[Closed] £19.99 Chinese carbon MTB bars ? Anyone ?

crazy cheap wheels about these days

so take advantage 🙂

5 is just a number... and it's only 1 more than 4. With Switch hubs and arch mk3 hubs from Superstar with their 30% code, ACI F1 spokes from sdeals... I get that lot to 245. a beer money build offered above would be a far wiser investment IMO than any carbon bars and seatpost. I'd save the bar/post cash and add it to more saving... then take advantage of superstar's Easter discount code 🙂 I'd only look at swapping bars as mentioned if you needed to change bar shape.

Or... spend it all on a weekend away biking somewhere with your existing kit and not worry about the weight 🙂

Already got a week in Andalucia booked and planned with the guys over there.. 🙂

Weekends away are harder as they're usually taken up by trackdays on the KTM, although tomorrow i'm riding Silverstone GP which will make a change from a weekend date... Rockingham after that on the 15th April...

Lucky git

Heard nothing but good about the Knuckle Bars 🙂

I bought a set for a tenner for the kids bike thinking that they would be strong enough for a kid. I then thought I'd test so for a tenner bought a second pair... with the intention of deliberately destructing...

When I actually got to cutting the kids bars down and then once i had some spare I deliberately destroyed the cut-off ends I decided that they were actually pretty strong!

I've had these on my XC bike over a year and wiped out plenty including a few OTB's on rock... (so has the kid) and usually leave the ground whenever possible... I haven't however put them on my trail bike....

I have a no-name carbon frame but I draw the line at bars- I've broken bars before and it's a proper ****-you sort of an accident, I was very lucky to just break my wrist. The big issue is, you get no real warning so you don't tuck, or roll, or anything like that, you just eat dirt.

Not that no-name bars are necessarily going to break. You have no reason to doubt them, but also no reason to trust them. And cheap branded stuff isn't [i]that[/i] much more expensive.

Knuckleballs are well priced, On One obviously aren't a reputable company but they're not in the business of actually killing people, just stealing from them. Exotic a good wide selection at around £60. RSP Ego isn't the lightest but I have the riser on my Remedy and the flat on my xc bike and they've both been grand (they come up about 20g heavier than claimed, but for £50, can't complain- I replaced a set of Enves with the riser ones...)

ads678 - Member

Cotic Solaris frame is about half the weight of the parkwood

Half a Solaris frame may well be half the weight of a parkwood.

Wheels and tyres, usually. And look for hidden weight- best thing to do if you want to save weight is nerd out and weigh everything, you can't effectively save it if you don't know where it is.

Parkwoods do feel a bit solid, even if you strip the weight down I don't think you'll find it a really zingy thing to ride.

I've been riding a Parkwood 650b & rigid carbon forks this winter, liked it so much I picked up a Parkwood 29er frame and I'm now moving over to that for summer, running 650b+ tyres and RS Recon shocks.

ads678 - Member
Cotic Solaris frame is about half the weight of the parkwood

Half a Solaris frame may well be half the weight of a parkwood.

yeah, er, the Parkwood is lighter. I had my medium on the scales - it was 1950g

I have a no-name carbon frame but I draw the line at bars

Wheels, tyres, forks. Anything else is small rewards for big £ or dubious quality.

There are good, reasonably priced bars at around 200g and you can go to 150g on bars [url= http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ritchey-superlogic-low-riser-mountain-bike-handlebar/ ]still rated for 'Enduro' use[/url]

Usually possible to save some weight on the saddle if you're running something cheap at the moment.

eg Selle Italia SLR ti is 145g, manganese railed version about 200g.

simons_nicolai-uk - Member

you can go to 150g on bars still rated for 'Enduro' use

Ehhh, for a given quantity of enduro- I'm pretty sure they mean the "endurance" type for the superlogic, considering they sell a beefed up version for trail use.

philjunior - Member

Hmm, what is harder to make, a frame or a bar? And what happens if the head tube rips off? I'd suggest your reasoning is inconsistent!

Not really. OK, the head tube could come off, but that's an unusual failure mode for carbon since it's not really a standalone part as in a metal frame. The head tube could fail, but there's massively more structure there and the stresses are very different, that's a whole different level of fail.

And ease of production? Low barrier to entry isn't actually an advantage here, you can make the easier product with less skill and capability. [i]I[/i] could make a carbon bar, that's not good news! (oh OK, I could probably make a carbon bike too, but it'd be obviously made in a shed)

My Raleigh RSP downhill carbon bars which were a PSA bargain off here for £30 snapped last Wednesday night.
[img] ?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=374bcc92f115aa5dc6cf5401db6c60bc&oe=595C9D22[/img]
15 months old and I got a good all round beating. Managed to miss all the nasty bedrock and find some soft boulders and earth to land amongst. Still got all my teeth so will take the knee, elbow, kidney and shoulder damage as a bonus.

So I'd rather not bother with cheap carbon bars again thanks.

Ehhh, for a given quantity of enduro- I'm pretty sure they mean the "endurance" type for the superlogic, considering they sell a beefed up version for trail use.

I did wonder about that - 200g is my 'feels safe' minimum but OP is looking for XC bars.

The head tube could fail, but there's massively more structure there and the stresses are very different, that's a whole different level of fail.

I'm far more wary of bars than anything else (see post above). Head tube frame failures *tend* to happen in crashes rather than JRA. Frames failing anywhere else isn't usually catastrophic for the rider.

My Raleigh RSP downhill carbon bars which were a PSA bargain off here for £30 snapped last Wednesday night

😮

Did they go at a clamp? I've been riding mine like the DH moniker meant they were good for it.

My Raleigh RSP downhill carbon bars which were a PSA bargain off here for £30 snapped last Wednesday night

Did you send them back to Raleigh? What did they say?

overtightened brake lever.

That's made me want to take my knuckleball bars off my bike. They didn't have any recommended torque settings with them, and now I worry that torquing the levers to shimanos settings may be too much.

They went about an inch in board of the clamp. Not sent them back, doubt I will bother.
Strangely the Wednesday before I was inspecting them and wondering if the lines running along them were from the manufacturing process or stress marks... Everyone on the ride thought they were manufacturing marks, but a week later and they are stress marks.
I have carbon trust issues now! I've broken alloy bars, seat posts and frames before, but they were all more gentle in their failure and started to creak first.

Lol I'm leaving it heavy after all this thread!

In that case, fancy a set of 650b+ wheels for the Parkwood? It'll make those rides on the Ridgeway more comfortable.. I'll even drop them round for a test ride 😛

I've got more 650b wheels than I know what to do with!

[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flite-Carbonio-saddle-Ti-Carbon-rails-mint-retro-160-grams-/262893296502? ]Flite Carbon Ti 160 grams[/url]

I'm selling the above...

Northwind
I've broken bars before and it's a proper ****-you sort of an accident... The big issue is, you get no real warning so you don't tuck, or roll, or anything like that, you just eat dirt.

Agree with Northwind, knocked the ends off my left wrist joint (4 fractures) and badly damaged the ligaments in my right wrist when a set of bars failed on me.
Worst crash ever, I've had bigger crashes and worse injuries but that was mentally the worst and really painful.

Cheap bars and 2nd hand bars are just silly.

Wonna save some serious weight?

Rectal stimulants (Bisacodyl, Pedia-Lax, Dulcolax) Trigger rhythmic contractions of intestinal muscles to eliminate stool.

I've got a carbon WTB saddle for sale at 191g mate if thats any good to you?

Given up on the weight idea now thanks