Bar ends inboard of brake levers

[Woodtourer]

I will say that the Crazy Bars I have on my touring bike are fantastic!!

[Brucey]

I've often used bar ends inside the brake levers, on bikes with flat bars where I am worried about aerodynamics.

cheers

[tenbikes]

https://www.bikemonger.co.uk/surly-molo ... 2444-p.asp

Out of stock here but perhaps available else where. This would be my choice.

[iandusud]

Thank you everyone for all the helpful input. I've just come across this:
https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/11 ... s-way.html

[kangaroo]

Since no-one else has mentioned it, this might be a daft idea, but in the past, when riders got a bit older and less flexible, it wasn't that uncommon for them to "invert" their drop bars for a more comfortable position. It's difficult to describe and I haven't got a picture so you'll need to visualise this.
Imagine the handlebars, out of their clamp and minus controls and cables, rotated through 180deg (like an aeroplane propeller) so the "drops" are now on top. Return the bars to their stem, and re-attach the controls in a position best suited to you. Chop off the redundant bits of handlebar above the levers.
You will no longer be using the hoods (or the drops for that matter) but your hands will be in a very similar position- slightly higher (you could lower the stem a touch)- and in an ideal place for braking and you still have the option using the straight bits and shoulders of the bars. It's also very economical on bar tape.
So, what's not to like? Well, this might work better on older pattern bars which were more curvaceous (without ergonomic flat bits under the levers) and I'm very doubtful that the cable routing would be acceptable for combined brake and gear controls, although I think my older style STIs with "washing-line" style gear cables exiting from the sides of the hoods would work. Bar end shifters could be used instead, provided there was a sufficient stub of straight bar above the lever to take the expansion plug and to allow you to change gear. Aesthetically, this could be a bit odd.
Some designs of "stoker" bars might perform in a similar way but may be wider to accommodate the pilot's rear.
It's just a suggestion- don't take the hacksaw to some perfectly good handlebars without thinking this through.

[iandusud]

Since no-one else has mentioned it, this might be a daft idea, but in the past, when riders got a bit older and less flexible, it wasn't that uncommon for them to "invert" their drop bars for a more comfortable position. It's difficult to describe and I haven't got a picture so you'll need to visualise this.
Imagine the handlebars, out of their clamp and minus controls and cables, rotated through 180deg (like an aeroplane propeller) so the "drops" are now on top. Return the bars to their stem, and re-attach the controls in a position best suited to you. Chop off the redundant bits of handlebar above the levers.
You will no longer be using the hoods (or the drops for that matter) but your hands will be in a very similar position- slightly higher (you could lower the stem a touch)- and in an ideal place for braking and you still have the option using the straight bits and shoulders of the bars. It's also very economical on bar tape.
So, what's not to like? Well, this might work better on older pattern bars which were more curvaceous (without ergonomic flat bits under the levers) and I'm very doubtful that the cable routing would be acceptable for combined brake and gear controls, although I think my older style STIs with "washing-line" style gear cables exiting from the sides of the hoods would work. Bar end shifters could be used instead, provided there was a sufficient stub of straight bar above the lever to take the expansion plug and to allow you to change gear. Aesthetically, this could be a bit odd.
Some designs of "stoker" bars might perform in a similar way but may be wider to accommodate the pilot's rear.
It's just a suggestion- don't take the hacksaw to some perfectly good handlebars without thinking this through.

Thank you for the reply but I don't see how this helps me in any way . I had actually thought about that but couldn't see any real advantage apart from better braking from that position (not an unreasonable advantage but not a deal breaker either). I'm very comfortable as it is riding on the hoods and I have the tops to use as with your suggestion. The idea of combining flat bars with inboard bar ends is to have wider position when more leverage would be advantageous (a reasonable consideration on a tandem) but my normal "on the hoods" position when "cruising".

