Three Average Joes: Specialized "Dirt Rodz" Bar Ends

Having now achieved my first 30+ mile ride (without ease!) I decided it was time and a good excuse to get my first real upgrades for my Specialized Sirrus. Being that my biggest problem is hill and actually reaching the top of them. My first obvious choice is bar ends to give me that extra push on the limbs when going upwards and also a second thought was also to be able to use them to lean forward and get lower and more aerodynamic when needed.

It didn't take long to decide the ones to get were the Specialized "Dirt Rodz" Bar Ends mainly because the black and white colour scheme perfectly matched the 2011 model Sirrus. How much difference can there really be between them at this price range? They weren't too expensive either at £20 from Evans Cycles.

My Sirrus is a year old now (christened "Rachel") and it is my main bike. I commute to work on it "most" days, that journey being roughly 12 miles there and back over road and pavements. It's also used for frequent short trips to friends/family etc, and I still think it is the perfect bike bike for these uses.

She's been gifted a few accessories in her year - SKS Chromoplastic Mudguards, bottle cage and saddle bag. Although the biggest change is the combination of the Schwalbe marathon plus city tyre and the Slime inner tube - a desperate measure I had to use as I was getting punctures every week.

First thing was to remove the current grips and work out the spacing and positioning on the bars. I prised open a gap with a thin screwdriver and sprayed some WD40 down then tilted and gave the bars a tap to let it seep down a bit. the grip twisted off pretty easily after that. Luckily I didn't have to mess around resizing the grip as there was almost the exact amount of space needed after shifting the brake level bracket up half a centimetre, the only cutting done was an opening to poke the bar through the end of the grip.

After doing the same for the other side I attached everything loosely in place and played around a bit until everything was symmetrical and comfortable, this included raising the brake levers a bit higher to match the new hand position.