More importantly that bar ends is the comment "Today, you have a higher chance of seeing a bell on a modern mountain bike than a set of bar ends"...
If there is one thing every MTB rider should have on their bike it is a bell. With trail usage way up having a bell is not just a curtesy to other bikers/hikers but an important safety feature.
Big fan of the Timber bell, but anything that lets other trail user know you are approaching works just fine.<p>And anyone who is out on the trails with headphones... you still won't hear a bike bell, but then you won't hear a rattle-snake either.
My first mountain bike was a Fisher mountain bike. I got a wholesale deal Gary Fisher mountain bikes because my mother was dating the bookkeeper. (It was just called Marin Mountian bikes back then.)<p>Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly decides to build mountain bikes. This was in 1979? Well both were roommates, who loved bicycles, and loved the outdoors<p>Both got started on old Schwinn frames tricked out with knobby tires, and such.<p>They used an old WW2 truck to take a bunch of guys up Mount Tamalpais, and other Fairfax mountains. The main trail down Mt. Tam was called Repac. Why? Because they needed to regrese the rear bearings after a decent.<p>Well the roommates decided to build mountain bikes, and formed a company.<p>Both were liberal, and were I guess called hippies back then. Neither knew if people would even like moutan biking.<p>Gary had some money. Charlie was the fabricator, and inventor. Both had their strong points, but Charlie was the talent.<p>By the eithties, the business was not thriving. I used to walk by it in high school, and was suprised it was still operating. I loved my mountian green bike though.<p>One day Charlie decided to leave the business. He just left. I believe their was a fight? Charlie was never about money.<p>Fisher stayed, and a bit later sold the business to a huge bike company. Fisher is now a multimillionaire. It was luck. It was just the right time, and he stuck it out.<p>My point in telling this story us don't walk out on any new business.<p>Don't walk unless you really don't care about money. Charlie was not about the green. I have always admired the way he lived his life.<p>Mountian biking was started in Fairfax Ca, by about a 12 guys who loved to ride.<p>I tell this story because Charlie always gets left out of mountian biking history.<p>Again--Charlie was the talent.
I think the claim about de-emphasizing climbing is BS. I just looked at Trek, Giant and Specialized websites and -all- of their mtn bikes ditched the front derailleur and use small-rings in the front. If climbing was passe, why the crazy low gearing?<p>Bar-ends were add-ons for at least a decade (late-80's early 90's) before they became standard. They provide better control and stability because the radius/ulna are not crossed like they are in the standard position. I think they disappeared because there was too much risk of hooking another rider (think packs of riders shoulder-to-shoulder grinding uphill), and not enough climbing or stability benefit.<p>Or perhaps aesthetics play more a part of mtnbike design than functionality?
Mountain Bike geometry has changed, they have a longer reach, the stem are shorter, and bars wider for a better leverage.
Bar ends would put your arm too wide to be useful.<p>But maybe the real reason is if you ride with bar ends today, chances are you and your bike are old already, you have a front derailleur, no tubeless tires, no disc brakes unfortunately being part of a population that is going slowly but certainly extinct.<p>For marathons though they offered a change of hand position.
But their modern version comes as smaller hooks for the thumbs.
I did a ton of mountain biking in the late 90s and early 2000s, after years of BMX racing, and one reason myself (and at least a few friends) stopped using bar-ends is because we kept injuring ourselves on them - they had to be constantly tightened or they would come loose while climbing or going downhill. I know more than one person that wrecked a wrist after a bar-end popped off and exposed the sharp metal edge of a handlebar.<p>I also biked with crazy people, so that was probably issue #1.
"mountain biking" for me as a teenager in New England in the 90s was taking my hard-fork, hard-tail univega out for a ride on a dirt road under some power lines, with 2-3 other kids.<p>The idea of lift-served downhill biking never crossed our minds. You needed suspension to do any real woods singletrack because the roots and rocks were too numerous. But suspension put the price of a decent bike closer to 1000 bucks rather than <500 and four digits seemed to be a bridge too far for most of our parents' huffy-anchored understanding of "bicycle cost" let alone budget in the 90s.<p>So we bought bar ends for 30 bucks of saved up lawn mowing cash and told ourselves that they helped for climbs.
