I have a 700c alpine commuter bike which is all alloy frame, fork and flat bars. Its a little bit harsh on the longer commute I have now.

Would carbon flat bars make a decent enough difference to soften some of the harshness in the same way that carbon forks do? ( Its a disc based setup, so I’m really 100% set of changing the forks just yet )

You’d make it a more comfy ride fitting 25cc tyres that is assuming you ride 23 currently.

Carbon bars don’t make a huge difference IMO.

Carbon bars will make just as much difference as carbon forks.

Put some bigger tyres on it and change the grips to something like ESI foamy thingies. No need to waste money on carbon bars..

Carbon bars don’t make a huge difference IMO

But IMO they do make a minor but very important difference. I don’t seem to get numb hands/wrists after about three hours now I’ve got carbon bars on my roadie.

Wider tyres will make a far, far, greater impact on your comfort level. Don’t mess around with 25’s, go straight up to 38’s. You’re not in the TDF are you?

Thanks chaps. I currently have 32’s on i think ( would need to check ). I did have larger tyres (40’s) on before, but sometimes the length of the commute ( 20miles ) means that heavy tyres can become quite a drag on the long sections … so its trying to strike a balance of comfort and speed. If the commute was a good bit shorter, then it’d defo be bigger tyres.

chakaping – Member

But IMO they do make a minor but very important difference. I don’t seem to get numb hands/wrists after about three hours now I’ve got carbon bars on my roadie.

They possibly do or that could just as possibly be a slightly different position/shape – eg not specific to the carbon. I’ve certainly found some (aluminium) bars to be more comfortable than others on longer rides even though they didn’t look to have a very different shape.

I currently have 32’s on i think

What pressure do you put in them?

You’d make it a more comfy ride fitting 25cc tyres that is assuming you ride 23 currently.

Wider tyres will make a far, far, greater impact on your comfort level. Don’t mess around with 25’s, go straight up to 38’s. You’re not in the TDF are you?

Dunno about that. There’s far more than 2mm of flex in my aluminium bars (WCS evocurve). I’d say my racer with 23mm tyres and WCS bars is as comfortable as my toruer with 32mm tyres and narrowers/stiffer bars from years ago.

I had some bontranger carbon bars before the WCS’s. Not all carbon bars are created equal (just like aluminium) but I didn’t like them.

Put a carbon seatpost and bars on my commuter years ago as they were cheap in one of the CRC sales. Definitely an improvement with less road buzz. Probably wouldn’t of been worth the expense at full price, but at 70% off, it was a good deal.

They possibly do or that could just as possibly be a slightly different position/shape – eg not specific to the carbon.

This is true. But funnily enough the alu bars I used to have were a lovely comfy shape, but my carbon replacements (EC70s?) have an annoying straight section on the bottom of the drop that makes it hard to settle in a position.

I just can’t bring myself to pony up for another pair though – and I don’t get the vibration white finger any more!

I know the feeling – hard to get them exactly right. I guess that my point was that white finger is often related to pressure on the nerve and very small shape changes can have a big effect there.

And I take your point that “most comfy” might not be best at preventing it.

Anyway, probably gone a bit OT.