If you started riding bikes in the 90s you undoubtably had bar ends on your mountain bike. There were all sorts of options back then and I don’t think a new bike left the shop without a set on them. Well the 00s brought riser bars and with that the decline of bar ends. Next the 10s brought super wide bars and now alt bars are the rage. What was old is new again and people are clamping bar ends back on their bikes.
I’ve been doing longer adventure rides and more bike packing where I found myself hanging my hands on the edge of the grips as if I had bar ends. If that wasn’t a signal to try out a pair again, I don’t know what was. I absolutely love them.
I ended up buying a pair of old school ControlTech bar ends off of eBay and they provide great options for your hands and really help out climbing.
Just the additional hand positions for long days make these worth it. Do they provide better grip on climbs? Maybe, I keep grabbing them on the climbs. There are so many options for bar ends from $10-$200, you should get a pair and let me know what you think.