I have a "gravel" bike with drop bars [1] and I love it. I ride it on roads and a variety of trails. Doesn't have a suspension, but I don't miss it. Not doing super technical rocky stuff. Having drop bars is great though, I can vary my hand positions quite a bit and I seem to have plenty of steering control.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.bikes.com/en/bikes/solo/2019" rel="nofollow">https://www.bikes.com/en/bikes/solo/2019</a>
It is worth noting that there is a lively sub-culture within the MTB scene (at least in the U.S.) that favor "non-traditional" bar designs. Jeff Jones' bar design[0] has become a favorite for bike packers and recreational cyclists. The bar permits a more natural wrist position than the typical riser bar, as well as multiple hand positions. I doubt the design will ever overtake risers (or sweep bars) on the race circuit (which, for better or for worse influence design for most major brands), but I see more and more bikes on the trail with a Jones (or Jones-like) bar.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.jonesbikes.com/h-bars/" rel="nofollow">https://www.jonesbikes.com/h-bars/</a>
If you commute by bike, get them (or a bar-end mirror that sticks out)! They will save your hands in a crash!<p>I have a bike mirror that's structurally like a bar-end. I got right hooked by a driver: he didn't look nor signal, just yanked the wheel while I was in the bike lane next to him. The mirror/bar-end left a dent and then deep scratch all the way down the side of his SUV. That could have been my fingers!
I don't see any direct comment about bar ends and ergonomics.<p>Going from a road bike to a mountain bike is hard because you get basically ONE body position with a flat bar.<p>On my road bike I constantly change positions - on the center of the bar, on the hoods, on the drops, etc. This lets my back and shoulders move around and not get stiff.<p>On a mountain bike with a flat bar, it kills my back and shoulders the more time spent riding. You're stuck in one position.<p>You can alleviate it a little bit by moving around on the saddle or standing up, but not too much.<p>But bar ends help with this shortcoming.
Moderate to high speed contact with tangly vines or brush are enough to warrant a somewhat dangerous tug on the jersey or directly on the skin and consequently a semi-violent jerk to the handlebar. Now multiply that with the hooking power of an aluminum J-shaped tube sticking out of the front of the bike and now you get why bar ends disappeared quite fast from modern mountain bikes.
Because they're ugly and most importantly they provide basically no benefit for mountain biking. If you're doing something like gravel riding or road riding then yes they're nice but you typically have drop bars on those bikes.<p>Having a big silly piece of metal sticking forward on your bars while you're trying to speed down a steep techy piece of single track is just asking to get hurt. It'd be as dumb as putting a kickstand on your mountain bike.<p>The only reason they used to be there is because mountain biking was so new it hadn't completely separated from the roadie culture. Older mountain bikes have skinny tires, narrow bars, long stems etc. All of this stuff has been proven to make downhill riding harder and less enjoyable.
And as with so many articles, the reader might ask, what is this thing you are talking about? What is a bar end?<p>I realize a picture of the front of a bike was provided but it looked pretty normal to me, and I see where the bar ends, but that’s not making it any more clear.<p>Gradually through reading between the lines I can get an inkling, but readers deserve a short definition up front, beyond just saying they are an emblematic retro accessory.
Where I've mostly seen bar ends is on bikes with MTB style bars, including hybrids, being used on pavement. I also see a lot of people trying to make straight bars comfortable in other ways, e.g., with their palms cupped around the ends of the bar, or fists resting on top of the grips.<p>Granted, it's probably a matter of every rider having different requirements, and you can eventually find a bar that's comfortable and performant for your body and riding conditions. But that means trying out different bars, having to remove all of the controls, possibly lengthening the cables, etc.<p>Or you can add a simple accessory that will at least provide a resting position, that can be attached with minimal tools and effort.<p>In my own case I ended up with swept bars on all of my bikes. Even a moderate amount of sweep, and the resulting change in wrist angle, is night and day for me in terms of long term comfort.
