake levers?

If you use handlebar grips they don’t, at all.

They're meant to be installed on inside of the handgrips?

yep

Oh, me likey!

Can you rotate the grip so that the marked part is horizontal (parallel to ground), like the hood in a drop bar?
Did you try this position? Comfortable?

I set the angle to my riding position but they are not parallel to the ground. But judging from my brake levers those can be adjusted to be horizontal.

Have just ordered another set for my Brompton. Though I’ll have to change my 130mm grips to shorter 100mm ones so innerbars can fit.

My main use of barends is in them supporting the bike when the latter is flipped upside down for service, and protecting all the installations on the handlebars. This tends to be particularly useful when the need for flipping occurs on the road and you may have limited other options.

Actually I chose these instead of Ergons not only because how they look. With innerbars you can use any grips you like.

On a side note, the innerbars are not long enough to provide fully vertical grip. Bottom of my palm still rests on the handlebar grips. But still, very comfortable. I found myself wanting to use this position longer over the normal grips.

And here are they installed on my Brompton. Had to use shorter 100 grips as these wouldn’t fit with 130mm ones. I’m yet to test them. No issues with fold.

Update on my Brompton. 100mm bar grips didn’t work at all. I had to shorten JC handlebar as I had a riser which allowed only narrower handlebar to fold it down. I removed the riser on my H stem and installed new JC handlebar which is full 60cm. This allowed me to use both 130mm grips and innerbars. 60cm handlebar improved handling significantly and innerbars provided more sporty grips and good alternative to the grips. Very happy with this setup.