Bar Ends On a Road Bike

Can anybody see any reason why I should not put bar ends on my road bike? I do lots of climbing and I would like different places to put my hands. Has anybody ever seen anybody do this or am I being stupid?

I misread your post, at first I thought you meant bar-end shifters, but you mean bar-end bars. A few years back there used to be a bar called the Scott drop-in that had an inner hand position. You can put bar ends on--its your bike. Do what you want. Just make sure what you do is safe.

Might not work. Most road bars are a "skosh" bigger in diameter than mountain bike bars.

drop bars give me more hand positions than i know what to do with....

and bar ends on a drop bar? i like keeping my hands on the hoods when im climbing, in case i gotta downshift fast....

i still have my scott drop-in. havent used it in years. it's just sitting around in my box of cycling goodies.

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I use a flat bar with bar ends on my road bike - I find the flat bar more comfortable than the drops and the ends give me more positions

You simply have to re-orient your brake levers (presumably, Shimano) so that the rear of the "horn" of the hoods is almost vertical ... I don't know why some bike shops allow the bikes they sell to be set up with the levers in any other position OTHER than for "appearances" OR because they are too lazy to correct the "factory" setup.

This will probably involve unwrapping the handlebar tape, but perhaps (depending on how your bike was originally set up) only loosening the stem's face plate and rotating the handlebars, accordingly. You will need a long, 5mm Allen wrench to loosen/tighten the brake lever's clamp (inserted in the side of the lever body).

The "horn" will provide you with essentially the same hand position as bar ends on a flat bar that I think you are looking for ...

ALL contemporary/(aero) road levers are designed to be grabbed/held with your hands on the hoods.

BTW. The brake levers are probably EASIER to actuate/close when your hands are on the hoods ... this is particularly true for riders with smaller hands.

At some point, you may want to consider WIDER handlebars than the ones that probably came with your bike.