Bar ends ... so hot right now

Haven't tried them on bike park braking bumps yet, where I get the most arm pump, but I like the extra control and security they give when charging hard. They're also nice when leaning the bike into corners and off cambers. I put them on my Druid V1 with Deity grips. I didn't get the hole punch they sell, so just used a utility knife to cut the rubber off the end of the grip, drilled a hole in the plastic of the grip, then used a mini die grinder bit in a dremel to grind the plastic grip endcap out to the full interior diameter of the grip. 

I'd be curious to try them but having tried and hated Counterpunches (the hard outer ring hurt my hand), I'm reluctant to because of the lack of cushion.  I wonder why they didn't incorporate a foam liner, like what Finn did on his pair.

scalpel + step bit works pretty good too.  

Thanks for your excellent input in the other thread. I'll link below for anyone interested. 

Hoping to toss these on today and get a feel for them. I have a lot of nerve issues in my hands and it kills a lot of riding for me, basically by the time I get into a flow on any trail, I spend the rest of the time managing hand pain until I have to stop. I rarely have issues with my hands sliding outwards and losing grip, it's usually under constant / heavy braking they slip forward, but I'm hoping these will let me release my grip a little bit and go longer. We will see.

https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/2026-mtb-tech-rumors-and-innovation…

I just got a set of these and I'm going to try them out on my park/enduro bike.  To be clear, I'm talking about the wolftooth versions, not the OG versions that Breeden was selling/riding.  

What grips are people pairing with these so far?  

I got a couple sets and put them on my e-bike and my park/dh bike - both mounted with Renthal ultra-tacky push on grips with minor trimming (I always cut the inner flange off, and I trimmed the bit on the outer flange that overlaps the supplied bar end plugs on the outer).  No issues installing in a One-Up V2 carbon or an SQlab alloy bar.  Had a few days on each now, getting along well with them in the steep tech.  Haven't had any park laps on them yet so I can't comment on them interfering with whips and tables, will see when I'm back in Whistler in a few weeks.  

I've got mine set up with ODI Longneck push ons, and it's been great so far. I trimmed the mushroomed end of the grip to give my palm a little more room on the flat section of the grip, as the side of my hands were cramping up where they met the bar end. That cramp has gone away and the performance has been super sweet, noticeably less hand fatigue than without them. That being said, I've gotten them into the bike park and they straight up suck on jump trails. They have a tendency to poke my wrists or catch in my shirt if I'm doing any kind of whips or tables, and I'm certainly not the guy getting the most sideways or flat. 

If you have access to a 3d printer and want to give a set a try. 

https://www.printables.com/model/1626756-mtb-bar-end-plate

Not my file but going to print a set later today to put on and give them a go. 

Not sure about Deity but ODI's punch out pretty cleanly if you take a decent size punch with a hammer from the interior of the grip. One little hit and the circle of plastic breaks out of the grip end and then clean it up with a razor blade. The wolf tooth bar ends fit great that way with my ODI Reflex XLs. Been using the same punch out method on my moto for years.    

Yeah I'm keen to get a pair to try out but have yet to see any Canadian retailers with stock. Have people just been buying direct? 

let me know how it prints, I got some old grips I'll give it a try on

Yea too bad they are sold out and lord knows when they will be back in stock too...

That I've lived long enough for bar ends to come back into fashion!
What a time to be alive!!!

 

At least they have improved how they look I guess?

I've been running the originals on my DH bike and really like them. I described them to a mate as a bit like the difference between clipless and flats

Only drawback has been the metal bolt that scratches WHATEVER you lean your bike against so that's a consideration. 

They're back in stock on Wolf Tooth website.

Anyone using them with revgrips, any compatbility issues?  I'm currently on Oneup Goldstones and I absolutely love the bulge on the outer end, so will be trying out the WT locked-in bar-ends - but I need a new set of grips so figured maybe give revgrips a try if they're compatible.

I run Revgrips and bought a pair of the Wolftooths a couple of days ago.  You could run them stock with Revs but there will be a big gap where the collar is so not at all ideal.  I think you could clearance the round seat that is supposed to lock onto the bar to make room for the Rev collar but that will require removing quite a bit of material.  Definitely a bit disappointing as the Rev and bar end combo could be really good.  I have a set of new Oneup Goldstone grips on my workbench and that looks like a combo that will work quite well after cutting out the end plug of the grip.  Ergon GDH Team grips and the bar ends looks like they would play well together out of the box without mods when I was eyeballing things at the shop.

🤣

 Really really want to get a pair once they are available in canada! 

Any experience with mounting them to a non round hole handlebar? It'll likely pull it off centre, right? 

Also, did they say anything about plans to make an integrated grip-bar end lockon combo? 

Just ran these for the first time yesterday... really liked them... paired up with Ergon GD1 EVO grips which come with a bar end plug so no adaptation needed... 😜

I doubled down and bought two sets, one for the endurbro rig and one for the dh bike. Will I like them? who knows. Will I be able to pawn them off if I hate them? Probably. 

O/T but slightly related: I've had a few nasty hand injuries when I landed in rocks with the handlebar still in hand, the bar smashing my thumb against the rock underneath. I was thinking about some protective gizmo that would clamp between shifter and grip that would take the brunt of the impact in such situation, basically shaped like these bar ends but on a clamp. Anyone seen anything like that?

