Muc-Off Disco Bar End Plugs

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

These are CNC machined bar end plugs with interchangeable silica inserts providing compatibility with most handlebars.

Muc-Off says: "Step up your bar bling with our new precision 6061 CNC Machined Aluminium Bar End Plugs. They are available in a range of epic anodised colours, so you can match or clash with all of our other precision hardware for a total dialled-in style. Compatible with most open-ended MTB, road and gravel handlebar sizes, these lightweight yet super tough end plugs are super-secure, thanks to their expanding silica plugs (supplied in multiple sizes), securing nuts and knurled back-face which prevents any slippage."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

The Muc-Off Disco bar end plugs are made from CNC machined aluminium and weigh in at 24 grams. The silica plugs are designed to expand under the compression from tightening the bolt and in doing so fill the handlebar snugly. The silica plugs can be swapped by unscrewing the back of the bar end and swapping out the different size silica plugs. After doing this you tighten the back of the bar end by hand before pushing it into the handlebar and using a 4mm hex key to tighten up the bar end.

Muc-Off lists these features:

CNC Machined 6061 Aluminium Body

Expanding silica plug fits most MTB, Road, and gravel bike handlebars (with a larger than 17mm diameter) 17mm / 19mm / 21mm plugs provided

Screws into bars using a just a 4mm hex key

Compatible with most open-ended grips and drop bars

Lightweight and durable

Supplied with silicone protective bar end cover

8mm slotted nut for easy removal

Securing nut with knurled back-face to prevent slippage when tightening in the handlebar

Available in a range of anodised colours: Black, Pink, Red, Orange, Blue

Feels high end and has a nice high quality finish.

Once the plugs are fitted they are very secure and won't fall out, but fitting them snugly can be challenging at times if bar tape is particularly chunky or double wrapped.

They've kept their high-quality look even after being used in rain and mud, and continue to have a shiny look, but they can be easy to scuff when leaning a bike against a wall, so take care.

Slightly heavier than some conventional plastic bar ends, but for an aluminium plug they are impressive.

They are reasonably priced for aluminium plugs, and £2 cheaper than the similarly designed Hope Grip Doctors.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

The Disco bar end plugs performed very well. They stayed in place perfectly once fitted, and held the bar tape in well despite being used across rough surfaces and me trying to work them loose to see how secure they were. They were also very easy to swap between different sized handlebars, and the use of the silica plugs made it easy to quickly fit them from bike to bike.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The colours! Muc-Off offers a range of five colours and the pink I had on test stood out very well and is very bright. It added some bling to the bike.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

My only gripe was the difficulty to get it to sit flush when using particularly chunky or double-wrapped bar tape. The plugs then had a tendency to sit slightly to one side unless you really pushed it in very hard while tightening the bolt.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

We haven't tested any similar recently, but they're around the same price as other aluminium ones out there – and £2 cheaper than Hope Grip Doctors.

Use this box to explain your overall score

I gave these an 8 as they're great! I really like the colour and bling they bring to the bike, as well as the convenient silica plugs that mean the Disco plugs can be fitted to any bike. There's a bit of a fiddle fitting them with chunky bar tape, but overall they're very good.