Melanie,
I've been debating adding bar ends to my bike to give me more power when climbing steep spots and give better traction to the front wheel.

There seem to be people who love them and people who really think they are useless. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Hi swimmergirl..

I don't like bar ends. I prefer to run a bit wider riser bar on my bike which gives me the wide climbing hand position you get from bar ends but also a more aggressive descending setup.

Conrad rides barends and descends like a madman.

So yes, it is a matter of taste. The little tiny barends are cool and they are light. But a bit wider bar will probably do the trick as well.

I just don't think you should run barends on risers. It is a fashion faux pas with no logical reason why.

my 2 cents

I used to swear by bar ends on my old Gary Fisher. Since replacing it with my shiny new K2, I haven't added bar ends again. I added them because it was said that the angle of the bars made your grip better and easier on the upper body to hammer up the hills. I find it just as difficult to climb hills without them on my new bike, as I did with them.

Another benefit of bar ends is the protection they offer. I was out of control once and slammed my bar end right into a tree. If the bar end wasn't there, I would have busted my hand for sure.

Shawn (the webmaster guy)

Cool! Looking forward for more information from You.

Post edited by: melanie, at: 2006/05/10 10:55