Handle Bar Change..

skooter

Hi Guys..

Got a new bike which has the standard alloy bars on it and I have just brought a pair of carbon bars because they are lighter but how many nms would be safe is it still about 5nms the same as alloy,

Cheers

bbrap

Usually will have it on the bars somewhere. Plenty of discussion on the merits or otherwise of carbon bars. One of the components I would definitely not change to carbon but that's just me.

skooter

I've seen torque on the stems but not on the bars I'll have a look?

PS.. What are the pros and cons of carbon bars then?

bbrap

Fall off on ally bars, bend them straight to get you home. You can usually see if they are damaged beyond use. Fall off on carbons and they do one of three things, (1) shatter, which kind of negates any option to cycle home. (2) Appear undamaged but are substantially weakened internally ready to break apart on your next high speed downhill. (3) Are undamaged but you can never be sure, great for Russian roulette players.

Lots of Pros ride ally these days as the weight penalty is minimal for the benefits (admittidly pros tend to crash a bit more than the rest of us).

If you like the look just get wrapped ally, best of both worlds.

noodleman

No con's unless you buy cheap chinese ones. The only other possible downside is if you crash you may be more worried about unseen damage weakening a carbon bar and causing failure on future rides. We ride carbon frames, seatposts, saddles etc. What's so different with bars? If they were dangerous, companies like Zipp, Ritchey, FSA and so on wouldn't still be making them. Ally bars are likely to snap if bent back into shape after a crash.

bbrap

The difference with bars is that the likely outcome of them breaking is rather more serious than if a seat pin cracks. Imagine if one side of your bars gives way when you are in the drops at any sort of speed, the chance of damaging yourself and the rest of the bike is quite high. If a frame cracks you usually still have the ability to steer a bit and probably brake lessening the damage to rider and components (OK the frame may be US). Yes ally bars can snap if bent back from major deformation but this is usually visible. Carbon bars are not dangerous per se, its just that you need to be aware of their shortcomings and decide accordingly.

noodleman

Cant really imagine a frame cracking would be any less catastrophic or any less likely than bars breaking. Way too much scaremongering still going on when it comes to carbon fibre.

grenw

Nice wide carbon bars on my mtb. Coped with a few tumbles and definitely hit a few more trees before I got used to the extra width.

Yes they'll crack and possibly go a little more spectacularly but I doubt are any more dangerous. I also doubt you really get that much benefit for your money.

Bozman

I've been down the road a few times and surprisingly my 3T carbon bars haven't shattered, they've also taken a side impact from a car which knocked them round by 90 degrees and bent my shifters but... They're still ok... Or are they?

skooter

Interesting replys from you guys and they have been very helpfull..

Just out of interest to you.

I have just got a Giant Advanced Pro 1 and put 280 grams of pedals on, I have also put some lighter Mavic Elite S's and a lighter saddle with net road weight of 7.55 kg the lighter bars will make it an honest 7.5kg.. as the carbon bars being 90g lighter than my standard ones.
Cheers..Paul.