Bar ends with flat bar or no bar ends???

Re:

Sort of a side question.... I’ve heard a talking point mentioned that people were injured by bar ends. I’ve always been a bar end junkie, have a nice collection. Never ever was I injured by one, if anything they saved my butt many times. My son has a modern mtb with wide bars. It is comfortable and you definitely wouldn’t need bar ends... but holy moly do you bump into everything with that added width. My riding style evolved around control tech curved bar ends, they were like an offroad bumper or brush guards... you could bounce off a tree, not do a face plant into one.

MattiThundrrr":kdjrghpi said:

I must be a "rookie biker in the late 90's." But with 25+ years of experience as a "rookie biker", I've found what works for this particular bike. I love how it climbs when I'm on the ends, and my hands enjoy the options on longer rides.

The ends have been on the bike since 94. I shortened them when I added the risers in the late 90s. Thinking of painting them black.

Click to expand...

But is that even a riser bar? Looks like a flat bar, with a rise.

I've got no hang-ups about risers and bar-ends- I don't like sandals, with or without socks- but for me, a bike has to be as ergonomic as possible, not a metallic sculpture that you can pedal. I've fitted BMX bars to small-framed mtb's too, no aesthetic considerations made here.. just bikes built to ride..

Exactly, I don't care as long as it's comfy to ride.
I found wider bars also helped.

Re: Re:

Scvintage":1bwu4ryl said:

Sort of a side question.... I’ve heard a talking point mentioned that people were injured by bar ends. I’ve always been a bar end junkie, have a nice collection. Never ever was I injured by one, if anything they saved my butt many times. My son has a modern mtb with wide bars. It is comfortable and you definitely wouldn’t need bar ends... but holy moly do you bump into everything with that added width. My riding style evolved around control tech curved bar ends, they were like an offroad bumper or brush guards... you could bounce off a tree, not do a face plant into one.

Click to expand...

Yeah bar ends have saved me many times, like you say, a glancing blow off a tree can be deflected by the bar ends and your hands protected.

On the flip side, I've had a few "offs" due to the bar ends catching on vegetation/branches and yanking the bars to one side etc.

Heh... My local trails have a few gaps between trees that I can just make it through on my retro mtb, but on my modern wider bar bike I have to stop and weave the bars between the tree trunks

I'll just leave this here... (fairy lights optional)

Air Max flip flops....
£120.

Re: Re:

Scvintage":3a52nzqt said:

Sort of a side question.... I’ve heard a talking point mentioned that people were injured by bar ends.

Click to expand...

I was involved in retrieving someone from a hill side after they misjudged a rocky corner, tumbled quite a long way down a hillside and apple cored his leg, took a neat circular plug out of the back of his thigh.

A lot of blood, very painful, no long term damage (thankfully!) just a few stitches.

The core was left in his uncapped bar end. Which is even more exposed than an uncapped handlebar.

I guess if you put the bike together properly, it's no more risk than not having bar ends..........

It depends on how you prioritise function vs look. Unless this is a garage queen, you probably want the cockpit to be set up to be comfortable for the kind of riding you'll be doing. Personally I don't use riser bars except as a last resort, but I always use bar ends if possible, because I know they make most climbs noticeably easier. On a retro length bar, I have the bar ends on the end, but on modern length bars I fit them as "inner bar-ends", just inside the shift and brake lever clamps, so the gap between the bar ends is about the same as it would be on a retro bike. A few pro XC racers have started using "inner bar-ends", which of course have been reinvented as something totally "new" and cost 2 or 3 times more than a nice pair of retro bar ends.

mattr":2pjnaazh said:

MattiThundrrr":2pjnaazh said:

I must be a "rookie biker in the late 90's." But with 25+ years of experience as a "rookie biker", I've found what works for this particular bike. I love how it climbs when I'm on the ends, and my hands enjoy the options on longer rides.

The ends have been on the bike since 94. I shortened them when I added the risers in the late 90s. Thinking of painting them black.

Click to expand...

But is that even a riser bar? Looks like a flat bar, with a rise.

Click to expand...

Oh sweet jeebus. Does it rise? Yes. Is it flat? No. You may call it what you like.