Carbon bars, stem and post. To do...or not to do?

[migrantwing]

My bike is alu with full carbon fork and steerer. Would changing the above components make any difference to ride quality and/or safety? I'm not up on all things carbon, so don't know the pros and cons. The bars, stem and seatpost are all FSA alu at the moment.

TIA

 

[Mo1959]

Don't know about the bars and stem but I changed my aluminium seatpost to a carbon fibre one and think it has dampened some of the road buzz. Wasn't particularly bothered about weight.

 

[Kies]

I would change the seatpost as said above. Will give you a weight saving and comfort.
I wouldn't bother with the cost of carbon stem and bars. You would be better losing a pound in weight through harder training

 

[ushills]

Better wheels are probably a better investment

 

[migrantwing]

Thanks, guys. Yeah, was looking at changing the seatpost for sure. My wheels are fine, ushills. Easton's but would like to try some Fulcrum 5's or Quattro's.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Whenever this crops up somebody always mentions that the pros generally don't even use carbon bars, so make of that what you will.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

A lot of the carbon stems are infact carbon wrapped alloy stems as such unless you want to invest in a true carbon stem which is not cost effective you do not have any of the advantages carbon has to offer. Omega Pharma Quickstep use the Zipp SL145 full hand wrapped carbon stem on their Venges which retails in excess of £150
Carbon seat posts can reduce vibration from the road, however this depends upon how they are constructed.
A lot of pros still run alloy bars as carbon road bars are said to reduce feedback from the road. TT bars by contrast can be shaped quite specifically as such these lend themselves to carbon fibe characteristics.

Don't always believe that carbon equals lighter this is not the case, there are some damn heavy components out there.