Chatty Matty&#8217;s Custom Handlebar Extenders Review &#8211; Deep and Wide

“Just get the right-length handlebar,” they’ll say. But what if the right-length bar doesn’t come in the right shape? Or it’s not the right vintage? Or you just really like the bar you have? That’s why handlebar extenders exist. Problem is, none seem to be designed for aggressive riding. Except for the ones Travis found from a small fabricator tucked away in a vintage BMX forum.

I never knew my quest for higher stack heights would take me to such strange places. But the time I spent on the Raised Reversed stem cured any lingering fear of the unknown, and now It’s just onward and upward. That’s been the trajectory during my cautious comeback to the world of dirt-jumping.

I think dirt jumping will eventually adopt high bars as the standard. The most skilled youngsters I see at the park are on bars just like the Deity Highsides that got me back in the air. But as I slowly returned to the style and scale I rode at back in my ‘30s, I found that long sessions would exacerbate my back pain. That meant there was only one option, and it wasn’t pretty.

A set of BMX cruiser bars put me right where I needed to be. The problem, aside from making me look like a kook, was that they’re not wide enough. Most BMX bars top out at about 740 mm. To match what the 790 mm used to, I need 25 mm on each side. And there aren’t a lot of options.

I used the Control Tech Terminator extenders on my Surly Corner Bar, but their mechanism puts nearly all of the bending load on a hollow aluminum bolt. Plus, they’re only 20 mm long. The Soma Handlebar Extender is much longer. And it uses a quill-stem-style mechanism that creates some structural overlap. But they often end up a little off-center once tightened, which didn’t inspire confidence. Plus, the load-bearing wedge is only held in by a tiny bolt. I varied my Google search terms a dozen times until I happened across this humble Ebay listing.

These are manufactured by a machinist and old-school BMXer outside San Diego named Matthew Sobke. He makes and sells a few other clever solutions, including a headset for mounting 1&⅛” forks in 1” head tubes and an insert for two-piece Bullseye cranks to keep the non-drive arm from working loose. His handlebar extenders come in two versions. One is a semi-permanent style, where the inserted portion is “ribbed” and is held in by epoxy. The other style is more like what you see above, but in the version shown on his Ebay page, the part of the aluminum that’s inserted into the bar isn’t as deep.

I reached out to Matthew (@ChattyMatty on the BMXmuseum.com threads) telling him my application and asking for advice, and “As I make these to order, I can make an extra long version with, say, 1 1/2″ long insert portion,” he says with a spelling and grammar accuracy rarely seen on internet forums. “I’d just have to order some longer hardware for you which might add a couple dollars.” Although he thought the stock shape would be plenty strong for my needs, there was no hesitation to get creative. “Since I start with solid barstock, pretty much anything is on the menu.”

Chatty Matty’s Custom Handlebar Extenders Quick Hits

6061 aluminum
Up to 1.25” extension per side
Custom made to fit your handlebar’s inner diameter
Custom insertion and extension lengths available
$45 shipped as reviewed, starting at $40 shipped

The standard extenders go for $40 shipped, but my deeper-insertion request added a whole $5. I was already pretty impressed with the price, but the value really hit me when he asked me to measure my S&M Race Cruiser bar’s inner diameter (though it turns out he already knew it by heart). I guess these really are made to order. It boosted my confidence even higher because a snug fit would mean even load distribution. I even picked how much exposed length I wanted, though I’d have room to cut them a little if needed. I paid via PayPal, and within three days, the extensions were in the mail. Not sure if he always works this fast, but it made my head spin given we’re talking custom.

So, they’re not light. My deep-insert model is 150 grams a pair. The Control Tech Terminators are less than 40 grams a pair. But this is not the place to save weight. Plus, there’s arguably a performance benefit to adding weights at the tips of your bars. Downhill race teams are experimenting with tuned-mass dampers. 75 grams of inertia to resist transmitting shock to my hands ain’t much, but it ain’t nothing.

They’re held in by a rubber hose that expands outward when compressed by the stainless ¼” bolt (4mm allen works fine in its 5/32 SAE head) threaded into a spiked T-nut on the inside. Works like a charm, and hasn’t loosened up yet. When I first slid them into my bars, I’d say the fit was like inserting a seatpost into a seat-tube that’s just loose enough that it’ll drop in all the way under its own weight.

On that note, traditional bar plugs usually won’t fit in these, but I’ve seen shorter versions where the bolt is nearly flush with the outside of the extension. So, Chatty Matty may be able to hook it up, though it’d probably add a fair bit of weight depending on how much extension you need. I dared to ride without plugs for a day while I tested how the extensions got along with slip-on grips, and I sensed no seam and no movement. But I usually use closed-end lock-on grips, and once they were tight, I didn’t even know these things were under there … and that’s pretty much the extent of my review. They work. And despite me landing pretty deep pretty often on some pretty big jumps, they haven’t broken.

It’s the sort of product that just couldn’t exist without a small manufacturer behind it. All the other handlebar extenders out there, quite understandably, are designed to offer a universal fit. And that has its drawbacks when you want handlebar extenders that are long, strong, and straight. But these things embody the DIY spirit that keeps the old-school and mid-school BMX scene alive. Makes me want to dust off my Terrible One Barcode. It was 2002, so those bars were pretty narrow.