Question: MTB bar ends for road riding.

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

I've been riding my mountain bike (a 10 years old Trek 830 with road
tires) for a few months now. Sometimes, going against a head wind, I
wish I can lean more forward to minimize the wind effect. But there
isn't much that I can do because of the flat straight handlebar.

I used to ride a MTB on the road, and I thought the long L-shaped
barends were essential. It is possible to get in a very aero (and
comfortable) position by putting your hands on the ends of the barends,
and resting your forarms on the grips. I needed a long low stem to get
the position right (you might consider flipping your stem over if
possible)... I also had a rigid fork which lowered the front end a fair
amount.

Barends are also great when you are out of the saddle... they provide a
very nice place to put your hands.

The only downside was the lack of brake access from that position.

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

I've been riding my mountain bike (a 10 years old Trek 830 with road
tires) for a few months now. Sometimes, going against a head wind, I
wish I can lean more forward to minimize the wind effect. But there
isn't much that I can do because of the flat straight handlebar.

Question: Would a set of bar ends help in this situation? It appears
to me that since they can be slanted forward, the rider would be a
little flatter and thus reduce the frontal area. Has anyone tried this
before? Please share your experience.

Thanks,
Sam

I use mine that way, and it's a noticeable effect.

http://home.att.net/~rhhardin/odyssy1.jpg has visible bar ends. Note the
salad-tong front derailleur hanging from a brake cable.

--
Ron Hardin
[email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Great picture.

Is that a Dobie in the bugger?

Lewis.

*****************

Quoted message said:

Great picture.

Is that a Dobie in the bugger?

Lewis.

*****************

There's several hundred other Dobie pictures linked at the bottom of
http://home.att.net/~rhhardin/index.html

--
Ron Hardin
[email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

I've been riding my mountain bike (a 10 years old Trek 830 with road
tires) for a few months now. Sometimes, going against a head wind, I
wish I can lean more forward to minimize the wind effect. But there
isn't much that I can do because of the flat straight handlebar.

Question: Would a set of bar ends help in this situation? It appears
to me that since they can be slanted forward, the rider would be a
little flatter and thus reduce the frontal area. Has anyone tried this
before? Please share your experience.

Thanks,
Sam

Yes, if you can get the sort of longer L-shaped barends rather than the
short stubby ones, it will do exactly what you want. I rode all my bikes
during the 1990's with a setup like that. Once you have the barends on, set
them up fairly flat. I even experimented with having L-shaped barends
inboard of the brake levers, and I found that a useful hand position as
well.
Pierre

Quoted message said:

I've been riding my mountain bike (a 10 years old Trek 830 with road
tires) for a few months now. Sometimes, going against a head wind, I
wish I can lean more forward to minimize the wind effect. But there
isn't much that I can do because of the flat straight handlebar.

Question: Would a set of bar ends help in this situation? It appears
to me that since they can be slanted forward, the rider would be a
little flatter and thus reduce the frontal area. Has anyone tried this
before? Please share your experience.

I once did a USCF trial event - a 40km road time trial on a MTB. The
rules stipulated that the bike had to have tires at least 1.5" wide,
and that you couldn't use multi-position bars (a shame, since I had my
urban MTB outfitted with the excellent Scott AT4-Pro bars, which would
be the ultimate solution to your problem). The rules did allow for
bar ends, so I got the longest, curviest bar ends I could find, and
they did help considerably on a very windy day (hey, I came in first
out of two riders in the category, and at a speed comparable to most
of the riders on "real" road/time trial bikes).

What I do when really fighting the wind or really trying to make some
time is to rest my wrists on the bar on either side of the stem, and
hook my thumbs under the brake/shift cables (without putting any real
pressure on them). This position isn't the most comfortable way to go
cross-country, and WILL delay getting to the brakes in a hurry (be
careful!) but is by far the most aerodynamic approach to riding an MTB
on the road. It does depend on a "classic XC geometry" rather than
the shorter, more upright cockpit of many of today's full suspension
bikes.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

http://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.asp?id=11301

--
DTW .../\.../\.../\...

I've spent most of my money on mountain biking and windsurfing.
The rest, I've just wasted.

Thanks, Ron, there are some great pictures there.

Here is a link you may like:-

http://www.dobermanrescue.org/

This is where our dogs came from.

Lewis.

Per [email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Question: Would a set of bar ends help in this situation? It appears
to me that since they can be slanted forward, the rider would be a
little flatter and thus reduce the frontal area. Has anyone tried this
before? Please share your experience.

I've been using the longish curved bar ends for over a year now and wouldn't go
back.

Got the reach on the bars set for comfort on downhills and the bar ends angled
for riding on the flats.

I like them angled a little bit down.

Something that made a big diff for me: wrap the bar ends with handlebar tape -
and also wrap the interface between the bars and bar ends with tape. Finish it
off with a little electrical tape to take care of any loose ends.

Still not as good as drop bars/riding on the hoods... but a *lot* better than
just flat bars.
--
PeteCresswell

Mark Hickey said:

I once did a USCF trial event - a 40km road time trial on a MTB. The
rules stipulated that the bike had to have tires at least 1.5" wide,
and that you couldn't use multi-position bars (a shame, since I had my
urban MTB outfitted with the excellent Scott AT4-Pro bars, which would
be the ultimate solution to your problem).

Ah, the old AT4's - what a great product. When did these go out of production? I used them for off-road racing, touring and commuting between about 1990 and 1994 (when I sold the bike). Apparently they failed catastrophically a few years later - the wonders of AL. Wish I could get some of these bars now!

roshea said:

Mark Hickey said:

I once did a USCF trial event - a 40km road time trial on a MTB. The
rules stipulated that the bike had to have tires at least 1.5" wide,
and that you couldn't use multi-position bars (a shame, since I had my
urban MTB outfitted with the excellent Scott AT4-Pro bars, which would
be the ultimate solution to your problem).

Quoted message said:

Ah, the old AT4's - what a great product. When did these go out of
production?

It was a LONG time ago - IIRC, I picked up a few of the AT4-Pro bars
in '96 or so on a last-chance closeout buy from a distributor (cheap,
too). I still have a couple of them left - there is no better "all
things to everyone bar" on the planet, IMHO.

Quoted message said:

I used them for off-road racing, touring and commuting
between about 1990 and 1994 (when I sold the bike). Apparently they
failed catastrophically a few years later - the wonders of AL. Wish I
could get some of these bars now!

I keep hearing stories of these things still turning up occasionally,
but haven't seen it myself. It might be worthwhile to check Ebay
occasionally.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Thank you all for your reply. The consensus appears to be the
ubiquitous drop bar.