Cabon handlebar failures anyone ??

[cxboy]

Hi...I've been riding alloy handlebars for years, I'm doing a new build and decided to pick up the 3t carbon ergonova bars.
They're feather lite, and the walls seem very thin when compare to the fsa carbon bars.
I'm a bit concrened on the safty factor, does anyone have reports of failure on carbon bars. I'm 175lb and your average guy that likes to go for it with his freinds but I dont race.
Thx !!!

[Bruce K]

The only failure of a carbon bar that I've ever had was from over-torquing

I am slowly migrating back to light weight alloy bars - cheaper and more durable for very little weight penalty

I go about 195 - 200#

BK

[ThaRiddla]

make sure you have a proper torque wrench and know how to install everything correctly. Carbon is exceedingly strong and you should be fine. You're not going to put any crazy strain on those bars with normal group rides and town line sprints with your friends.

I currently use alloy bars, but that's mainly because I'm racing on my bike and if I crash my handlebars probably aren't going to shatter allowing me to finish the race (maybe).

[ultraman6970]

Put a lot of carbon paste in there, will help with the grip.

[Jeff N.]

I bought a set of carbon bars several years back, and when tightening, the bar cracked before it was even tightened enough to prevent movement. I was VERY careful. I have since sworn off ( if I have a choice) on almost anything carbon that has to be significantly tightened down upon.

[djg21]

I've been using the same Ritchey carbon bars for over 6 years. Like others have said, get a torque wrench and don't over-torque.

[false_Aest]

Carbon has improved enough to not have to worry about that stuff as much.

What you see at the ends of the tubes are different than what is going on at the center.

BUT you need to use a good torque wrench....not one of those $20 5nm ones you can pick up anywhere. And, as stupid as carbon paste sounds, its worth it.

**** still happens. A customer's bike fell, the drops hit the curb, the bars broke.
----

When I looked it over, the price weight savings over alloy don't justify the cost. I'd rather let 5 more psi outta my front tire for less buzz.

[oldpotatoe]

Hi...I've been riding alloy handlebars for years, I'm doing a new build and decided to pick up the 3t carbon ergonova bars.
They're feather lite, and the walls seem very thin when compare to the fsa carbon bars.
I'm a bit concrened on the safty factor, does anyone have reports of failure on carbon bars. I'm 175lb and your average guy that likes to go for it with his freinds but I dont race.
Thx !!!

Face plate stem? use a torque wrench. If you do crash, side impact type, replace for the sake of your teeth.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/11/news/cyclocross/lennard-zinn-gallery-neutral-support-and-podium-dangers-at-the-derby-city-cup_264915

[mike p]

I'm a big guy at 6'2 and 185 to 195. I have no problem with carbon frames, seat post and other bits but for some reason I have never been able to bring myself to trust carbon bars and stems. Also what am I saving, a grew grams? Not worth my peace of mind.

Mike

[Charles M]

Ive had 3 metal bars break...

No carbon yet

[1/2 Wheeler]

Since I don't like to do any maintenance, I'm much more concerned about oxidation of aluminum bars that is hidden by bar tape. There are endless stories of that kind of failure.

[FlashUNC]

One I've seen first hand:

Was climbing Hogpen Gap in N. Ga with a friend. He goes to stand on one of the steeper pitches, and his back wheel washes out, so he and the bike topple over at about 4 mph. He's fine, but his carbon bar snaps just below the brake hood on the right side. Only thing on that side keeping it all together at that point was the bar tape.

I have to wonder if an alloy bar would have had the same issue, but it was also a very flukey, random kind of tumble.

[gavingould]

the only failures i've seen firsthand were crash damage.

[krismac23]

If you don't race why not carbon? Good quality bar and proper torque spec with carbon paste at the interface and your good to go. I'd also make sure you carbon paste the clamping ring on you shifter bodies and be carful not to over torque. I've seen a lot of that happen before and you don't know till its to late.

I've heard world tour guys use alloy bars and stem two fold: 1. If they crash and their speed, alloy bends and they can get up and finish if need be. Replace by mechanic later. 2. Weight and cost, they have a minimum weight and they have a team budget. But we're not pros so why not?:)

[mike p]

I didn't mean to dish carbon. With me it's more a mental thing.

Mike



Ive had 3 metal bars break...

No carbon yet

[rice rocket]

the only failures i've seen firsthand were crash damage.

Yeah, my Ergonovas cracked when I hooked bars with someone. :(

Oh well. I'll try them again at a later time (i.e. when they're not 6x the cost of an alloy bar).

[merckx]

Since I don't like to do any maintenance, I'm much more concerned about oxidation of aluminum bars that is hidden by bar tape. There are endless stories of that kind of failure.

This. What comes to mind is some of the leather bar wrap that folks leave on their bars.........forever because they can. If you use alloy bars and don't re-wrap your bars with some frequency, you are setting yourself up for a surprise. The salt from sweat is really caustic and undermines the integrity of alloy bars if not checked and cleaned. Putting new bar tape on every month or so during the summer months (or year round if you live in a warm climate) will ensure that you keep up with this maintenance.

[Rueda Tropical]

A friends alloy bar that had not been rewraped in a while. Amazing it hadn't snapped there was not much metal left.

http://ruedatropical.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/dirk05991.jpg

[William]

That's one of the things I like about Ray's Bra, easy on and easy to take off. Geez, how much sweat do you need to cause that??? I don't know, I've always used alloy bars and never had any build up of any kind.




