What Happened To Mountain Bike Bar Ends

Bar ends have something of a chequered past.

What happened to mountain bike bar ends. Bar ends were standard issue for mountain bikes throughout the eighties and early nineties when 71 degree head angles were the norm 640mm flat bars were mega wide and cantilever brakes were considered acceptable. And bar ends look and feel a bit crap on a wide curvy bar. Bar ends are typically banned from group club rides because of the potential to hook another rider when riding in a tight group. I don t have them on my mountain bike but do have them on my flat bar fitness bike scott sub 20 that i mainly use for interval training.

Because a flat mtb style handlebar is wider than a drop bar adding bar ends increases the likelihood of snagging another rider. It has 700x37cc tires so its pretty handy on road or easy gravel. Bar ends work as an aid for climbing. Unlike the torso forward position on road bikes mountain bike geometry channels weight to the back wheel.

We recently came upon a set of lp composite bicycle components anatomic bar ends that were in our spares box and bolted them on for this morning s ride. In the list of pros for bar ends is the argument that they give your hands another position. The position aids climbing but at the same time makes the front wheel lighter and can cause the front end of the bike to lift. Drop bars still can cause crashes though which i ve seen first hand.

Bikes rarely come out with bar ends anymore riser bars have taken over on most bikes even many xc racing hardtails come specced with those lo rise riser bars. Well maybe not every mountain biker but certainly the vast majority.