Cheapo carbon bars

[Fast_Mark]

After having ridden a carbon frame recently I've now started to yearn after some of that road buzz killing comfort. I'm currently riding an aluminium framed Felt with a carbon fork and can't justify upgrading either bike or frame to carbon at the moment.

What are people's thoughts on carbon bars generally? Will these combined with the carbon fork and maybe a carbon seatpost take out some of the road buzz or are they going to spontaneously explode and disintegrate in the wet?

Was looking at these FWIW. Seem to be a fair bit cheaper than some other carbon bars I've seen out there.

Also, Felt carbon seatposts on ebay for £20.

 

[numbnuts]

you only get what you pay for, over 10 years ago I paid £85 for my carbon handle bars for my MTB and the same again for the seat post and have been just great. A while back someone was doing a alloy bars that were wrapped in carbon just to make them look good and selling them as the real thing so be careful

 

[smokeysmoo]

you only get what you pay for, over 10 years ago I paid £85 for my carbon handle bars for my MTB and the same again for the seat post and have been just great. A while back someone was doing a alloy bars that were wrapped in carbon just to make them look good and selling them as the real thing so be careful

+1 if you really feel you need carbon bars you need to think how much you can possibly afford, and then probably double it You'll be clamping to a very small area which will take all the stress, so this is definately one time where brand name quality counts IMHO.

Also, make sure you invest in a decent torque wrench, and then be sure to have it calibrated annually.

 

[Noodley]

I'd ignore the two replies so far

I bought the Hylix bars (and carbon wrapped stem) a few months ago for my track bike and they are great, light and comfortable....I would highly recommend them.

I bought them from lam, the guy in your link, and he was very helpful and posted them the same day - they took about 10 days to arrive. He'll keep you informed of postage and will answer any questions you have. I would deffo use him again. <here ends Noodley's advert for lam>

 

[smokeysmoo]

I'm not saying you won't get lucky and get a good set of 'cheap' carbon bars, just that you should deifnately buy with caution, and that if it were me I'd be paying for peace of mind.

That's not actually true, I'd never even contemplate carbon bars, stem, seatpost.......or frame for that matter, but that's another story.

Hope you get fixed up with what you want and that they work perfectly for you

Buy don't forget the torque wrench

 

[Herzog]

Was looking at these FWIW. Seem to be a fair bit cheaper than some other carbon bars I've seen out there.

They'd probably do very nicely. Having confidence in your equipment is one of the factors that allows to go hurtling down the side of a hill without excess worry. Remove some of that confidence, and the whole thing gets a lot less fun.

 

[zexel]

What pressure are your tyre's?

You'll feel more benefit (and cheaper) from letting some air out of your tyre's

 

[Fast_Mark]

I only run 100 psi in my tyres (23c) so not massively hard and probably wouldn't want to go much softer as I think any less than that and I'd be introducing a much higher risk of p***ctures and would start to notice the difference in terms of rolling resistance.

I hear what you're saying regards confidence in your equipment Herzog, but has anyone here ever experienced or known anyone whose had carbon bars fail on them? Genuine question. I'm wondering if this is just one of those things that's banded about on forums and pub talk.

Noodley, did you notice any improvement to ride quality when you fitted yours?

 

[smokeysmoo]

A mate of mine has his own LBS and he's seen several sets of snapped bars, mainly MTB guys I'll grant you, but he's seen a couple of sets of road bars too. I'm not suggesting for a second that failure is guarenteed, and a pair of alu bars could potentially snap on you as well, but I do fear that the risk is greater with carbon bars and for very marginal gains. You could probably save more weight, (and money!) by changing your tyres than your bars IMHO.

 

[zexel]

I only run 100 psi in my tyres (23c) so not massively hard and probably wouldn't want to go much softer as I think any less than that and I'd be introducing a much higher risk of p***ctures and would start to notice the difference in terms of rolling resistance.

It sounds like you fancy some carbon bars, nowt wrong with that.

I was like most people, I made sure I had my tyres pumped up over 100psi on 23 tyres. Being 6' 2" and 14st I'm no lightweight. When I changed my wheels and tyres I thought I'd try lowering the pressures because I was feeling a bit wrecked after 65miles. It was a revelation, it was as if the bike was floating over the rough roads compared to before.

The rolling resistance thing is a myth.

I would of thought it's worth a go, although it does depend how you ride, I actually ride 'light' so pinch punctures have never been an issue for me.

Apologies about going on about pressures, just trying to help/save money.

 

[monnet]

If you fancy carbon bars, go for it. Probably worth paying a bit more for them though.

Personally I'm quite happy with aluminium (Deda Newtons), which is pretty much as stiff and light. I do worry about stacking on carbon (I race so there is always that consideration) but carbon is pretty tough - see abuse you can put a frame through. If you feel comfortable with carbon bars go for it. TBH I'm not sure if there are great differences between alu and carbon - an awful lot of pros use alu bars.

 

[montage]

Wouldn't thicker bar tape do the job?

 

[Smokin Joe]

Tyres and tyre pressures are responsible for 99% of comfort issues (assuming the bike is the right size and set up properly). The benefits of one material over another are minimal and exaggerated by lazy journalists who repeat manufacturer's marketing hype because they don't know any better themselves.

 

[zizou]

As well as tyres a good pair of gloves and some bartape with gel inserts will help with comfort more than carbon bars wil.