I’ve got 680mm handlebars but my hands are right at the end of my 130mm grips and have rubbed the paint off the lock-on rings.

Will I die if I stick some 150mm grips onto the bars to give my hands more room? They’d overhang the ends of the bars by 20mm and I’d need to figure out a way of covering the hole in the end, but I don’t think I’d snap the handlebars in the event of an impact on the end 20mm …. or would I?

I don’t really want to go down the road of a new set of handlebars, as £40+ seems a lot to pay to for the 40mm of extra space I need.

More likely is after a couple of rides the overhanging grip bit will tear off. And I don’t see how controlling the bike with a floppy bit of rubber will be much good, especially if it comes off in your hands… So yes you will definitely die.

Might have to bite the bullet and save for some bars. Might be some in the classifieds?

don’t be silly, a lock on won’t even stay put with only one clamp securing it.

FWIW I cut down all my bars to the correct width so I can ride with my pinkie/outer palm overhanging the lock on grip too. I prefer my hands there.

New bars, for sure. You will just mash the inside of a lockon grip with the end of the bar if it overhangs by that much.

GW – Member

don’t be silly, a lock on won’t even stay put with only one clamp securing it.

GW, you must get on the phone to these reckless people stat! 😀

…oh also the longer the bar the beefier it is made in the middle to cope with extra potential leverage.

So I suppose apart from the bit of flex and short grip life, if your bar has always been 680mm and never cut down, you may be ‘levering’ it a bit too much with an extra 20mm on the end.

So yes, new bar again!

“don’t be silly, a lock on won’t even stay put with only one clamp securing it.”

When I used lockons, I had them sticking out a bit beyond the bar ends. No issues apart from bars being a bit too wide at times.

But I’ve gone back to non-lockon mushroom grips, gluing them with hairspray, for comfort reasons.

Many non-lock-on grips will add about 10mm of bar width and be comfy with your hands overlapping their ends. RaceFace Good/Evil are nice. The risk of extra leverage causing failure is insignificant unless you’re really big, really strong and ride really hard.

Can’t you just move everything a tiny bit into the middle of the bars? Am I missing something?

those spesh gips aren’t “lock-on’s”

Buzz – maybe I should have added “unless you’re a seriously limp wristed rider”

Oooh you’ve such big hands GW. I can smell your testosterone from here and it’s turning me on 😉

You don’t have to spend £40+ on a bar.

leverage is a non-issue as you won’t be able to apply any significant force through the extended section.

Can’t see this working particularly well though, it doesn’t seem like you’ll be in a better position than if you just moved your hands further off the bars.

You could try jamming a cork half in, putting some coper pipe over it, then putting a grip over the top of it all, that might work a little bit, but I would just get some new bars.

New bars. I might have a set of low rise Sunline V3s lying around somewhere, and if I get rid of those I have the perfect excuse to buy some silly wide ones for my new frame 😀

sorry to disappoint Buzz but I have pretty skinny wrists and fingers and I think testosterone missed me out during puberty, still only need to shave once a week 😳 (hope this isn’t turning you on even more)). I was referring to riding style rather than physical attributes.

I’ve done exactly this on both my RaceFace next carbon bars – the lock on grips extend the bars by about 20mm at each end. It feels more comfortable like this and doesn’t seem to be a problem. The only thing I’ve had to do is run a 1 layer thick section of insulating tape over the bars at the end to help the grips grip and protect the bars from any rubbing. I figure this setup actually protects the bars in a crash – i.e. the ground will impact on the plastic grip sub-structure rather than directly to the bar.

GW – Member

those spesh gips aren’t “lock-on’s”

I am not sure that ‘lock-on’ is trademarked yet, or has an international standard like disc brake or chain device mounts to it.

Look, DMR do them with a single clamp on the other end too!

BTW I have used both the ones I posted, and never managed to budge them riding. Perhaps I am not riding hard enough though.

Ha ha.. I’d love to see some tool try and mount those DMR grips 20mm outboard of their bars 😆

didnt one of the mtb mags not do a wee bit on these 20 or 30mm extensions for bars??like a wee screw in bit for either side to lenghten your bars without having to purchase new ones.i might have dreamt it though(dragons den here i come)

Yes, ODI do bars you can screw extra bits into if you want to go wider for a bit.

Is there something stopping you moving the levers in a bit? The grips wouldn’t have to overhang then 😕

don’t be silly, a lock on won’t even stay put with only one clamp securing it.

Mine does. I have Rogues and stripped one of the bolts on one so its held on by the inside clamp now.

Thanks for the suggestions about the likelihood of my impending doom! 🙂

The formula brake mount is quite wide, and they are as central on the bike as I can manage due to the taper of my existing bars (Truvativ Hussefelt). I think the lever is quite long too, so to manage 1 fingered braking my hand has to be very close to the end of the bars. The SLX shifters are on the outside of the brakes(closer to the bar ends).

If anyone can suggest a cheapy 720mm set of bars with a 40mm rise, in black (because colour is important!) that’d be great!

I made some bar extensions at work. Added 20mm to either end of my EA70s to make them
nearly as wide as my Sunline V1s.

Anyone you know got a lathe?

I don’t think I know anyone who has one.

How much are 150mm grips? Must be getting on for £15? And that’s for a bodge workaround for wider bars.

You can get some Sunline V3s from CRC for about £25 – not quite the rise you are after:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=19258

These are 800mm wide with 35mm rise:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=63709

Or these might be your best bet. 710mm wide, 40mm rise for £27:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=41919

GW…

Buzz – maybe I should have added “unless you’re a seriously limp wristed rider”

Fergus Lamb, Joe Barnes, James Shirly all limp wristed riders then? All have ran lock-ons overhanging bar ends. Only have problems in a crash, when the end can snap off!
I would get new bars mind.