I snagged a couple pairs yesterday when they went back in stock at WT.  About a month ago I smacked my pinky knuckle into a tree, and have been noticing that my grip strength has been reduced from the swelling at that knuckle.  I've gone back and forth between my Goldstone grips and Ergon GDH as the big outer flange helps keep my hand in place, but the harder rubber of the Goldstone flange hurts that injured knuckle.  I'm thinking the GDH with it's softer rubber + the bar end should do the trick nicely.  My only concern is that based on what the install guide shows, you end up moving your grip in on the bars a bit.  Since I normally run my hands just barely hanging over the grip edge, I feel like this will effectively narrow my bars.

I got my first ride on these today. I'll get more in the coming week I'm sure. I paired them with a grip change to Wolf Tooth's lockon grips. 

For a little background, I have pretty significant neuropathy problems in both of my arms due to long running Cubital Tunnel syndrome. I've had surgery but the pain still exists when I ride and sometimes it still lingers after. My problems are somewhat the opposite of Joe's, his seem to stem from being highly athletic and having forearm pump, mine stem from sitting behind a computer since I was 8 years old and not starting to ride until my early 30s. Either way, lots of hand pain and it's caused me to quit riding several times before I just had to mentally accept sucking at it. 

The install went fine, Wolf Tooth makes a comment several places about the rubber settling and needing to regularly check torque. I can attest to that. I torqued to spec several times last night and they were out of spec again this morning. I'm not sure if that'll continue but they do suggest checking them every so often. Other than that, the install is pretty straightforward. 

They do feel a little claustrophobic climbing. I've long put my hands on the outside of the bars for leverage (lots of SS riding in the past) and to relax them, that's just not possible here. I don't think it's a significant enough issue to not run them, but you will find it forces you into a specific hand position which is...kinda the point, but it can make climbing a bit more draining having your hand in the same spot every time. 

Going down is where things obviously become more evident. In one of Joe's interviews, he mentioned something I hadn't noticed before, that when you take a big compression either due to braking or an impact, your hands tend to rotate outward. I started experimenting with this pre-bar end install and he's right. I've had several scary close calls where I pushed my hand endurance too far and nearly lost my grip, but thinking back it was almost always a twist to the outside. If you experiment braking in a parking lot, you'll feel the pressure on the outside of your hand. This is really evident for me and problematic because that's where my Ulnar issues become the most evident.

It almost feels like I have to learn how to ride them properly. The advice above was real helpful but I think it's one thing to feel it vs read about it and it's not non-intuitive to use, but they aren't super intuitive either. I think to get the most out of them, it's gonna take a little experimentation. I can say that they helped me ride faster and longer without stopping on a trail I'm very familiar with than I have in a while. I steadily started to improve a little more as I got comfortable with them. The most noticeable thing for me was leaning the bike over to corner, it felt like you had more control and were locked in more, but even on the chunky straightaways my hands felt more locked in than they ever have. If I can go 10s more without having to stop, it's a win and these definitely did that on this ride. We'll see as I get more time on them, there is probably a bit of a learning curve as you become more confident in them (kinda like riding clipless pedals) and loosen your grip a little more.

Even not having them wholly figured out, they made a huge difference and the one time my hands did hurt, it lingered a lot less afterwards and I was able to get moving again sooner than I have previously. The fact my hands hurt isn't a knock on these, I just am always going to have issues, but they made enough of a difference this ride that I'll keep them on and see how they do for a while.

I put some time in designing some 3D printable bar ends. Went through quite a lot of trial and error but now i'm really happy with how they turned out. Currently being tested by myself and a few local riders.

So if you or someone you know owns a 3D printer, and you find it hard to justify 50 dollars for the wolf tooth ones, or you're waiting for them to restock maybe check out https://cults3d.com/:4581834

Total cost for a pair is somewhere about 5ish bucks including my file, filament, bolts and nuts. If you brake them, that's a few pennies worth of filament and your back on track.

I got a ride in on the WT ones this weekend.  I'm of sort of mixed feelings.  There were times I didn't notice them at all.  There were times where I felt like maybe my grip was a bit more relaxed.  There were moments where I felt like I was able to push down on the inside bar end while cornering a bit better.  But there were also a lot of times where I felt like there was a uncomfortable pressure on the outside end of my injured hand, just in front of the wrist.  And on my last lap down a steep and natural trail (fairly smooth) my injured hand felt like it was almost cramping where the bar end rested - which I don't get just the GDH Slim grips.  I will have to try some more with/without but I'm not sold yet.  For me personally, I feel like the huge end on the OneUp Goldstone grips got me most of the way there, and I had to stop running those because the hard rubber flange was bothering my injured knuckle also (to a lesser extent).

WT version, coming from Counterpunch, about 10 days of park.  Definitely give them a try if you think they will improve your arm/hand issues.

• Non-intrusive to riding
• Attachment mechanism looks to be way more gentle on bars than Counterpunch's
• Gives a locked in feel
• Good possibility that it offers crash protection similar to Counterpunch, haven't tested yet
• Does make bar more narrow by 5-10mm b/c of small overlap with end of bar

Anyone got any knowledge about foam and recommendations on what might hold up the longest on the inside of the bar ends.  I'm assuming it's not what I can buy at Michael's.  I've decided to give them go, but definitely want to have something to pad them on hand when testing them out.

Im curious about how they attach, Do you need to chop the end of your grip off? 

Been messing around with the wolf tooth ones at the bike park. I don't have arm pump problems but it seems to help with hands cramping up and feels nice in big G-out berms. Staying on my DH bike for sure but I'm not rushing out for more pairs for the trail bikes because I can imagine having the same complaint as above, and I've never been able to pedal enough to get any real arm/hand fatigue

Well worth 35 bucks I have to say, they really nailed the ergonomics. I tried some half-disc ones last year and absolutely hated it, but these seem to conform perfectly to my hands