I purchased a 40 cm Soma Urban Pursuit bar and a pair of Soma Urban Pursuit levers. However, I can't seem to get the levers in to the bar ends, even after loosening the bolt under the rubber cap. Does anyone have any advice? I'm assuming they're designed to work together considering they both have the same name, so what am I doing wrong?

yeah - I'm having the same issue; i searched the forums and couldn't come up with any response...anyone have any ideas on this?

Get a round bas-tard (that's a type of file, for those of you who think I just have potty-mouth), and open up the end of the bar until it fits.

Or, call Soma. They're good guys.

I ran into this problem--
the bar end lever literally has almost exactly the same inside
diameter as the soma branded bar-end levers outside diameter.

I'm not saying
you should do this but I gently encouraged my lever in with a
framing hammer and a piece of wood to shield the lever from
the metal blow--tapped it in. I was concerned that the
lever would crack the tubes on the bullhorns. . .but it didn't.

Check to make sure the internal diameter on your bars
fits the "19.6 to 20.6.mm" internal diameter the
levers are spec'd for (from the Soma website).

I was annoyed--I had reverse-wrapped the bars and wanted to tuck
the tape into the bar end and plug it with the lever--no way with that clearance--
had to tape it.

edit: make sure the bolt that tightens the internal wedge is loosened--
the lever is designed to go in and then wedge against itself as you tighten it
up--if you jam it in there while the wedge is snug up against the lever to begin
with you will defeat the mechanism's function.

anyone feel free to chime in--this worked for me but I ain't no mechanic.

Good luck.

Thanks for the suggestions - the lever fits pretty snug with tape if I remove the chrome piece. I've Circled it in red in the attached image.

I'm not clear on what this piece is for, is it just an extension to increase the diameter for larger bars or does it serve some other purpose?

I think it's supposed to expand along the tracks in the black part of the handlebar insert as you screw in the allen bolt, holding the lever tightly in the bar-end.

+1--expands and locks the lever in--don't discard it.