Rogue Panda Bamboo Shoots Bar Ends Review: Hinged with Adjustable Sweep

It’s new product month at Rogue Panda Designs in Arizona, and it’s been fun to share all the news coming out of their small shop. The small team got rolllng with the new Huachuca Hip Pack, their first hip pack, which Logan reviewed here. Next up was a redesign of the Ripsey dropper post saddle bag, which now has a new seatpost bracket and revised saddle rail clamp and still offers best-in-class tire clearance. Today, Rogue Panda is back with one final product release for March. Instead of updating a pre-existing design or adding a new bag to their growing lineup, they’re launching their first-ever bicycle component: inner bar ends!

Bar ends (both inner and outer) have been around for decades, but they’ve come a long way since the chunky, metal designs found on ’90s mountain bikes. Brands like Ergon, Cane Creek, and SQlab have changed the game with modern, rubberized options that provide an alternative riding position, help shift your weight forward on long climbs, aren’t obstructive while trail riding, and sometimes offer an aerodynamic advantage. However, that didn’t stop Rogue Panda founder Nick Smolinske from taking a stab at designing his own. After trying every inner bar end on the market, he wasn’t happy with any of them and found himself returning to an old set of Ritchey bar ends that he could put foam grips over. He found he preferred multiple hand positions to being locked in to the single position that ergonomically shaped bar ends provide.

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I put together a mini guide on alt-hand positions a few years ago and tested some of the most popular inner bar ends. Since then, I’ve used the SQlab Innerbarends on almost all my bikepacking trips. The option for another hand position is a welcome relief for long rides, but I agree with Nick’s thoughts on their lack of versatility. Another thing Nick noticed was that most inner bar ends don’t have a hinged clamp, which makes installing and removing a real pain for anyone who’s regularly switching parts out.

Finally, most inner bar ends don’t offer any adjustment aside from the mounting angle, which means the handlebar shape ultimately determines the position of the bar end. Providing sweep adjustment for the bar ends means you can position them in the same position on handlebars with minimal sweep or aggressively swept-back bars. The only inner bar end with a hinged clamp and some adjustment I could find are the Soma Bar-Ends, but they rotate, which isn’t a substitute for true sweep adjustment.

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The new Rogue Panda Bamboo Shoots inner (or outer) bar ends are Nick’s take on the perfect alternative hand position for flat bars. The unique design takes everything mentioned above and packs them into a neat package that is easy to install, adjustable, and suitable for the rigors of bikepacking and trail riding. They’re made by the same local CNC machinist that makes Rogue Panda’s Blue Ridge Harness and Ripsey clamps, constructed from 6061 aluminum. They experimented with other materials, including composite and a partial composite/aluminum mix, but the final aluminum version was the only design they trusted as a steering component and to handle the rider’s weight and leverage.

The Bamboo Shoots use a standard 22.2mm bar slightly offset from the clamp to improve brake lever clearance. They’re compatible with standard MTB grips—including slide-on silicone options or bar tape if that’s your jam—but Rogue Panda recommends something that provides access to the hidden sweep adjustment bolt, which is positioned just in front of the clamp bolt. The 22.2mm swing clamp opens wide to make installation and removal easy and is secured with a chunky 4mm hex bolt.

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The sweep adjustment, which sets the Bamboo Shoots apart from other bar ends, is achieved with a slotted bolt channel just in front of the main mounting bolt. It offers an 8° to 37° angle adjustment, which is as much as Rogue Panda could get within the aluminum stock they used. The 8° starting angle is perfect for bars with minimal sweep, such as the We Are One handlebar (8° backsweep) I have on my Rocky Mountain Element. I also tested them on the Stridsland Anchor Bar, which has a 20° backsweep, and I found myself adjusting the Bamboo Shoots more for a more natural hand position. Even on the Sklar PBJ Bar, which has a 28° backsweep, the Bamboo Shoots have enough adjustment to point forward rather than outward like bar ends without sweep adjustment.

The Bamboo Shoots I’ve been testing came with Rogue Panda’s optional Wolf Tooth Razer Grips. The grips are 100% silicone, tacky, and offer lots of cushion. Rogue Panda’s version has a nifty angled cut toward the clamp end to cover more of the metal and is easily rolled back to access the sweep bolt. Although I still appreciate the ergonomics of the SQlab Innerbarends, which are pretty comfortable, having the option to move my hands around the bar ends has been great. Rather than being locked in to one position, I found myself resting my hands toward the bottom near my grips, in the middle, and toward the front for a slightly more aero position. At 4.5 inches (11.4 centimeters) from the edge of the handlebar to the tip of the bar end, the Bamboo Shoots are ideally sized to be adequately large but not obtrusive. There’s also no reason why they wouldn’t work as outer bar ends positioned outboard from the handlebar grips, but I’d be a little nervous riding tight singletrack or anything technical with that configuration.

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Just like Nick intended, the hinged clamp makes for a quick install and removal. I swapped the Bamboo Shoots between three bikes over the last few weeks, and it only took a few minutes to get them set up each time. The clamp itself is much thinner than other bar ends I’ve used, which means there’s a good chance you can leave your brake levers and other controls in place. Or if you need to move things, the change will be relatively small.

The only real downside I see is that the Bamboo Shoots are substantially more expensive than other inner/outer bar ends. At $180 per pair, they’re nine times more than Ritchey bar ends, four times more than SQLab Innerbarends, and about two times more than the Soma Bar-Ins. The closest, in terms of price, are the Hunter Touring Bar Ends at $180, which lack any type of adjustment. However, none of these options offer the unique sets of specs the Bamboo Shoots provide, and the only inner bar end I could find with sweep adjustment is the Ergotec Evo1 Bar Ends ($50), which don’t have a hinged clamp but offer 15° of adjustment thanks to a ball joint under the bar clamp. You’ll also need to use your own grips or purchase Rogue Panda’s optional Wolf Tooth grips for an additional $21.

I asked Nick about the pricing, and it basically comes down to the number of aluminum parts and machining operations. The Bamboo Shoots are made of six parts per pair and require complicated machining on a fourth-axis machine, whereas the Blue Ridge harness and Ripsey use four parts and designs optimized for simple machining.

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• Material: 6061 Aluminum/Silicone Grips
• Weight (as tested, with grips): 179 grams (6.3 ounces)
• Place of Manufacture: Arizona, USA
• Price: $180 USD/pair (+$21 for grips)
• Manufacturer’s Details: RoguePanda.com

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