Our Tech Q&A is your chance to have your burning questions answers – big or small, complex or trivial – with help from the BikeRadar team and trusted industry experts. This time, a reader is pondering the merits of handlebar extenders. Got a question of your own that you want the BikeRadar team to answer? Email us at podcast@bikeradar.com
I want to try wider bars, but don’t want to buy new ones. I’ve seen handlebar extenders online – are these worth trying?
Dan Formosa
If you’re curious about wider bars but not ready to commit to a new set, handlebar extenders can seem like an easy fix – and there are plenty on the market.
Most designs work in a similar way. They slot into the end of your existing handlebar using an expanding bung, adding a few extra centimetres of width on each side.
You’ll find lots of these sold online, particularly on marketplaces such as Temu and AliExpress, often under a wide range of brand names.
While the idea is simple enough, we’d be cautious about some of the longer versions.
Adding length via a small insert means you’re placing extra stress on a part of the bar that wasn’t necessarily designed to handle it. The longer the extension, the greater those forces become, raising concerning questions about durability and safety.
While most bar manufacturers probably wouldn’t advocate using them, shorter extenders are less concerning, especially if you’re just looking to experiment with a slightly wider position rather than making a dramatic change.
Controltech Terminator bar ends
BikeRadar’s former digital editor Jack Luke has used Controltech Terminator bar ends for years and has recommended them to friends for exactly this purpose.
They clamp securely, feel solid in use and are easy to fit or remove, making them a practical way to test a wider setup without committing to new bars.
We’d be more inclined to trust something like that from an established brand than a no-name option, particularly when it comes to a critical contact point such as your handlebar.
We’d also suggest sticking to alloy bars if you’re considering extenders. While Controltech doesn’t explicitly warn against using them with carbon bars, the outward pressure from the expanding bung isn’t ideal for a material that can be more sensitive to clamping and internal stresses.
The good news is that decent alloy bars are relatively affordable, and once you’ve worked out what width suits you, you can always upgrade to something lighter or higher-end later.
If you’re just curious, a short, well-made extender could be worth a try – but if you’re planning to stick with a wider setup long-term, a new bar is the better solution.
