Did you notice a difference?

I get pins & needles in my fingers after a while so was wondering if going to carbon might help …

Yes I did go from alu to carbon some years ago. And swapped back n forth over the years.

Come to think of it, there were two memorable occasions where I got numb hand, and they were both on the alu bars. Not sure if there is a correlation, I always thought it was just bad hand position that caused that…

Noticed no difference tbh… Had assorted alu (Sunline, Answer and Easton fairly recently) and Truvativ and assorted Easton carbons, and they all feel the same to me. But that’s not to say there’s no difference.

as above feel the same to me

Very noticeable difference between my carbon bars (X-lite and Easton Havoc) and my Easton EA70 bars I used before (which are very stiff aluminium bars).

Between the two carbon bars my Havocs feel a lot stiffer (no surprise there)

And my previous aluminium Race Face Deus XC bars were slightly comfier than the EA70s which were just damn stiff and harsh.

I know people use a carbon seat-post to reduce the harshness of a hardtail for instance, so was wondering whether its the same for bars…

I usually ride a rigid bike and I don’t think I would use an alu bar again..
Maybe psychological, I’m not sure

I have Niner carbon flat bars and Enve carbon Bars with a slight sweep. I’ve tried swapping both about on a few of my bikes and the Niner bars always kill my palms and wrists, the Enve are lovely with no hand/wrist fatigue. Not quite sure the reason why tho.

I ran Truvativ Noir carbons on my hardtail, and it did feel more comfy when using a rigid fork. No noticeable difference with suspension forks, mind.

Swapped out alloy bars on another hardtail the other day, and ended up with numb hands on the test ride. It turns out I had got my brake lever position a little wrong, and as a result I was stretching my fingertips to reach the levers to brake, which stretched my fingertips against the ends of my gloves. Removing my gloves got rid of the tingling, but movimg my levers about a quarter of an inch towards my natural hand position on the grips, and five degrees towards the horizontal more, helped even more.

Moral of this story: check it’s not your hand position. One more thing: if you really get on with a specific aluminium bar, but want something more comfy, see if there is a carbon version of that bar.

Can’t use my noirs on the new bike, as I need flat bars, by the way, so I am going to sell them.

Went from race face alloy risers to race face next carbon risers and if anything the carbon was less forgiving. It wasn’t worlds apart difference though.

Yes went from Renthal fat bar to Enve carbons, not a huge amount of difference stiffness wise, but transmitted a differnt frequency through them, no better or worse really.

I run carbon bars, but also don’t discount grips and position of the bars/controls plus width – and even front tyre pressure.

my the time you get through the tyre and the suspension fork I’m not sure any deflection in the bars will make a difference. Sweep and fit must be more important?

Yep, Picton and B R, you’re right on the money. I’d spend the money on a carbon seatpost, OP, unless you’re dying to shave about 75 grams. 😉

Have to agree with fit being the most important factor n i know its uber untrendy but i switched from a low rise 710mm Easton Haven to a 685mm 40mm Rise EC70 as i was getting hand pains and it made a world of difference!

I’d be looking at bar shape or position first to cure the pins and needles.

I have a set of FSA carbon bars which gave me palm ache at first. I played around with the set up and its fine now.

Also check reviews or opinions on bars before buying. Some poorly designed carbon bars can be much stiffer.

Might be cheaper to try Esi grips, if it does not cure it you still have some lovely comfy grips.

Transferred to Carbon bars and didn’t get wrist ache anymore. This could be because the sweep angle was different or that it felt as though there was less buzz through the bars.

Hand position is almost certainly the issue. Different sweep/width/tilt of the bars and grips are the things to try before carbon.

FWIW, I found that ergon grips helped as I had the same issue and despite trying just about every combination of the above nothing else seemed to stop it.

been flipping back and forth for years mate. Easton carbon ec70 wides cut to fit had a little flex and are comfi for me and on another flip note I find the surly torsion steel bar very comfi. I think its the sweep of a bar that makes it fit me right and adds the most comfort over material

I put some carbon bars on my Genesis Io, because the original ones were cheap, thick alloy, with no give and because of the rigid fork, I used to take a battering.
There was a marked improvement in comfort over rocky terrain with the new bars.

Had some cheap spares bin race face alu ones I swapped for new Easton Haven carbon. I reckon they feel better but could doubt I could tell in a blind test (other than they are wider.) They do look nicer though 🙂

+1 for Easton EC70s

Nice width, sweep and a lot more forgiving when you’ve got a soft joint from a broken clavicle.

Had aching wrists the first few rides, although that’s more likely the change to rigid forks at the same time!

Can’t say I have any problems off them now…apart from feeling a little sad when they get scratched.

Ti stem and bars are very comfy – good job given their price!

running carbon fibre bar on my rigid fork commuting hybrid with road wheels and road tires set at 100psi

previously had an aluminium alloy bar on the same bike with same components, same grips, etc. (CF and Alloy bars from same brand both for MTB riding)

only item that has changed is the bar, it definitely more comfortable with the CF bar and takes away the road buzz and better deadens the impact of hitting all those lovely potholes littering the roads of ‘London town 😉

Yes. Went from OS EA70’s to non-OS Carbon Monkey Bars. Even went to big thick LizardSkinz North Shores. Running rigid front, with a nice big tyre & it worked a treat.

I don’t suffer from wrist aches and pains. Its my fingers. I’ve thought about ergo. grips but am worried that if I set them up for a seated position they’ll be wrong when I’m descending/ standing. I’m using Oury grips which I find pretty good. I have wondered though whether a grip with more circumference ( I’ve fairly large hands but not long fingers ) would improve the numbness..

There’s no doubt that some bars flex more than others and IME that can make a difference to comfort, no matter what the bars are made of. As others have said, hand position, suspension and tyre pressures are probably more significant.

Seat angle makes a difference also. Just a few mm adjustment can mean you are or not pitched forwards onto the bars

put a carbon bar on my flat bar pompino years ago and it felt like i had a soft front tyre at first – a marked difference. tingling etc. sounds like position as others have suggested though.

Had race face xc Ali bars on the crush, then USE carbon atoms now back to a renthal fat bar.

I now use ergon grips which makes more difference than the bar