I think it's a due to a combination of things. First MTBs went from flat bars to riser bars as front and then rear suspension appeared. Then the bars got wider.<p>I have memories of the bike magazines (Mountain Bike Action) declaring the bar end on a riser bar a style no-no. MTB takes style direction from motorcross and you don't see bar ends on motors.<p>I've hooked my new 760mm bars on far more trees than my old narrow ones. While the idea of catching a bar end sounds frightening, think about what would happen without a bar end: the same thing. You'd hit the bars or your knuckles and get the same result.<p>I do miss the extra hand position sometimes. I installed a pair of Togs (<a href="https://togs.com" rel="nofollow">https://togs.com</a>) to help with "thumbs resting over the bar".
>The usual buyers are people who want to add another hand position to their handlebars due to joint discomfort and numbness.<p>My eBike comes with barends and I love them for this reason. (Funnily my eBike is an eMTB with full suspension - so according to the article it shouldn't have bar ends).
I just bought a friend's (used) Specialized StumpJumper FSR Carbon whatever-thinggy and it doesn't have the bar ends, which saddens me, so I'm adding some immediately.<p>The thing is: even if it's a mountain bike, there's some moments where I'm riding on a regular, flat, land (path or road) and I do really prefer to have the bar ends then. If I find it way more comfortable: doesn't even have to be for climbing. Just anything that's not "going down" and a bit repetitive: I simply prefer the position with the bar ends.<p>The argument I've heard against them is indeed what several people mentioned in this thread: you wouldn't want one of the bar ends to hook something and be the cause of a bad fall.
> Lower awareness. Aside from some alternative shapes, bar ends do not increase the width of the handlebars. However, bar ends come with another severe downside – they are not covered by nerve endings (the rider’s hands) most of the time because one cannot shift or brake from that position.<p>I found this part interesting. When playing ping pong I'm certainly aware of where the paddle is. I guess I could be aware of where the bar ends are, but there isn't nearly as much to train me to be aware.<p>I think my awareness of where my fingers are, which sometimes extends into connected objects, is based on where the nerve endings are, because over time it creates spatial awareness.
Bar-ends are mounted in the handlebar tube by friction alone. On any decently bumpy trail, they have a pretty good chance of twisting (forwards and down) and you could hit the handlebars with your face.<p>They are useful for one of the reasons curved bars are useful on a road bike, it's a change of position to give you a rest, and potentially a better climbing position but I doubt it.<p>I had bar ends on my bike in high school 'cause they were cool but I've ridden cross country and downhill MTB for a couple of decades now and bar-ends are not something I would consider adding to my bike.
I have a Load 75 (fairly large front-loading cargo bike) with bar ends, and I use them daily. And adore them.<p>Among the reasons mentioned in the article, the only one that fits my use case(s) are increased leverage out of the saddle (the importance of which correlates with the amount of weight out in the front of the bucket).<p>I also use them to overcome positional fatigue, much like road bike riders use drop bars. However, drop bars are less practical on a cargo bike because, depending on the load (which sometimes includes an adult passenger), they can impact the load when sharply angled.
I did a cross-country ride in the 90s on a mountain bike, and I ended up putting bar ends on my bar ends. I liked the strength of a mountain bike for the occasional gravel road, but I needed to get hunched over for long days with steady headwinds. I ended up using the first bar ends for climbing, and the second bar ends for tucking into a wind. I'd never trust those second ends with any vertical force though.<p>These days, I'd just do that kind of trip on a well-specced gravel bike.
