bar ends?

[GrassyRidge]

I think this is what they are called. I'm looking for the things that fit in the end of your handle bars to give you extra places to grip while riding. I don't want to replace my handlebars, but on my trek 7.6 I find that the Bontrager grips I have rotate. So the extra flare on the grip for my palm is great for the first mile or two, but then rotates down after 2-3 miles and I'm left with round grips. I've seen other bikes with these things sticking out of the end of the handle bars. Looking online I think bar ends are what they are called, but none of the pictures actually show them on a bike..... so I don't want to order the wrong thing.

Anybody use these? Do you like them? Do you have some you recommend?

[softthings]

i put them on my sirrus. it is on ebay right now. just go on ebay and look up sirrus, it should be at the top of the list, it is about to end. i had flared grips on there too, hated them. my boyfriend replaced the grips and put the bar ends on to make climbing easier. hope that helps!

[Zen]

Look around on this site (http://www.ergon-bike.com/us/en/home)

[sarahspins]

Another vote for Ergons :) I used them with "some" success before I did finally replace my bars... the problem I was having wasn't just the shape of the grip, but the angle my wrist was being forced into while on the bike because of the flat bar.. it was super uncomfortable after just a few miles on the road. If the angle isn't your main problem, the ergons are a great help, and having the grip area at the ends on something like the GC-2 is nice, since it also offers you an alternate hand position... but again, if the angle on your bars is just not working for you, it may only move the problem, not eliminate it. The Ergon grips will stay in place because they're basically clamped on, it's not a friction fit.

I have to say though, replacing the bars wasn't much more hassle/expense than the Ergons were. I put a Soma Sparrow (http://somafab.com/barsparrow.html) bar on my 7.2fx and I've been really happy with it that way - I could have used the original grips (or even the ergons), but I opted to tape the bars. It's a fairly simple DIY project since you don't need to mess with cables or anything, everything you need to do just involves clamp screws (even removing the bar).

I was looking into all sorts fo exotic solutions (moustache bars w/ bar-end shifters, which would have been more involved and much more expensive) before I found the sparrow bars :)

You can also use hairspray to "lock" the original grips in place but I personally would be wary of doing that ;)

[Zen]

I put a Soma Sparrow (http://somafab.com/barsparrow.html) bar on my 7.2fx and I've been really happy with it that way

I'm gonna do that on the 7.6. Right now it has the Ergon grips but my hands have still been going numb.

[e.e.cummings]

I bought some for my Kona Dew last year. My husband bought them for his Dew and he really like them, so I followed suit (we are like twins - we both have Giants, and we both have Dews). The only strike against the Dew when I bought it was that I thought it looked a bit boring - not much of a design - but the handles that I found at Mountain Equipment Co-op (bronze) really jazzed it up, gave it a contrast. I have included a link, although I don't see the bronze right now.

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_listing.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302693629&bmUID=1263594984303

I purchased them in preparation for a 100 km ride on partially gravel trail, I was glad that I had them.

Good luck!

[Cataboo]

I'm gonna do that on the 7.6. Right now it has the Ergon grips but my hands have still been going numb.

I've finished putting the soma sparrows on my surly & rode it to the library today. I think I like them.

Is your 7.6 the one with the carbon fork? (white one?)

[Zen]

Yerp.

[badgercat]

I currently have bar ends on my Trek 7.2FX. They make climbing a whole heck of a lot more tolerable and have resulted in much less wrist/arm discomfort/fatigue on longer rides. Mine are just fairly generic Bontrager-branded ones that I picked up for like $15 and installed myself, nothing fancy. However, like many others it seems, I've been seriously considering swapping out the handlebars themselves... my wrists just don't seem to like such straight bars.

I hope this isn't too much of a hijack, but do either of you (Catriona/sarahspins) who've gotten the Sparrow bars have any pictures to share? I'm very interested to see what they look like set up, and I've only found pictures of the plain bars online so far.

[Cataboo]

I think Sarah stuck hers a different direction than I did (I seem to remember hers angling downwards, so she probably has them flipped from what I did first. I need to angle mine downwards slightly. You should also consider butterfly/trekking handlebars, they're what I'm switching to next if I don't like these long term.

