Upgrade to carbon handlebar

[roadie7]

I'd like to upgrade to a carbon handlebar from my aluminum one to reduce arm fatigue and help my arthritic wrists.

I was wondering about people's experiences and recommendations.

Thanks.

[Matthew]

I have a Deda Superleggera that is carbon. Don't have a ton of miles on it but seems like a nice handlebar. Not sure it feels all that different from my aluminum bars though.

[saab2000]

I'd be surprised if you noticed any ride differences but you will be lighter, much lighter, in the wallet, with carbon bars.

[pinoymamba]

thicker softer bar tape and gel padding?

[Climb01742]

Another vote for switching out your bar tape first, maybe? Thicker, softer tape might be a low-cost option to try.

[guido]

Get your position checked so you don't have as much weight on your hands.

Carbon bars are nice but they are no easier on your body.

[sandyrs]

I really think you would be better off putting the money elsewhere on your bike. Usually (I know nothing of your specific case, of course) arm fatigue seems to be related to something being off with fit, no?

[dana_e]

maybe a light one like a deda 215

[BdaGhisallo]

thicker softer bar tape and gel padding?

And a bit less pressure in your tires. I don't think you'll notice a real difference with a carbon bar, in an apples to apples comparison.

[stien]

Agree on fit isssue. If you think your fit is good then try wider tires at lower pressures first.

[kgreene10]

Summarizing:
- check fit to reduce weight on hands
- wider tires with lower pressure to make the ride cushier
- thicker bar tape

I'll add the following:
- adjust sti angle (should be part of a fit but sometimes escapes notice)
- cushier gloves
- stretch during and after rides

After all that, then consider equipment - wheels, fork, bars, stem, frame.

[ultraman6970]

As a forumite said, maybe you wont see any difference, and honestly some carbon bars are stiffer than aluminum ones.

If you are not young, maybe your body is going through changes and you need to change the position maybe. Havent seen your bike, but in some cases getting the stem lower helps, in others lower the saddle (and move it back) a little bit will unload a little bit of weight off of the handlebars.

[bfd]

I always thought any "advantage" of carbon bars wasn't the weight, but being able to have different shapes. Like other have stated, proper fitting on the bike should be done first.

However, if you're looking for a different shaped bar, then carbon may be an answer. It will be more expensive, but you can get some that are not available in other materials.

For example:

Interloc Racing Design (IRD) has a carbon bar that a friend of mine uses and loves because it has individual places for fingers:

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/ird_2267_1287036

Profile Design has a similar one with a flat top of the bar:

http://media.performancebike.com/images/performance/products/415/50-2127-WHI-ANGLE.JPG

It should be noted that both bars are not light and very expensive (i.e., over$325 for the Profile Design bar!)

In contrast, the Nitto Noodle bar with its flat portion that sweeps back is also very comfortable:

http://www.rivbike.com/v/vspfiles/photos/hb1-4.jpg


Good Luck!

[ceolwulf]

There is a difference but it's pretty small. I agree that it would be better to try the other options people have mentioned first.

Edit to add: there's likely a bigger difference between cheaper heavier aluminum bars and more expensive ones with thinner wall tubing than between those and carbon.

[crashnburn]

I ride both aluminum and carbon handlebars.
I don't feel the difference but when I put on gel padded bar tapes (Zipp CX and Fizik), my hands felt the difference.

Hopefully your handlebar size is the correct one too.

[11.4]

Older aluminum handlebars were made of very soft aluminum (the old Cinelli days). They were supremely durable, fairly flexible, very comfortable, and could literally be bent into angles and bent back again without breaking. To save weight and get stiffer they went to heat treated aluminum and then to much thinner wall dimensions, and they got stiff but also very fracture prone. Around that time, carbon bars arrived on the scene. The first ones were like carbon frames and carbon rims -- pretty much the consistency and stiffness of polyethylene. And of course the bars quickly gained a reputation for comfort, though they were often heavier than the alloy bars. As the carbon bars improved, we got to what we have now, which are extremely stiff and quite light, which are the attributes that sell bars. More recently the European community became concerned about all the breakage in alloy bars and demanded much more stringent construction and testing, so bars got thicker, they backed off on the heat treating, went to better alloys, and so on. Now alloy and carbon bars tend to be within spitting distance of the same weight, same durability, same comfort. About the only things you can say about carbon bars is that they can be shaped in a few ways that alloy can't, and they command quite a premium in price. Also, the quality of clamps that bind on a handlebar (stem clamp, shifter clamps, and any add-on aero doohickies) had to improve because both aluminum and carbon are susceptible to damage from clamping, though damage is more catastrophic with carbon.

