Bent Handlebars
NaeDanger
Posts: 9
I crashed my bike yesterday. I was not going very fast but my handle bars now appear to be very slightly bent. The right hand grip now sits about half an inch higher than the left grip. Is it safe enough to straighten the bars by hand, or will this leave the metal weakened?
thanks for any help
thanks for any help
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Comments
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I wouldn't trust them personally. Bending any metal tends to leave it weakened, and I'm sure the last thing you want is to be riding a rough trail and the bars suddenly fail. That's going to send your face flying towards your stem. I know which would win that fight.
The bend isn't exactly severe, but it's hard to know what real damage has been done.
What are the bars? Expensive to replace? I'd get a new bar myself...much cheaper than a new set of teeth.0 -
The bars are the standard ones that came with the bike. The bike is a humble Giant Rock, but it's more than good enough for my lowly riding skills.
I think ill upgrade the bars. I can always take transfer the bars to a better bike when i upgrade.
Any advice on how i decide what bars will fit my stem?0 -
Depends what stem you have! Check the bar clamp size - 25.4 or 31.8mm - basicallly fat or thin.
CRC have some good offers on.0 -
Bent or cracked bars should be immediately replaced really.
Bending them back will just weaken them further and might even crack them and cause them to sheer while you're riding the bike which will probably mean a hospital visit of some kindDave S0 -
when measuring what size of bars i have at the moment, do i measure the circumference, or the internal diameter?0
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Its the external diameter at the clamp area (centre). Often written on the bars under the grip!0
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Under the grip, handy!
thanks for the info0 -
Holy thread resurrection batman!
I took the bars off in preparation for getting a new set, and figured i would take the stem off at the same time to check it over. The stem looks very slightly bent. Like the bars, one side is slightly lower than the other. It's no where near as severe as the bars were and barely noticeable.
since this is a quill stem and these seem hard to come by, what are my options?0 -
Ummmm.... how about a new bar and stem?0
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Yes, i am aware of that. As i eluded to in my post thought, Quill stems don't seem very easy to come by.0
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o would probably just get a new handlebar :!:0
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NaeDanger wrote:Yes, i am aware of that. As i eluded to in my post thought, Quill stems don't seem very easy to come by.
Don't know Quill stems, but couldn't you replace with another type - easton, race face etc. Or are Quills specific to the bike?0 -
A quick google found this http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=7684&catID=201 £6!0
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@cjw quill stems are the old style stem for threaded forks and headsets. So if thats the case its replace fork, headset stem and bars - maybe better value to replace said bike.
@ Naedanger If you have bent the stem and bars I would get the frame allignment checked - personally would find it difficult to believe the damage stopped there.
Good luck0 -
You've done well to keep your forks if you're still running a quill stem.
If they're still ok, get the Kalloy stem as in the previous post.
Otherwise if you've managed to shag your entire front end, you might be looking at new forks and should switch to Ahead stem to save a bit of weight and get the strength advantages of that setup (sounds like you need it if you've bent your bars and stem)
The Kalloy stem and bars would be the cheapest option if you're forks are ok but I'd get them checked out too in case you've damaged them aswell
Might be worth looking at stronger components for the front end too.
The Kalloy stem will be ok but won't be as strong as many of the tougher Ahead stems around now, same goes for barsDave S0 -
You could get a "quill to A-head converter" which would then allow you to use any 1 1/8 A-head stem. I have one and it is neat and works very well.
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