William

[Rueda Tropical]

That's one of the things I like about Ray's Bra, easy on and easy to take off. Geez, how much sweat do you need to cause that??? I don't know, I've always used alloy bars and never had any build up of any kind.

William

It was his commuter/utility bike. He does more then 300 miles a week in Miami heat on that bike.

[Lionel]

This is one scary picture....

[DRietz]

I've never had a problem with oxidized bars, even in a summer in Grand Junction.

I have had a problem with breaking the drops off of those red Easton EC90 carbon bars. Multiple bars, all while riding, all while going off some small bump.

[bargainguy]

If you want to run carbon bars but are afraid of overtorqueing and don't want an expensive torque wrench, get a Ritchey torque key for around $20. Can't overtorque this puppy. It won't let you - kinda breaks free first.

Most folks overtorque small bolts and undertorque large ones. The small bolts tend to get the most abuse.

[Joachim]

I have both carbon and alloy and my PRO Vibe carbon bars are some of my favorite bars ever. I race on alloy and use a good torque wrench for all installations.

[Mr Cabletwitch]

Ive had 3 metal bars break...

No carbon yet


Same here. I've had aluminum bars break on my MTB, but never a carbon bar and one carbon bar that I still use is actually marked a bit from a overtightened brake lever, I won't sell it but I've been using it for a few years like that and never had an issue. and I'm 200 lbs and ride hard.

[11.4]

A friends alloy bar that had not been rewraped in a while. Amazing it hadn't snapped there was not much metal left.

http://ruedatropical.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/dirk05991.jpg

Must not ride very fast. I expect plenty of salt in the steer area, on the front top tube brake cable guide, into the bottom bracket area, etc. But at the brake levers? Doing trackstands you don't perspire there, you perspire over your stem. That's a weird photo.

My experience? Alloy bars got excessively thin over several years as they made sure they were as light as carbon, but they also got very susceptible to catastrophic failure. European standards tightened up and now alloy bars have gained some weight, but are exceedingly safe. Don't buy bars from five years ago. But alloy bars today are immensely strong and durable. I ride them most of the time. On the track my only options are carbon, but I haven't crashed in about six years. On the road, I'd only race with alloy, period. And if I crashed and they took a hit, I'd change them out regardless of whether they were alloy or carbon. Nobody seems to look at the stem when that happens, but I'd change the stem too -- it takes more of a blow and has less capacity to flex and deal with it than the bars do. Also do a very careful inspection of your steer, especially if you're slamming your stem and/or don't have spacers over the stem and under the top cap.

I have both carbon (Limited) and alloy (Team) 3T bars. Never had the slightest problem with either. I cracked one Deda 215 once, right at the stem -- and discovered just how inconsistent Deda extrusions could be. Since then I've always snagged broken bars from people and measured wall thicknesses at the clamping points just for grins. Deda always seemed to be the most inconsistent -- at least a third had one part of the wall circumference that was less than half the thickness of other parts of the same circumference. Ritchey were OK. Don't ask about some of the OEM stuff. 3T were consistent and didn't challenge wall thicknesses. Carbon bars were all over the place but that can just be a matter of excess resin -- the fabric layups always seem to be consistent so the part that matters is there. I did see a couple pairs of Easton track bars that had wraps that weren't impregnated with resin at the clamp area -- that was scary. Those were made in Mexico and the track community has plenty of photos of spurious fractures of Easton carbon track bars. It may have been limited to one rather unorthodox line of bars -- the design and construction are quite different from road bars.

So I am happy to ride carbon bars without fear, but there just isn't much reason for me to go carbon unless it's the only option (you can get shapes in carbon that you could only dream about in alloy -- look at the 3T Scatto -- and get structural strength that only comes in certain unique carbon bars, like for the track). Alloy bars are much better than they were, at the expense of only a few grams. Above all, don't judge either carbon or alloy by the bars of five years ago or more -- it's all changed for the better. Vastly.

[zap]

Hi...I've been riding alloy handlebars for years, I'm doing a new build and decided to pick up the 3t carbon ergonova bars.
They're feather lite, and the walls seem very thin when compare to the fsa carbon bars.
I'm a bit concrened on the safty factor, does anyone have reports of failure on carbon bars. I'm 175lb and your average guy that likes to go for it with his freinds but I dont race.
Thx !!!

Never had a carbon bar break since I started using carbon bars back in the late 80's. Some bikes even fell over and the bars were/are fine.

You might be fine but check your bar dimensions and weight and compare with info on 3t website. Some counterfeit bars have made their way through non standard channels.

[FastVegan]

I broke a bontrager rxxxl bar in a CX race. I still use carbon bars on my bikes, even my MTB.
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/download/file.php?id=46348&mode=view

Here is a pic of the broken bars, it was a slow crash, the lever dug into the ground and caused the bars to break.

I break a lot of carbon.

[zzy]

I've been using generic wing style carbon bars for over 7 years now. They've been great, but I caused a stress riser from overtighening the top screw on a 2 bolt stem. It's been fine since switching to a 4 bolt with a different clamp angle. Easily the most comfortable bars I've used.

[kramnnim]

I have some Ergosum LTDs that cracked at the seam (who knew they had seams...), rode it with an odd ticking noise for months before I figured out what was going on.

Pretty sure it was a counterfeit made in the 3T factory without the proper QC, though.