In the mid-2000's I commuted on a late 80's Specialized Rockhopper. For reliability and simplicity in all weather/temperatures, I had a custom wheel built with fixed gears (17/19T) and ran 1.75" 26" semi-slicks with kevlar built in. That thing was a tank. TANK. I only had one bad wreck on it.<p>I was in traffic and all the cars were backed up. For better or worse, I was in the shoulder and filtering toward the stoplight when I saw a car 2-3 cars ahead in the shoulder. I was deciding what to do when my handlebar bumped the mirror of a car to my left. Just barely. The car was fine. I broke my left hand somehow in the melee and landed hard on my right shoulder and elbow, skidding several feet.<p>Was I using bar ends? No. I had got rid of them and was using what's often called a "trekker" bar or "butterfly" bar. The width is what killed me. I would have been better off on my narrow bars and the bar ends, which are still shown on FGG:<p><a href="http://fixedgeargallery.com/2006/feb/RyanFlowers.htm" rel="nofollow">http://fixedgeargallery.com/2006/feb/RyanFlowers.htm</a><p>Of course it's understandable that nobody wants them on new bikes. The reasons given are solid.
I still see bar-ends all the time...on mountain bikes being used as commuters in the city, which I suspect is the majority of the "mountain bike" market, at least if you include 2nd-hand sales. They're still an obvious ergonomic upgrade for people who are just riding a mtb for the more upright posture or (...perceived) ability to handle poorly-maintained city streets.
Bar ends are a lifesaver! I got pretty bad RSI a few years ago and anything I did where my palms are down meant pins and needles in my arms. And as a cyclist, I quickly learned drop bars were best - but when I wanted to mountain bike, drop bars were the difference between being able to do it, and not. A vertical mouse also helped (at work).
On buying my new MTB (a Specialized Stumpjumper), the 1st thing I did was trim 3/4" off each end of the bar, and add bar-ends. Trends come and go. IMHO the current "wider is better" fashion took it too far, the default bar felt like it was 3 feet wide. (shrug)
I remember in the 90's there used to be a replacement bar for mountain bikes that was sort of like a long oval with one portion in the middle that, once installed, pointed forward. So it provided multiple new hand positions. I haven't seen that in years.
I still have one bike with bar ends. A single speed mountain bike. I use the bar ends (plus clipped in pedals) for leverage when climbing. My other full suspension bikes are all large handle bar, no bar ends.
Bar-ends are just another place to put your hands for comfort.<p>But you don't _really_ need them even for so-called technical terrain. Cyclocross bikes with wider-than-usual traditional drop bars (like on a road bike) are used all the time in "pee-your-pants" terrain. To be fair, I would say riding "on the hoods" in a traditional drop bar is superior to using bar-ends on a flat bar both in terms of control (because you have immediate access to brakes and shifters), and comfort (you have padding from the tape and hoods).
Dutch native here. As a casual user (school, commute, etc) I owned 3 MTBs in my life. One I bought second hand, other two new (1 of which got stolen). The former was a lower quality one, the other two certainly had bar ends. And I liked and used them.<p>I never used a helmet, except when I went on survival hiking. That was in the Ardennes, and was all pro material though I don't remember regarding bar ends.<p>I am actually in disbelief about them disappearing. What is the source? Where is the data based on?
I may have missed this in the existing discussion, but one thing that bar ends and the briefly fashionable aero bars (I even saw them on mountain bikes occasionally) have in common is that you have to move your hands to access brake levers. In a panic stop situation you simply don't have time for that. The bar ends were for hard climbs, and the aero bars for time trials. Not for general riding.<p>Luckily both have gone out of fashion.
My first MTB had bar ends but I quickly ditched them after too many snags (uphill and downhill). Riding my 2021 MTB with modern geo and modern bars I'm noticing this same problem. However, the snagging is way more of an issue navigating tight corners and uphill switchbacks. End of the day I'm sure I'm still snagging at a rate on my modern bike as I was with my retro bike but just the sight of bar ends brings back some bad memories.
