I bought Easton CNT Low risers but my joints on my thumbs still hurt and I was think of fitting some carbon stubbie bar ends to give me hands an alternative position. Do you think they would look crap? I’ve only ever used bar ends on flat bars before.

Yes.

Not only would they look crap, but I’d be VERY wary of running bar ends on carbon bars. I very much doubt they’re warrantied for use together.

If they have metal inserts in the end you might be able to run bar ends. Generally bar end on riser bars look pretty crap, but these days you can get pretty short things that look more like a bulge at the end of the bar… maybe you could try these things??

Like these Cane Creek things

Another warning against bar ends on carbon…some bars are designed for it but most aint, and I’ve seen a pic or two floating round where a small crash as caused the bar end to snap leaving your bars 20mm shorter than before!

How about those oval body geometry grips by Spesh? Know a couple of people that use them and they have stopped hand pain.

The bar ends will look great – it’ll just make your bars look cr@p ,p)

Perhaps try rotating your bars slightly first, I find my thumbs can ache if my bars are rotated too far back..

Sod the if it looks crap bit

if it works for you why not

btw I second the idea of the oval body grips by specialized, they work for me

According to Easton, CNT bars are fine with bar ends and the warranty is unaffected by their use so long as you use a particular clamp type (see the easton website) – I think they’re the only manufacturer to state this mind.

As for what they look like, who cares! I ran carbon bar ends on my old CNT risers for years – worked well and looked fine (imho).

I have to say though, after damaging the bars/ends in a crash last month and replacing them with some monster-wide 09 CNT low risers, I haven’t missed them since.

how about some ergons?