page_title: Bicycle handlebar
section_title: Bar ends
hierarchical_section_title: Bicycle handlebar / Bar ends
caption_attribution_description: Mountain bike's bar ends
context_page_description: A bicycle handlebar is the steering control for bicycles. It is the equivalent of a steering wheel for vehicles and vessels, but is most often directly mechanically linked to a pivoting front wheel via a stem which in turn attaches it to the fork. Besides steering, handlebars also often support a portion of the rider's weight, depending on their riding position, and provide a convenient mounting place for brake levers, shift levers, cyclocomputers, bells, etc.
context_section_description: In cycling, bar ends are extensions typically fitted to the ends of straight handlebars. They extend away from the handlebars and allow the rider to vary the type of grip and posture that they use during a ride. They are especially effective when climbing out of the saddle, because they increase leverage. Bar ends can also improve comfort for the rider due to the neutral position of the hands (palms inward) which places marginally less stress upon the musculature, and by providing more than one place to rest hands on a long journey.
  Some handlebars have bar ends welded onto them but most are clamped to the end of the bar. They are available in many shapes and sizes, such as stubby models that are around 100 mm in length to ones that curve around so as to provide even more hand positions. It is also possible to purchase combined ergonomic hand grips with integrated bar-ends.
  Bar ends were very popular on mountain bikes from the early 1990s until the late 1990s, when upswept "riser bars" came back into fashion; the combination of riser bars and bar ends is rarely seen.
  Bar ends can prove troublesome when negotiating twisty tracks between trees as they may hook around branches and cause a crash. They also afford some protection to a rider's hands in a fall or crash. However, by moving the hands further from the brake levers, they can increase the time it takes to stop a bicycle.
  Use of bar ends is forbidden by road racing regulatory bodies. Accidents can easily be caused by hooking other riders' handlebars during tight bunch-riding and additionally bar ends may cause severe injuries during collisions that not infrequently occur in that discipline.
caption: Pair of bar ends
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "MINOLTA CO.,LTD", "Image Model": "DiMAGE X", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "V100-02", "Image DateTime": "2007:04:13 11:53:03", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "284", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4084", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5055", "EXIF ExposureTime": "10/2653", "EXIF FNumber": "33/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:04:13 11:53:03", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:04:13 11:53:03", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired", "EXIF FocalLength": "6", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1600", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1200", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "886", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}