I find them useful and comfortable on my 685mm flat bars – I consider that fairly wide. YMMV

<3

I love them on my race bikes and singlespeed, but I’m not a fan of wide bars.

I wanted a different hand position on the long road rides to the trails

I put my hands either side of my stem and bend my elbows. Gets you there quicker.

bar ends are soooooo 1990

midge bars are the way ahead… unbelievable levels of leverage when climbing and stacks of comfy hand positions when on the flat… you can even use them on downhills! (as i did at the weekend… thank God for well set-up Avid BB7’s!)

I was thinking of trying some curtain pole ends on my bars:

That Cannondale with Midge bars – really nice!

KCNC bar ends on KCNC flat bars for me (race hardtail). Really love them, fantastic for climbing and also good for cruising on the flat.

I miss them – didn’t look as good on the Turner, plus 100mm stem and 560mm bars made me a tad nervous on tech & decents

If we’re posting pictures, how about this one ?
Five cyclists riding up a hill. Can you guess which one’s on a single speed ?

the guy standing up with ridiculously wide bars

Current set up:

[/url] 246_4629_1 by jwmlee, on Flickr[/img]

Really like these: http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k441/a11845/comp-be-carbon-bar-ends.html

Still got Ergon’s with bar ends on flats, its a bit like having drops on your road bike, just another position available

+1 for risers making them redundant, hands on the stem for long seated climbs and the extra leverage of wider bars made them uneccecary for standing and stomping on the pedals.

IMO, you’re entitled to your oppinnion, but the doest change the fac that it’s wrong 😛

hands on the stem for long seated climbs

ON the stem?

Sounds tricky

Five cyclists riding up a hill. Can you guess which one’s on a single speed ?

The proper cool one. FACT. Definitely not the big lad in red wearing scoutmaster shorts.

I use them on risers, just ‘cos that’s what I have kicking about. Bite me 🙂

Very useful for long days in the saddle IMO.

560mm bars made me a tad nervous on tech & decents

Have you considered putting your brake levers somewhere you can reach them? 😉