Handelbar longevity

[mso]

When should you replace an alloy handelbar? And should should you also replace your stem at a certain age?

[dekindy]

I ride several thousands of miles each year and my LBS says 5 years for handlebars. Stems I have not inquired about. The LBS recommended throwing away the old handlebars and stems from my recent purchase as being unsafe. They were name brand, high quality items that were much older than 5 years and of unknown use. It is not unusual to see vintage parts advertised. I don't recall hearing about failures. Maybe that is a good thread to start to learn what experience forum members have had with old handlebars and stems and failures.

[Ti Designs]

It depends a lot on the construction of the handlebar. The older bars didn't have much emphasis on being light. Cinelli bars for example used a collar for the center section, so the stress riser at the stem was reinforced. When 3ttt started in with their lighter Forma bars things started to change. With the Prima (sub 200g) bars came the advice to replace the bars every few seasons.


I've used Cinelli 65s since I started racing almost 30 years ago. When this topic came up a while back I looked at my collection of Cinelli 65's (I have a half dozen spares) and I realized that I've been using the same pair of Cinelli 65's the whole time. If we had a contest on which single bike part has seen the most mileage, my crit bars would be a pretty safe bet.

[kestrel]

I have some Cinelli 66 deep drops that have been on bikes for 30+ years. I guess some morning I will end up on my posterior looking up at a broken Cinelli 66.

[scpknees]

I've been trying to figure this out for awhile because there is too much grey area.My conclusion is throw bars out between 10,000 to 12,000. I ride deda 215's.
Its cheap dental insurance. actually i stop using the bars after this amount and put them in storage until I get some better feedback.

[Dave]

As a mechanical engineer, I'd inspect the bars for damage at the clamp area. If none is found, good quality Al bars should be good for many times the 10-12,000 they's seen.

Exceptions might be bars that are known to have been abused. If you yank and pull on them many times each ride then they will see more stress. Wrecks could also cause damage.

In the days of quill stems it was not unusual for bars to be heavily scratched in the clamp area from repeated adjustments without loosening the clamp bolt sufficiently. That should be less common with open faced stems, but it can still be done.

I use carbon bars on all of my bikes. I give mine a good looking over about once a year when I change the bar tape. If I see no damage, don't plan on replacing any of them.

[Charles M]

Guys Alu bars can have corrosion issues too.

white fleks... that's corrosion.

I would inspect my bars once a year after the first 2 years and toss em if you start to see corrosion and or any sort of stress marks. That means unwrapping everything, tape included.

[nm87710]

Guys Alu bars can have corrosion issues too.

white fleks... that's corrosion.

I would inspect my bars once a year after the first 2 years and toss em if you start to see corrosion and or any sort of stress marks. That means unwrapping everything, tape included.

+100

I've had more than a few Cinelli bars over the years develop pinholes on the top section from sweat corrosion.

[Peter P.]

"As a mechanical engineer, I'd inspect the bars for damage at the clamp area. If none is found, good quality Al bars should be good for many times the 10-12,000 they's seen."

Dave gets it.

You shouldn't have to worry about your bars, but the manufacturers er, excuse me, the marketers, have to plant it in your head to "replace regularly" just to provide a perpetual income stream for them.

Otherwise, we're demanding, and they're building, handlebars that are too light.

The aluminum TTT SL bars on my road bike date back to 1980.

Side story: When aero brake levers were a new offering, some cyclists, like my buddy, would drill entry holes near the lever and exit holes near the enlarged center section for cable runs.

Well, a few years ago my buddy was riding with his say, 15+ year old bars and stopped at a light. Light turns green, he leans on one side of the bars and it wilts on him, failing where he drilled that hole near the stem. He was lucky, riding 30 more miles with his hands near the stem!

As Dave said, inspect and you should be fine.

[mraceebb]

Inspect every couple years or when you hear creaking and you should be fine. I would agree with other people that any advice other than that probably has some marketing slant involved.

[East Bay]

I had to deal with this issue about two weeks ago. Was out on a 40 mile ride, lots of up and down including some twisty, high speed descents. Then at an intersection, two miles from home, I start to take off and my bars (right side about an inch from the stem) give out, looking a bit like a torn soda can.

The bars were six years old and showed no obvious signs of fatigue but admittedly, I didn't make a regular practice of examining them. Shop said most manufacturers suggest replacing alloy bars every 3-4 years for regular riders, more often for racers.

Considering the potential risk (vs. the relatively low cost of alloy bars) probably better to replace them sooner than later.

[Lifelover]

Remove tape and inspect yearly. With the tape removed, try to break them using normal cycling grip.

Replace if at all suspect. Otherwise, retape and ride.

[207 cm]

After every ride.

You can't be to safe.