I have a Cotic Roadrat for London street hacking duties and stuck some short bar ends on for leverage cos i run it singlespeed. I actually ride most of the time on the ends of the bars/bar ends similar to the way I would ride on the hoods of my road bike. I wear gloves, but they're not that padded and as this thing has 700cx25 tyres and a steel fork, so with no padding on the bar ends my wrists are getting pretty sore. I also have a pre-existing injury and it ain't doing that any favours.
I bought some standard handlebar grips to put on but of course bar ends are a thicker diameter and they don't fit! Anyone else pad up their bar ends and if so how do you do it? - standard roadie bar tape? I could just slice open the grips I have and zip tie them to the bar ends, but they may come out a bit too broad...
any hints, tips and bodges gratefully received. MTFU would not be helpful 😉
ta
Depends on the bar ends. Lizard Skins used to do some bar end covers. Grip tape would do. Or those little Cane Creek bar ends have a squishy rubber covering already (and they're nicely profiled).
[url= http://www.chargebikes.com/products/parts/detail.php?id=5 ]http://www.chargebikes.com/products/parts/detail.php?id=5[/url] maybe if you're on the barends all the time?
you can get gel pads - originally for drop bars to go under the bar tape. Anyway, stick these on top of the bars ends then cover with Lizard Skins bar end covers (see CRC). Looks tidy and is much comfier, and grippier too.
brooess, I had exactly the same setup. Flat bar/bar ends on a 'Rat. I too found that I was ALWAYS on the bar ends, so I decided to fit some bullhorn tri/track bars similar to the ones in teaandbiscuits' link above so I could get the brake levers up where my hands were.
It's a fantastic setup, wish I'd done it sooner. Proper bar tape right the way up, no having to shift hand positions to get to the brakes and the hand position is comfier with a bit more variety (and shh, it also makes your bike look cooler in a fakeneger kind of way 😉 ).
I totally recommend it for a fellow singlespeed Roadrat bar end user 🙂