Bar ends yay or nay?

[MattiThundrrr]

I like them on some bars. On others, not needed. It is a feel thing. You will know if it is right for you by trying them. I prefer short ones, I just need enough to get my hands rotated to the thumbs forward position. I just bought these this weekend, am going to have to get a bike to go with them now:

Well there is still comfort while in the saddle. I however do not like getting out of the seat at all,

In my opinion, this is something that you need to work on. Mountain biking is a dynamic activity, you need to change your body position based on varying conditions. Standing up to climb also changes how your bike is weighted, changes the way it puts down power, changes the way it attacks obstacles. It is a useful tool in the trail biker's arsenal.

 

[retrobiker273891]

View attachment 885707
I like them on some bars. On others, not needed. It is a feel thing. You will know if it is right for you by trying them. I prefer short ones, I just need enough to get my hands rotated to the thumbs forward position. I just bought these this weekend, am going to have to get a bike to go with them now:View attachment 885707

In my opinion, this is something that you need to work on. Mountain biking is a dynamic activity, you need to change your body position based on varying conditions. Standing up to climb also changes how your bike is weighted, changes the way it puts down power, changes the way it attacks obstacles. It is a useful tool in the trail biker's arsenal.

Well I am riding 90% roads or just light gravel.

I have ridden plenty standing up in my life. I see no need to stand up.

I had a bmx for a few years I know what it is to stand and ride.

I ride for comfort and leisure now, not to prove myself to anyone.

Standing I also read is bad for the knees.

 

[hamster]

Standing I also read is bad for the knees.

For me then crunching big gears hurts - typically after 70-80 miles / 4-5 hours on the road. When I first tried singlespeeding 15 years ago, I expected to do it for a few weeks, get knee pain and give it up. I never get knee pain on the singlespeed, even after 50 off-road miles. I think the difference is that the knee is nearly straight at peak push (cranks horizontal) whereas it's bent when seated.

I've enjoyed bar-ends when touring, but nowadays have drops on my tourer.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Well I am riding 90% roads or just light gravel.

I have ridden plenty standing up in my life. I see no need to stand up.

Sorry if I sounded harsh, I wasn't being critical. I don't know anything about your history, or health, should have read the first post better. I would say that for your type of riding, the main benefit of bar ends would be the extra hand positions. Being able to move your hands changes the way your body is working, can provide relief and comfort on longer road and gravel rides. Akin to a rider on the hoods or in the drops on a road bike

 

[Vesatoro]

Was it Kona who made a little attachment for brake levers so they were accessible from the bar ends?

At least Tektro did. Probably copied the idea from some original manufacturer.

 

[Imlach]

They can be useful when turning the bike upside down, to protect shifters. Riding in bushes they can provide some protection to your hands. Also useful when carrying stuff in plastic bags you bought in the shop. I like them, as they offer comfortable position to rest, i just use the corner part quite often where they are attached to the bars. Some conservative folks stating they are not giving the appropriate looks on riser bars, but that can be negotiated.
some people hate them, and their first move is to remove those, but i think they have the right to remain or fitted in many cases. Of course they are not for weight weenies, as they mean extra grams.
There is only one real negative effect, when bikes fall on them, they are likely to damage the ends of the handlebars they are fitted on.
There were handlebars with the shape of a bullhorn, though, where you had them anyway, as a feature, integrated. These had the advance that the corner was round, which can be found comfortable for some too..

This

I do not mind them on risers either. And on flat bars in particular there's really zero reason not to fit them, provided the bar isn't way too narrow. More hand positions is always nice. I used to remove them because of looks, but I know I need to refit some now that I've put flat bars on my Cross Check. A flat bar isn't exactly ergonomic heaven, but robust and light, so I feel like bar ends are the natural choice to increase the versatility of a flat bar setup.

 

[pete_mcc]

Was it Kona who made a little attachment for brake levers so they were accessible from the bar ends?

There were a few, Paul’s made them popular with the Chim Chims, then Kona with Dr Dewey’s and various others like Tektro.

For me Bar ends were from a time when people were switching from Road/Cross to MTB. Bar ends plus narrow bars emulated the riding on the hoods position that most roadies used for climbing. Much easier to get leverage with your hands in that orientation. At the time there were also bar ends that copied the drop bar position of road bikes. Scott and others made them. I remember trying to get Sports Dauphin on Box Hill to order me a set of those in 1990.

Wide bars killed them as you can’t get the leverage when your hands are so far out of line with your shoulders, that and ‘Freeriding’ where the focus was going down, not up. I still have them and love them on a few of my bikes.

 

[Wyndbrook]

I raced extensively, at a very low level, throughout the 1990's, starting using them about 91 because everyone else was.
I always found them a great help, when dying going uphill on the bars then moving my hands to the bar ends gave me a new lease of life.
Perhaps even reaching the top without walking.

 

[BiketoBasics]

Bar ends (bards)? You bet! I use them whenever possible on the bike that I ride. The really tough thing is being able to find a design that is both ergonomic in design and has an opening at the end (like for putting a handlebar bar plug) to insert mount a mirror on.

 

[hawkhill97]

I have some on my Marin, and love them!

Great for out of the saddle climbing, and for getting lower and further forward on the bars, resulting in a more hinged hip angle which in turn gives better recruitment of leg muscles.

For a mile munching cross country bike, I'd say give them a go!

Fwiw I don't like them on bars wider than about 580mm - which means (for me at least) they're pretty useless for any bike that's going to see spirited trail riding.