How long should handlebars last?

[Danny]

Some years ago the alloy handlebars sheared off by the stem as I was riding to work which lead to a fairly disastrous crash.

As they were only a couple of years old I tried to return them to my LBS but was told that you could not expect a pair of alloy bars to last more than two or three years.

I was never very convinced by this response, but have since changed my handle bars every couple of years in case it happens again.

Am I being over cautious or this the sensible thing to do?

 

[jimboalee]

Quite frankly, you've been fobbed off by the shop.

Addmitedly, ancient track bikes had steel stems and bars for strength, but a modern pair of bars should last,,, well, decades.

Go to any vintage bike rally, or cycle jumble, and you'll see the punters giving good money for forties and fifties genuine alloy bars.

I have Franco-Italia bars on my Pug, 33 years old and I never worry about them breaking.

On the road, in non competative cycling, even up some fairly steep gradients, you should only have quite a light grip. If the going gets really tough, grab them on the tops close to the stem clamp and climb like you're on a leg press machine. Thus:-

Take them back and tell the LBS manager "They are not fit for purpose".

 

[kyuss]

I think the shop is talking bollocks. But bars and seatposts are difficult things to have replaced under warranty. There are far to many variables to be able to tell what caused the failure. Clamping pressure means that tightening the stem too much and/or using a cheap or the wrong sized stem/bar combination will introduce stress points which could lead to the failure you describe. If it had broke after a couple of months I'd expect a replacement, but 2 years...

I'd reckon alu bars, if properly fitted with a matching stem will last much longer than a couple of years though. I've got a pair that are getting on for 7 years old and I'm quite happy to keep using them.

 

[marinyork]

There was a guy in the cycling organisation I'm in whose handlebars sheared in the summer after years. Still seemed to think they should last a very, very long time.

 

[Steve Austin]

Alloy bars in theory should last forever.

Should they be warrantied for that period of time is a very different question. check the manufacturers website to check their warranty. The shop should honour the manufacturers warranty.
I would only expect a limited warranty against defects and i wouldn't expect anything for a broken bar after a couple of years

 

[yello]

"Should"... how long's a piece of string? Personally, I reckon they should last forever... but then they can break!

But, like others, I think you've been fobbed off with '2 to 3 years'.

 

[Danny]

My question wasn't really about whether I had been fobbed off, but whether as a precaution I should be changing my handlebars every few years to avoid the risk of it happening again.

Does anyone else do this?

 

[llllllll]

Comparing modern bars to older ones isn't quite so straight forward. I've got some alloy drop bars from the 60's and they're pretty heavy and made from thick gauge metal. Modern bars aren't or at leat the good ones aren't.
I had a set of Ritchie bars snap after about 4 years, fortunately it was up hill and I was going pretty slowly. They snapped just below the Ergo lever. Trouble is handlebars take a bit of a beating, in normal fast riding you're pulling up and down on them with every pedal stroke and they're usually the first thing to hit the ground in a crash. I certainly wouldn't expect the bars on my commmuter (racing bike, about 100miles a week) to last more than say 3 years. It's not like they're expensive to replace (I'm assuming you're not commuting on £200 carbon jobs).

 

[Danny]

I'm assuming you're not commuting on £200 carbon jobs.

Afraid not

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Alloy bars on my old hack bike, a Dawes Shadow circa 1983 vintage still going strong.

 

[Randochap]

I have old Cinellis still going after 30+ years.

I'm wondering if the new carbon jobs will be around as long.

 

[andrew_s]

Alloy bars *will* break eventually if you keep on using them. It's the nature of aluminium that any amount of bending, no matter how small, will break it if carried on for long enough. All 30 years old bars shows is that that pair of bars has had an easy life.

No manufacturer is going to offer a warranty period of more than a couple of years. They will take the worst case of a big heavy bloke who leans hard on his bars on rough roads and goes up climbs out of the saddle in a big gear, heaving away on the bars, then make allowance for damage such as an incorrectly sized stem clamp or scratches from putting the bars in a closed face stem, and then halve whatever they come up with.

I'd change bars every 5 or 6 years, but it would probably just be part of a rebuild after a respray, or new frame: new bars.

 

[jimboalee]

andrew s.

That's very sensible.
I rode in to work this morning and even up the steep one, 10%, I held the bars with finger and thumb.
I was merely for balance and keeping the steering pointing in the desired direction.
I must admit, I very rarely 'tug' on the bars.
Reminds me of watching the tour when they are climbing the hills, the riders will reach down for their bottle while climbing a 6%.
"Power is nothing without control".

 

[MartinC]

Agree with Andrew_s.

 

[swee'pea99]

Having had my (c20 year old aluminium) bars break in half, I did wonder whether I might have weakened them by scratching them quite severely in working them into a stem that I should probably have opened up a bit more first. Now I'm reminded that I've also recently taken to 'bunny hopping' over speed bumps, which in my case involves hauling up hard on the bars. In fact when I think about it, it's amazing they lasted so long...