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I was just looking at the latest Whyte Bikes online manual and found the following paragraph...
"The lightweight handlebars supplied on this bike must be replaced periodically as in time they will possibly fail due to fatigue. We recommend a maximum as 2 years between replacement..."
Now, considering they are using top spec components, is it just me or does this seem crazy. Especially when some others (Raceface to name one) have lifetime warranties.
I've always been a little concerned re carbon fibre, which makes it so ironic that it was the aluminium main frame that failed on my E-5 🙂
just covering themselves, and backing up something that comes from easton (i think thats the bar. and thats what easton say)
Well, even the Easton website states a "limited" 5 year warranty. Makes me fell a little more secure.
Carbon will crack or snap at anytime.
Best to enjoy the ride or buy a tougher bar like steel or alum which will bend first...
If they say 5yr warranty then they'll think it will last or put enough into their pricing to give you another and also argue it wasn't their fault but your drop offs as you rode to Tesco through the forest excuse.
They also give you a nice warranty to give good marketing and sell more.
Limited can mean anything they say!
Carbon will crack or snap at anytime.
Not without you doing something abnormal to it, it won't (at least not for modern carbon components where they've largely sussed out how to do it properly). The carbon itself doesn't fatigue at all to any appreciable degree - only the matrix holding it together does, and that should give warnings in the form of cracks and increased flex well before it becomes dangerous. Suggestions about carbon having a fatigue problem is just a continuation of the old folklore about it being fragile now that has been disproven - personally I'd worry far more about replacing alu parts, as that's a material which does appreciably fatigue (lightweight alu handlebars will eventually fail without much warning due to this).
Whyte are related to Marin. Marin had to pay out for some guy who hurt himself when his old bars failed. Hence the warning.
Sorry aracer I should have said if doing strange things on a bike but there have been incidents where they have snapped even on a road bike bars or even the frame fracturing.
I've used my raceface ones for a while and the best thing was me to lose weight and stop my seatpost creaking!
Marin had to pay out for some guy who hurt himself when his old bars failed.
Remind me what material those bars were made from?
Imagine having your lovely CF seat post shatter and slice you where the sun don't shine!
T
[the old folklore about it being fragile now that has been disproven]
that's why I had three carbon frames fail on me in seven months I presume? - one lasted 18 months, the second 45 miles the third four months - the rest of the time was me waiting for the frames to come back from warranty
The guy who claimed successfully against Marin/Whyte/Atb sales was riding an aluminium bar.
If you ride bars hard i personally would change an alluminium bar evry year and a carbon every couple of years. Even expensive ones from very reputable brands.
Or wait for them to fatigue and break then claim against the five year warranty, only to be told that fatigue is a sign that the bar has been ridden a lot and is worn out:)