any difference at all really in the grand scheme of things? weight aside?

are carbon bars ‘comfier’ than alloy ones? ive got some easton haven carbon bars im thinking of selling for some of the same in alloy (just the graphics are different everything else is the same though)

so as they are identical (bar carbon vs alloy) will i actually notice any difference at all?

or is the huge price difference just the weight?

I’ve got the same carbon havens and I noticed you get much more feel from the front end and a little bit more flex. Easier to manoeuvre in twisty stuff too.

Got to be honest I don’t find that much difference (maybe I don’t ride rad enough!), just that I like carbon and have weight weenie tendencies.

Carbon is comfier 😀 and warmer in the winter, lighter is a bonus for me, my old wrists like comfy 🙂

Another one that can’t tell the difference here, having ridden both alloy and carbon Easton bars. I struggle to believe the “carbon flexes more” thing personally, carbon has substantially the highest modulus of any material used to build bikes (steel is closest), so for components of a fixed size such as handlebars carbon bars will flex less unless they have far thinner walls, which I don’t think they usually do.
There may be a little difference for absorbing buzz on road bikes but I struggle to believe you’ll feel it past suspension and MTB tyres.
Other folks experiences may vary though.

hmmm interesting! i may well just give the haven alloys a shot! im sure at worst i could sell them for near enough the same price anyways!

It depends, after an accident I had to have my thumb is reattached with wire and ti bits because i nearly ripped it off, when I ride with aluminium bars my hand is dead after half an hour, with carbon bars its fine for hours..

Carbon is subtly comfier – whether you really notice depends on the bike (travel, tyre size/pressure) and the riding conditions. I could notice a lot of difference in a 24 hour solo race, but less so for a couple of hour blast…

Another one that can’t tell the difference here, having ridden both alloy and carbon Easton bars. I struggle to believe the “carbon flexes more” thing personally, carbon has substantially the highest modulus of any material used to build bikes (steel is closest), so for components of a fixed size such as handlebars carbon bars will flex less unless they have far thinner walls, which I don’t think they usually do.

Don’t forget steel is the same modulus in all direction where as carbon fibre is only close in the 0deg direction when used fully in UD guise which won’t be used in real life (well it might be but not on a bike). So as soon as you start making a layup the combined modulus migrates down to that of aluminium.

The specific properties are very good yes, and you have the ability to put the fibres not only in directions you want but spaced out from the neutral axis to maximise their effect. Ie if you put all your UD out at the edges it’s a bit like an I beam compared to a a flat plate.

The reason steel is seen to flex more is the high strength means you can use thin sections and use small diameters to get away from geometric effects.

You can easily make an aluminium bike or a carbon bike stiffer than a steel bike for the same weight due to the specific properties and the change in section profile you can adopt with higher specific modulus materials.

My experience comparing Easton EA70 bars and carbon Havoc bars is there is a definite difference in vibration. But this is well known in other sports such as tennis, hockey, baseball etc and things like axe and hammer handles (fibreglass) where composites are partly used for their damping.