Read the title wrong and thought they meant bar end shifter..<p>Added bar ends to my hybrid for 'defensive driving' purposes.<p>If you are in an urban/ suburban environment, a set of bar ends that curves over the hands just a touch is killer to protect the hands from trashcans/ cars, other bikes, kids, guys on mopeds.<p>Its like a little hand guard for random whatever. Plus gives you an upright hand position for extra torque if you need to go fast faster.
Not currently into mountain biking (I like the current structural integrity of my collarbones tyvm) - have ebikes revolutionized the sport? Seems like they'd increase accessibility by making the hard part (long arduous biking uphill to get to the drop) quite a bit more tolerable. Although as a hiker/climber I do appreciate that putting in real effort makes the payoff all the sweeter.
Could handlebar makers’ fear of lawsuits play a role? Bar-ends have to be tightened with much more torque than ordinary grips (8Nm for bar ends, as opposed to 4–5Nm for ordinary grips). However, makers of many popular MTB handlebars don’t want to certify their bars for that much torque, and so they just tell their customers that the bars are not compatible with bar ends.
A core part of the <i>Mint Sauce</i> aesthetic:<p><a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0e/f4/3a/0ef43a1d3656587beaef5edb7fa2c8ed.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0e/f4/3a/0ef43a1d3656587beaef...</a><p>...a cult cartoon sheep and his friends from the most popular UK mountain bike magazine in the 1990s.
Maybe I’m too young, but I remember everyone removing the bar ends because they were understood to be undesirable on a mountain bike.<p>I always thought they were installed from the factory to make the bikes appeal to road cyclists who were familiar with road bike geometry and riding style. Like training wheels for road cyclists coming to mountain biking.
29” and 27,5” new wheels necessitate longer handlebars in order to have more steering angle at low speed, so larger handles make less useful the bar ends.<p>Plus the new XC circuits are more nervous and you have less time to put your hands in a more relaxed position on the bars ends, you always need to touch the brakes/gears
Reading about bar-ends made me think about the Brompton P-type, which (alas!) Brompton recently discontinued:
<a href="https://www.bikefolded.com/brompton-s-m-p-h-type-handlebar-differences/" rel="nofollow">https://www.bikefolded.com/brompton-s-m-p-h-type-handlebar-d...</a>
Anybody tried bar ends on a Peloton? I find that when the instuctor wants you out of the saddle there's not enough resistance to merit the change. This might be because I ride high in the saddle and focus on consistent cadence using the up motion from the clipless pedals.
In case someone is wondering what is a bar end:<p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/comments/ae657i/bar_ends_for_comfort/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/comments/ae657i/bar_...</a>
random pet peeve:<p>> A set of riser bars that I purchased a while back. They are 810mm (or 5 piano octaves) by default. I plan to cut them down to at least 740mm for a future project.<p>They are already "at least 740mm", being 810 mm, which is more than 740. You mean "at most".
Now I miss my 90s cheap MTB. I remember me as a teenager buying and setting up the bar ends. It felt so cool. For a kid it was like the ultimate performance improvement.<p>But well, right, they were so 90s. That wouldn't really fit at all with the current super posh MTBs out there.
I got a road bike for commuting (Giant Rapid) with bar ends 10 years ago and it felt really useful, you could get lower when grabbing them reducing air resistance (big deal in this flat windy country) and they've protected my hands a few times from accidents
I remember it being because they were dangerous on group rides and on more technical routes. I seem to remember they were also banned in racing - so no incentive for manufacturers
This whole post could have been just two pictures. But no, it only includes one picture, of bar ends, not what they’ve been replaced with. I guess I’ll never know.
One thing I love about this post: you read the grey tldr; and you get 80% of the gist and the main idea. This optimizes for the reader rather than for the author's ego.<p>Too often authors try to keep suspens up and make for a big reveal at the end. This format instead conveys information and then develop on it if you want more.<p>Good job!
Bar ends were never very popular. Maybe 5-10% of riders used them. I don’t think a single manufacturer adopted them in a shipped from the factory setup.