A question for the cyclists!

[Stew]

I want to add some bar ends to my bike.

It's less than a year old so I'm not keen on having to strip the handlebar grips off, shorten them and refit to make space for the clamp on type. Equally, it seems a bit daft to buy new handlebar grips as well. I assumed that bar ends with an internal grip to the pipe would be readily available as well. On searching, it doesn't seem to be the case!

However, I have found one model on ebay in Germany:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-Pair-Ba...566?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item487b75906e

Am I missing something here? Why most of them clamp on types? Is there a big reason not to have the internal clamped style from a performance / mechanical / other point of view?

Ta!

 

[mrcharly]

Mechanical reason. Internal clamp means you are then pulling on a lever that is wedged in a thin-walled tube; it is going to deform and the bar end will come loose.

 

[Stew]

Mechanical reason. Internal clamp means you are then pulling on a lever that is wedged in a thin-walled tube; it is going to deform and the bar end will come loose.

How's that different to a lever clamped over a thin walled tube?

 

[cbr6fs]

Tried some internal type bar ends many years ago and the problem i had was that they slipped.

With external mount type you have a fair bit of surface area which distributes the force applied well.
With the internal type the ones i used only had a small section that had contact with the bars.

No need to remove you grips completely.
Push the over till the part you want to cut off is over the bar, cut, then push back, bit of hairspray and a small long screwdriver helps if they on not the clamp on type.

Having a nice half moon scar on my leg from a pair of handlebars i'd also be a bit leery about the bit of those bars ends that are sticking out at the bottom.

End of he day though it only takes a couple of mins to trim your grips, on the plus side you get a better selection of bar ends to choose from.

 

[Zingmo]

... bit of hairspray and a small long screwdriver helps ....

This is a top tip. The hairspray acts as a lubricant when it is wet, but acts like glue when it dries.

Z

 

[Stew]

Trimming is a simple suggestion but I don't really want to do it on these:

 

[Stew]

I wonder if I take that end clamp off, what the diameter and width is.....

 

[cbr6fs]

No need to trim those, just loosen the clamps and slide it down the bar, don't even need to use hairspray with those clamp on grips.

Only downside is you'll loose 2cm (or the width of the bar ends) of handlebar space, but with the wide bars these days that's rarely a problem.

 

[mrcharly]

How's that different to a lever clamped over a thin walled tube?

the clamp pressures can be much, much higher when you are pressing evenly all around a tube. Cylinder strong in compression and all that (there is a reason why bridges have arches).