But this was when I hadn't quite finished because I still needed a headset spacer & a different top tube cap:
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs222.snc3/20945_261332216864_624946864_3379645_6834857_n.jpg

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs222.snc3/20945_261332396864_624946864_3379653_4748745_n.jpg

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs202.snc3/20945_261332506864_624946864_3379655_6077764_n.jpg

out today:
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs222.snc3/20945_264707531864_624946864_3392404_1098033_n.jpg

[Cataboo]

Yeah, Sarah did hers opposite.

That just felt weird when I tried it:

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=31857&highlight=soma+sparrows&page=4

[badgercat]

I think Sarah stuck hers a different direction than I did (I seem to remember hers angling downwards, so she probably has them flipped from what I did first. I need to angle mine downwards slightly. You should also consider butterfly/trekking handlebars, they're what I'm switching to next if I don't like these long term.

But this was when I hadn't quite finished because I still needed a headset spacer & a different top tube cap:

Thanks for sharing! I'm just beginning to explore options...

ETA: also, thanks for finding Sarah's thread. :)

[sarahspins]

You're not supposed to post while I'm gathing stuff for my post! :p

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2460/3704952931_f5c117aceb.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2579/3705760980_bf1db71219.jpg

Mine are the 490mm.. I have since taken off all the extra junk on my bars (bell & reflector), and my computer is now mounted on my stem. The bars can be flipped and used as risers like Catriona's if you want a more casual riding position. I eventually flipped my stem to drop mine a little lower because that was what I liked.. but there's no right or wrong, it's whatever you want. I have two layers of tape in the "grip" area for a bit more cushion, but could have easily just used grips and no tape.

As mentioned before, the reason I opted for these and not something else is these are MTB lever compatible.. which is what we get with our FX's :)

[Cataboo]

I got the 490 mm as well. I've got a 130 cm 16% stem on it or something - my surly's top tube's a bit (quite) too short for me. I've got 2 road bikes, so I already have 2 bikes with drops that I can ride more aggressively - basically I wanted a more comfortable riding position on the surly, but still wanted to be upright because it is my commuter bike or my riding a gravel towpath or something like that bike.

I may eventually try flipping them over, but we're trying this for now. I initially put them on the bike flipped like Sarah did, and got on the trainer a few times and just didn't like the position.

[Cataboo]

It looks a bit cooler how Sarahspins has it, I think.

http://picasaweb.google.com/EyeofCatriona/2009_12_31SurlyWithSomaSparrows#

That's with them flipped over when I was trying out that position to begin with.

The bars are naked, so it might be easier to see the shape.

[Cataboo]

To tie this back into bar ends - this is what I replaced on the surly - riser bars + bar ends. Mostly I think the bars were just too wide.

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs222.snc3/20945_234023506864_624946864_3243842_7654925_n.jpg

[Catrin]

Another vote for Ergons :) I used them with "some" success before I did finally replace my bar

I had my bike fitting today, and one of the many changes was to replace my stock 7.6 FX grips to Ergon grips. My hands started feeling better immediately :) When he suggested them, I couldn't help but to remember the various positive comments on this forum about them, so it made the decision easy to make.

[GrassyRidge]

Thanks for all the great ideas! I may have to take a trip to my LBS, have them fix my pedals (take the floppy plastic foot things off) and play touch and feel with their handlebar/grip/bar end options. The configuration of my 7.6 is wonderful, I no longer have the back/leg issues that I had riding my 20 yo mountain bike, it's down to hand issues now, which i'm hoping will be an easy fix trying out some of these great suggestions :)

[Cataboo]

Thanks for all the great ideas! I may have to take a trip to my LBS, have them fix my pedals (take the floppy plastic foot things off) and play touch and feel with their handlebar/grip/bar end options. The configuration of my 7.6 is wonderful, I no longer have the back/leg issues that I had riding my 20 yo mountain bike, it's down to hand issues now, which i'm hoping will be an easy fix trying out some of these great suggestions :)

Other than the grips rotating, what hand issues are you having? numbness at all? One thing to make sure of is that your wrist isn't bent back towards you - you want your shifters in sort of a wrist neutral position, so you don't have to bend your wrists back towards you when using them.