In the mid-2000's I commuted on a late 80's Specialized Rockhopper. For reliability and simplicity in all weather/temperatures, I had a custom wheel built with

In the mid-2000's I commuted on a late 80's Specialized Rockhopper. For reliability and simplicity in all weather/temperatures, I had a custom wheel built with fixed gears (17/19T) and ran 1.75" 26" semi-slicks with kevlar built in. That thing was a tank. TANK. I only had one bad wreck on it. I was in traffic and all the cars were backed up. For better or worse, I was in the shoulder and filtering toward the stoplight when I saw a car 2-3 cars ahead in the shoulder. I was deciding what to do when my handlebar bumped the mirror of a car to my left. Just barely. The car was fine. I broke my left hand somehow in the melee and landed hard on my right shoulder and elbow, skidding several feet. Was I using bar ends? No. I had got rid of them and was using what's often called a "trekker" bar or "butterfly" bar. The width is what killed me. I would have been better off on my narrow bars and the bar ends, which are still shown on FGG: http://fixedgeargallery.com/2006/feb/RyanFlowers.htm http://fixedgeargallery.com/2006/feb/RyanFlowers.htm Of course it's understandable that nobody wants them on new bikes. The reasons given are solid.