Cheers, Ian

[iandusud]

Since no-one else has mentioned it, this might be a daft idea, but in the past, when riders got a bit older and less flexible, it wasn't that uncommon for them to "invert" their drop bars for a more comfortable position. It's difficult to describe and I haven't got a picture so you'll need to visualise this.
Imagine the handlebars, out of their clamp and minus controls and cables, rotated through 180deg (like an aeroplane propeller) so the "drops" are now on top. Return the bars to their stem, and re-attach the controls in a position best suited to you. Chop off the redundant bits of handlebar above the levers.
You will no longer be using the hoods (or the drops for that matter) but your hands will be in a very similar position- slightly higher (you could lower the stem a touch)- and in an ideal place for braking and you still have the option using the straight bits and shoulders of the bars. It's also very economical on bar tape.
So, what's not to like? Well, this might work better on older pattern bars which were more curvaceous (without ergonomic flat bits under the levers) and I'm very doubtful that the cable routing would be acceptable for combined brake and gear controls, although I think my older style STIs with "washing-line" style gear cables exiting from the sides of the hoods would work. Bar end shifters could be used instead, provided there was a sufficient stub of straight bar above the lever to take the expansion plug and to allow you to change gear. Aesthetically, this could be a bit odd.
Some designs of "stoker" bars might perform in a similar way but may be wider to accommodate the pilot's rear.
It's just a suggestion- don't take the hacksaw to some perfectly good handlebars without thinking this through.

I've been giving this some more thought and have come up with what might be a good compromise. I've found some bullhorns which are 48cm wide which should allow me to replicate my preferred position, all be it a bit wider, and at the same time have good access to brakes and gears. This would also give me better leverage as desired.

As I have STI levers currently I would fit them, which would probably mean running exposed outer cables but that may not be such a bad thing as I imagine that cable runs would be less restrictive than binding them to the curves of the drop bars and should therefore give better performance. If I was doing this from scratch I would opt for aerobar brake levers and bar end shifters, and if the experiment works I might consider going over to them as I can use the STIs on another bike. For £20 and some bar tape it's definitely worth a go.

[Tom]

Cyckelgalen,

Reference to your comments with regards to Bar End Shifters, dated 28/07/2020

You put up on the forum an image if some Shimano ones that fit straight bars,In my younger days I used drops with the bar end levers ,but due to the passage of time, I am on straight bars now but do miss the bar end levers the simpler design less hassle .

Can you tell me please what model / type the Shimanos are,(due to all other components belong to them)

Regards Tom

[Brucey]

just in case Cyckelgalen misses your query I think I might be able to help. This is Cyckelgalen's picture;



the bar end shifter is a shimano light action one; that looks like SL-6480 (LH shifter), mounted on an alternative bracket. The matching RH shifter to that has a switchable mode between 8s indexing and friction.

It is mounted on a SunRace thumbshifter bracket (hence the SR logo on the band), probably from a SunRace M90 shifter. This is possible because the SunRace shifter uses the same kind of mounting system underneath as shimano bar end shifters, which is similar to (but not quite identical to) a down tube braze-on mount.

You can buy a pair of SunRace M90 thumbshifters for about the same money as alternative brackets alone eg here

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/gear-spares-other/

The Sun Race LH shifter itself is actually OK (not as good as the shimano one pictured), but the SunRace RH shifter (eg M90) is index only and furthermore has 'sticky backlash' in it. Most folk find the net result using the M90 RH shifter to be somewhat unsatisfactory.

cheers

[Cyckelgalen]

Brucey's reply is totally accurate. The bar end shifters are Dura Ace and the brackets Sun Race, which can be purchased separately as a spare IIRC.

[GideonReade]

I've been giving this some more thought and have come up with what might be a good compromise

... And? Does it work? Piccy?

[iandusud]

I've been giving this some more thought and have come up with what might be a good compromise

... And? Does it work? Piccy?

Patience! I'm in Northumberland for a week with the tandem but haven't had a chance yet to make the changes. If fact I'm in two minds about it today after a lovely day's riding in which I found myself using the drops a few times on some fast stretches. Very different from the Lake District where we were a couple of weeks ago when the only time I used the drops was on steep descents. However I was riding my Moulton this week and I'm thinking I might do the bullhorn conversion on that first as I rarely use the drops on that one but do ride on the hoods most of the time. I'll keep you posted

[Jeff31]

If you are trying to maximise the distance between the bar ends try fitting them outside the brake lever clamps to gain a few centimetres but check you can comfortably pull the brakes, I found a 2 finger lever a little awkward but some 3 finger levers I tried were just right for my big hands. I use Ergo hand grips, for better hand support and comfort, so trimmed them down to put my hands in the right place.