Can’t decide between these two to fit to my long travel hardtail. Would be happy to pay more for the carbon if I thought they were as strong / robust as the ali versions, but something is holding me back. Hardtail is my main bike and gets thrashed everywhere including trips to the BMX track etc.
Any opinions? Any other 30mm rise bars to consider? Don’t need to go wider that 740, in fact will probably trim back to 730.

My mate has the carbon ones on his Solaris HT and he is a hooligan. If he can’t break them, nobody can!

I would trust the carbon. I’ve had the same carbon bars on my bikes for 10 years and 8 years and seen lots of rougher/heavier riders than me have bars outlast the bike.

Depends on price versus weight.
I tend to think that carbon bars are one of the cheapest and simplest ways to save weight. Often about £40 for 100g saving.

ymmv

Probably not quite a PSA here, but Fatbar Lite & Fatbar Carbon are 166 Euro on CRC, 155 Euro on Wiggle, but just 129 euro on bike-components,de.

Mine shipped this morning. 10 Euro postage, but still money saved.

I’ve just gone for my first set of carbon bars in 7 years. I cracked two pairs of Easton Monkey Lite carbon bars and veered away from them until now. Reason being that I crashed neither of those sets of bars and neither failed on a clamped area. Both replaced under warranty.

I think things have moved forward since then so took the plunge and splashed out on a set of Fatbar Carbons (Not Lites as I wanted a wider bar). I don’t race DH or free ride but do take on the occasional drop and wanted to feel assured that a carbon bar wouldn’t fail at a crucial point…

They feel rock solid and performed well on their first ride so so far so good! Dropped a max of two feet only (At take off point) though and rode through a variety of rocky black sections. So it’s not as if I really put them through the wringer.

I’ve got the carbons on my 5, OK I’ve not put them through their paces yet.
My FSA carbon bars are a bit stiffer, but that’s probably down to the width.
Got mine here…cheapest on tinterweb.
http://www.ubyk.co.uk/renthal-fatbar-lite-carbon-handlebars/15682

Thanks for all the responses so far. I guess what I really want to know is which is the stronger bar, as I’d swap 100gr for peace of mind but if the carbon is just as strong I’d pay the extra to lose the 100gr.
Maybe I’ll email Renthal and see what there response is.

I’ve the carbon ones, replaced a set of Easton DH carbons that I’d had for 5 years. No reason other than I wanted wider bars, 740 vs 711.

Both sets have been crashed, the Eastons numerous times over the 5 years including putting me in hospital more than once…

Alu can break too.

Yep absolutely. But aluminium bars seem to be less susceptible to over-tightened brake clamps etc. giving the impression they are more robust, even if this is a fallacy.

have the fatbar Carbon lite on my enduro – no problems here

I found the Renthal carbon bars to flexy for my big bike – so put the Renthal ally bars back on

Carbon bars now on my hardtail which i don’t hammer quite as hard and they seem fine

I’ve got the carbon lites, bought in a fit of ‘sod it, it’s my birthday’, and they look quite pimpy, but i can’t really say I can tell the difference between these and alu TBH.

Just to round this off, I haven’t heard back from Renthal – probably not wanting to infer that one product is ‘weaker’.
I talked to the guys at my LBS who I know ride hard and I bought the aluminium fatbar lites. Just too many “what if’s” for me on the carbon ones.

Pretty sure they designed it to be as strong r stronger than the alu bar – but engineered in a wee bit of flex for feel.

Carbon bars do suffer if you overtighten clamps – the fibres are aligned for strength in a different direction, not for crush strength, which is a different type of load. Doesn’t affect the bars in use.

This vid shows carbon bar strength – according to Enve “We tested a popular Brand A aluminum bar at 345 grams and a Brand B carbon bar from a competitor that was 785 wide and 225 grams. The Brand A aluminum bar at nearly 100 grams heavier bent to unrideable proportions after 40 or so drops. The Brand B competitor’s carbon bar broke at 32” or after 5 drops and never made max height.”

That’d be the Alu Renthals and the Sixc

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcSqTlkvkj0[/video]

I use Easton Havoc Carbon bars, so far they have survived various crashes a trip to Fort William, loads of drop offs and me just battering though rock gardens with no regard for the bike or me, I would absolutely buy another set of Eastons, not to sure on the Renthals though as I’ve seen 2 sets that have snapped on the EWS scene, admittedly, I don’t know the reasons behind those issues.

Pretty sure they designed it to be as strong r stronger than the alu bar – but engineered in a wee bit of flex for feel.

Yeah thats what I thought and why I was considering them, but still… in the back of my head I’d always be doubting them. I guess the fact that renthal have been producing alu bars for ages wheras they’ve had to go out to source some carbon bars based on their specs swung it for me.

In that test above then – the alu fatbar did better than the sixc carbon bar, albeit the enve carbon bar did best of all? So its really more the design than the material.