COOLWALL: Are bar-ends cool?

I'm in the middle - I like them, I don't like them.

In the middle, some bikes need them to look right (Oranges) some look worse with them (Kona & Pace).

Flat bars ONLY, MUST be same angle as stem!

...but the sheep has them on his Pace, so do I actually Look fine and dandy.

Cool for me. Tis true you can really make a hash of them but they even feel cool when your riding them, stretched out, giving it big licks and your hands nowhere near the brakes.

can be cool

ie Onza ti (all ti)
USE bar/bar end combo
Stubbie pro

Can be uncool

any curved barends
not in line with stem
if in a gopping colour

but overall in retro sense


New school with risers :twisted: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Only stubbies for me!! Anything bigger than 3" just looks wrong :twisted:

Yup I also think that stubbies are cool. Long swoopy cow horns are just daft.
Currently running the allready mentioned X-Lite stubbies...in black.

Defo cool on flat bars. I think they need to be set at the right angle though!

They give an aggressive look to the front end on a bike.

In my opinion other than maybe matching some other parts on a bike they are absolute rubbish whatever bar/bike they are on.

I had a set on my old Peugeot for a few years (because some of the pros had them) and found that:

a) they hooked every bush in sight on some of my local trails to the point where they caused one too many stacks.
b) flat bars in most cases are too narrow for good control in the tight technical descents and bar ends effectively force you into a narror grip which makes the situation worse.
c) unless you are on a bike with a stupildly short top tube they don't aid your climbing. A mate at the AIS can present a better evidence on this point.

When I took them off I was amazed how much more enjoyable my riding became with the tiny bit of extra bar length and the ability to brush bushes without being flung off.

Bar ends belong where there are for most of us currently either hanging on a nail in the shed, or on the bike of a roadie pretending to be a mtber.

I think Jez may have hinted previously that there are many bikes on here with them - although I haven't checked photos for evidence

Edit: Only 2 out the 16 bikes nomitated for bike of the year have bar ends. I rest my case

I have to agree with all of your points Andrew

The fact that most bikes on here DO NOT feature barends suggests that they aint that popular in use...

Still - each to their own. I remember paying 25 quid for some rubbishy cro-mo barends back in the day. 25 quid!!!