Bottom line, find some older carbon bars and they'll be a bit more comfortable. Buy the bling state of the art carbon bars today and they are stiff and uncomfortable, albeit light and strong. In alloy bars, they are fairly consistent in characteristics.

So if you happen to have older bars, it's worth figuring out just how old they are to understand where on the meandering continuum of bar stiffness they actually lie. And then decide whether the new bars are really going to be any better.

A few minor points: If you want more flexibility in your bars, that's a place for wider bars -- the wider they are, the more they move at the points where your hands are resting (i.e., stiffer on the tops, more flexible on the levers, still more flexible on the drops). That's true of any kind of bar.

Also, greater reach and greater drop are probably not your friends. Compact bars let you optimize all three positions (tops, levers, and drops) more successfully than if you have enormous reach on your bars. If one of the three positions doesn't really fit, you hurt and you also ride more in fewer positions, which also hurts more.

[Birddog]

I'm getting a little arthritic and I find that when I ride my bike with the carbon wing shape it bothers me more than my old fashioned round bars on another bike. YMMV

[Pastashop]

Carbon bars are actually good for reducing high frequency transmission (known effect in the NVH community), but can often be stiffer than Aluminum bars, so will transmit more road shock. Which scale of vibration frequency is causing your pain / discomfort?.. Big question. Best to eliminate both, probably.

Here's my rec:

https://www.compasscycle.com/shop/components/compass-randonneur-25-4-handlebars/

That bar may call for a shorter stem, but the shape has worked well for me, comfort-wise.

Nitto Noodle mentioned above: also good.

Higher bar position - less weight on hands and more cushioning you can provide with your (bent) elbows, better for your hands and wrists.

More bar tape - less buzz, so also better for your hands and wrists.

[Bob Ross]

Interloc Racing Design (IRD) has a carbon bar that a friend of mine uses and loves because it has individual places for fingers:

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/ird_2267_1287036

Holy crap, talk about the last thing I would ever want in a handlebar! I'm pretty undewhelmed by a lot of so-called "ergo" bars because they coerce you into putting your hands in a specific place rather than allowing them to go wherever you want...all those extra bends seem to counterintuitively reduce the number of available hand positions. But a dedicated place for individual fingers?!?!

[buddybikes]

Feel a lot of bars and find the shape, width you need. Lot of newer bars have a flatter top that smooth into the levers better. Or check your current setup and see if your levers are set in the ideal position. Also are you sure your hands are arthritic or could you have other hand issues like trigger fingers (repairable)

[oldpotatoe]

As an aside, if the OP has a 26mm clamp(rather than faceplate) type stem. I broke a set of Modolo carbon bars on a TTT stem while tightening it. The 'hole' doesn't say round like faceplate and I cracked them..so..be careful.

Same for some carbon seatposts and integrated seatpost clamp cluster. If ya got a welded in cluster, not recommended. If you have a removable clamp, turn around 180 degrees or get a Campag one.

[odonnebj]

Tough one to answer....

I have 2 Time bikes set up identically, however one has a Time carbon stem / ENVE carbon bars and the other has 3T aluminum stem/bars. I honestly cannot tell any difference in terms of comfort / stiffness. TX roads can be pretty ····ty too especially in the hill country with chip seal.

It all starts with the tire in my opinion, which is your first point of contact on the road. Higher TPI tires, wider tires, lower tire pressure would be my first suggestion to minimize any high frequency road vibrations.. Next, I'd try cushier bar tape. Fizik makes a pretty thick one. You can also "double wrap" your bars like they do in Paris-Roubaix at times. You also want to check your hoods. SRAM shifters come with some gel padding. This is to minimize any discomfort depending on how you cable the bike under the hoods. They may be hitting a pressure point. Also, hood position should be checked. If your wrists are canted too far in or out, it could also cause discomfort. Kind of like using a mouse with a computer... you don't want to force your wrist into an unnatural position.

These suggestions assume your fit is also spot on as others have pointed out. Best of luck to you!!

[odonnebj]

One last piece of "advice", if you want to ensure you have the most vibration resistant frame/fork combo then you can drop $6k on the new Time Skylon Aktiv :)

https://www.time-sport.com/bikes/skylon

[livingminimal]

Big, big fan of the Thomson carbon bars. I paid retail + discount for one set and scored my second set for 75$. They're really, really nice, comfy, light, etc.

Lately I've been riding a POS set of Bontrager alloy race bars on my carbon bike.

They're really, really nice, comfy, light, etc.

To put another way, I am not sure it matters all that much.

Seatposts, on the other hand...