Tag Archives: Tweaks

Beginner Bike Tweaks: Bar Ends on Grip Shifts

You might have read this post before – It was first published in February 2010 and it’s just had a brief update in September 2011. 😉

Why Fit Bar Ends?

My boy has a 24″ Mountain Bike. Ever since he knew he was getting it, he made it clear he wanted some bar ends like his Dad’s to help pull the thing up hills and rest his weary wrists on the bouncy trails.

I know bar ends are a love or hate thing. Frankly I’m not going to discuss it.  I love them. With crappy sore hands like mine, anything that helps you move your hands around the bars makes it easier to keep riding.  They’re also a boon on steep easy descents, where they help you to get down low into the bike and eek a few more mph onto your maximum reading for the day.  Simple!

How’s It Done?

It’s easy, really.  Grip shifts look pretty unmovable, but really they’re just slipped onto the handlebars and screwed into place.  So grab a cross-headed screwdriver, some allen keys, a little elbow grease and your new bar ends … then get stuck in.

The first job is to loosen the collars of the brake levers and the Gripshift mechanisms.  The Gripshifts have a screw concealed which, once you’ve loosened it, allow the units to be easily slipped along the handlebars.  Use the depth of your new bar ends as a guide so you know how far to move them inwards along.  Then tighten them a little.

Using a good craft knife, cut the end of the rubber grips.  Don’t overdo it, you can always take a little more off; you can’t put any back!  Then use your elbow grease to move the rubber grip along the handlebar, to make room for your shiny new bar ends.

Attach the bar ends, being careful to get the angle right.  If you’re using a stand to hold your bike, now’s the moment to take it off and sit astride the bike to get the angles right.  Tighten up the bar ends, then the Gripshift units and brake levers.

You’re done!  You can now pull your bike up big hills and lean right down on those fast descents.  You can’t, however, use the brakes without a swift alteration of your hand position.  This fact is sort of important.

As an added bonus, your grips don’t get busted when leant against walls or scraped (accidentally of course, Joby) against passing cars.

If you end up in Accident and Emergency, don’t tell ’em Phill sent ya! 😉

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