j0e_bik3

I see them on all sorts of mountain bikes, but are they bash guards? or handle bar extensions?

thanks

seanoc

extra hand position for climbing. think bullhorns on a fixed gear.

j0e_bik3

ok thanks

I never see anyone actually HOLDING them is why I asked,...makes sense tho.


rubber side down and stuff like that

markhr

climbing leverage ONLY, climbing leverage ONLY, climbing leverage ONLY, climbing leverage ONLY



edit: climbing leverage ONLY

edit2: hope this picture works

BFG

Bar ends make cornering sluggish due to the added weight.

ghettocruiser

Side benefits: Less painful tree clips (with the long ones) or more painful tree clips (with the short ones)

roadfix

Side note: Automatic 10 point deduction for mounting barends on risers.

NitroPye

I used to ride flat bar with bar ends, but now on the XC rig I ride flat bar sans bar ends. I had horrible control on them so they sucked for technical climbs. The protected my hands from trees a few times but more often then not they got stuck on branches and whipped me around.

delay

Its all about fashion. It was all the rage to shorted bars back in the day. To make up for the lack of leverage that shorter handlebars created barends were added. Today long bars are no longer a faux pas, and bar ends are disappearing.

BigBlueToe

I put some on "back in the day". I found they not only afforded more hand positions, so I was less likely to get sore hands on long rides, but when I was climbing and using the bar ends my front wheel was less likely to come off the ground - I don't know why, but I'm sure of it.

I recently built up a new mountain bike to get back into it after a decade of only road biking. I didn't put bar ends on the new bike. After a couple of rides I realized that was unacceptable and I bought some. You might not like them, but I find them indispensable.

Lamplight

Not if you get a set that's as light as a sheet of paper. I used to have some short Ti barends on my KHS back in the '90s and they were great for climbing. They also seemed to make riding a wheelie easier, though I'm not sure why.

!on

chavs (uk peasants) like them pointing straight up. why i have no idea, but i doubt they went & bought them separately.

true about fashion i only had them 'cos pro racers did. never really needed them, but they are handy for masochistic climbing pain lovers.

Repack Rider

If you don't live in an area where the hills are steep enough to make bar ends useful, you might ask what they are good for.

I live in an area where there are steep hills, and I find them useful. Even when I'm riding back home on the road, I can get a lower and more comfortable position on them.

People who say they catch brush do not know what they are talking about. If anything, they protect my hands, but they never snag anything.

Some of my friends do not use them, but here's the funny thing: They don't care if I do, and I don't care if they don't, because "fashion" is of absolutely no importance when you have been riding as long as we have. I have been riding MTBs since 1978, when mountain bikes were pre-cool and if you had one, it was hand-made.

kenhill3

I started riding XC in '93. I also ended up racing a lot of XC, straight bars with bar ends which for me were essential climbing tools. My first FS build 3 years ago included 1" risers w/no bar ends. I have tried to get used to them- move my thumbs onto the front/tops of the bars; grip out at the ends of the bars as if there were bar ends there. Well, I still miss those damn bar ends. I DO still have straight bars w/bar ends on my hardtail. But I keep thinking how helpful it might be to just go and add at least some stubbies on my FS. God forbid, would the fashion police come after me if I were to be seen with bar ends on my risers? Isn't that like way UNCOOL? Fashion doesn't mean much to me, either.

I'm with Charlie on the snagging issue. As long as I have been using them, it just has never happened to me- I think for some folks it's a 'perceived' issue. I also like the bar ends when I have a long fireroad or pavement to travel on.

NitroPye

Thats a bit of a blanket statement....

Forests in NE have tons upon tons of brush, open areas seem rare compared to my brief experiences on the west coast and because of all the brush I have been snagged many many many many many times. Painful snags. So yes, I do know what I am talking about: Riding for me in my area, they do snag plenty.

Lamplight

This is true. I remember snagging mine once back when I used them. It also managed to shift my rear gears to the smallest cog (Rapidfire Plus). I'm still not sure exactly how that happened.

Chris_F

When I got my Rush it had wider bars than I was used to so I was catching them on trees all the time. I put on some bar ends and they helped me bounce off the trees instead of getting hung up. Yes they do snag on brush, but I find them more helpful than not as they usually allow me to bounce off of things (more often than snag). This winter I moved to a narrower flat bar so I don't know if they'll still be useful for that.

I keep them on the bike because I have bad wrists and need the hand position changes to keep my wrists from getting sore. They're also nice on the road for giving a more comfortable reclined position.

RIC0

I have 1 inch riser bars on my FS with singletrack barends on them and they work great. I would say 80%of the people that say you'll catch tree's go by what they read and not experience. I've NEVER wrecked from hitting a tree and I've had chucks of bark inside the grooves on my barends from hitting trees. You can click the KHS link in my sig to see the barends. I also trimmed my risers down to 25in. I couldn't imagine riding without barends.

BFG

I like my barends.
Thread closed.

elf 232

keep bar ends on road bikes where they belong.

Dannihilator

Wrong

Those bars on a roadbike are drop bars. And for the occasional triathlon or time trial you can mount those aero bars on and for a more aero position.

Siu Blue Wind

They belong on road bikes? Ooo I'd like to see a pic of that. It really would be interesting!

born2bahick

One of the fastest Roadies in town here, does a lot of traing and commuting on a Giant Sedona with slicks on it.
It has approximately the same geometry as a compact road frame, and he installed a big chain ring,
the size of a pie plate on it. What really stands out, (other than a guy on a mountain bike in a paceline)
is the fact that he has bar ends and aerobars on it. If you saw the bike and didn't know any better,
you would think "man what's that guy thinking".

Siu Blue Wind

Did you happen to get a pic? I honestly would like to see that. That would be cool. *trying to imagine how that would look*

imcrushingyerhd

They're best used for hooking on to trees while trying to ride fastly between narrow passages. At least that's all mine ever did.