Thinking of some carbon bars for the hard-tail. Main aim is a little weight saving and hopefully a slight improvement in comfort (dodgy shoulder).

I’ve had carbon forks and frames before so I’m not a carbon-a-phobe, but wondered if there’s anything to be aware/wary of?

I’m specifically thinking of;
– Clamping: I have an Exposure Maxx-D light – are there specific areas to clamp to/avoid?
– Carbon paste: where, if anywhere is it needed?

Also any brands to avoid? I was impressed with Exotic forks so was thinking of getting their bars, but not averse to spending a more if worthwhile.

Cheers,
V

On one bars are very good, available in hard or soft,
Prices fluctuate, but got mine for£30
Been riding and racing, dh enduro etc on mine for 18months
no paste or anything, just standard torque and lights clamped as normal.

I use the Pace carbon paste – I am quite heavy and I have been running a 680mm Truvativ Noir riser made out of high modulus for a number of years 200g). I am not sure about the comfort thing, I reckon slightly thicker gloves might help more!

TBH I don’t think carbon bars are going to do much in the way of comfort, I’ve certainly never noticed much of a difference. I’d invest in a set of fatter grips first (cheaper)

As long as you don’t over tighten anything am sure you’d fine, torque wrench and gripper paste always worked for me. I had my exposure clamp on a set of carbon Renthals and put it as close to the stem as I could, logic being it’d be a stronger/safer area. The silicone pad stopped anything digging in.

yes and no issues in use
I agree grips will make more difference to comfort than the bar material

Currently running Lizard Skins lock-ons, was planning to switch to foam grips on the new bars.

To be honest, weight-saving and added comfort are probably secondary concerns to blingy-newness…

Fair enough !! Not to mention placebo.

Sweep and width will make a difference too

They should be fine with the clamping force on a light, you probably could torque it up enough to cause damage mind. Never used carbon paste myself, never missed it…

Exotic do some funny shaped bars so check the numbers, my flat one was like 4 degrees backsweep, no up, pretty orrible.

nickc – Member

TBH I don’t think carbon bars are going to do much in the way of comfort, I’ve certainly never noticed much of a difference.

Carbon bars vary a lot so yeah, with some carbon bars there’s no real difference but get a soft one- like the Crank Bros Cobalt- and it’s a massive difference (you can see the bar bending!) Made the difference between my fatbike destroying my hands on a 3 minute descent, and being comfortable to race for 7 hours.

you can see the bar bending!

😯

blimey! I think I’ve used mostly Easton, and they were pretty stiff I think. I heard a rumour that the new carbon Renthal 35mm were so stiff people that tried them were suggesting they were unusable!

I’ve used Renthal carbon bars (Fatbar Carbon and Fatbar Carbon Lite) for a few years on various bikes. I just bung them on like any other bar; no paste and everything torqued to 5Nm. Not dead yet and I’ve still got all me own teeth 🙂

you can see the bar bending!

If they didn’t, they would probably snap.

I’ve had carbon bars for probably 15+ years now.

Cant count the number of trees I’ve ridden into or massive crashes I’ve had.

They are fine and I’ve never had any issue clamping things to them or comfort. For peace of mind use some paste, I only used paste recently.

I use paste for seatpost in carbon frames, not concerned about bars in clamps.

Carbon is used for F1 suspension arms, they go a bit faster than us.

Exotic do some funny shaped bars so check the numbers, my flat one was like 4 degrees backsweep, no up, pretty orrible.

Which sounds lovely to me!

IMO width/sweep/bend/rise dictate comfort way more than material. Carbon is just an expensive way of experimenting with what is right for you 🙂

As with any bar, just make sure whatever you clamp to it (grips, shifters, brakes, lights etc…) doesn’t have sharp protrusions around the clamps.

OP, not sure how much other brands do for comfort, but I have a Sixpack carbon bar, and it’s as comfortable as the Spank vibrocore ones, which in turn solved some horrible vibration problems with my HT.

Trimix – Member
I’ve had carbon bars for probably 15+ years now.

Cant count the number of trees I’ve ridden into or massive crashes I’ve had.

That’ll be the concussion… 🙂

I’m a big fan of the RSP ego dh bar. 780 mm, light, cheapish, great.

Carbon is used for F1 suspension arms, they go a bit faster than us

Ah yes, it’s true I remember watching an F1 documentary as they bought a £50 suspension arm on ebay and an IT software engineer found 10 minutes between changing a nappy and watching the IT crowd to whack it on the car using a multitool. Oh and there was that bit when they smashed the car into a tree and drove it into an unexpected speed hump but do you know what the skills on those guys they looked at it and said ‘it’ll be reet’ and carried on using it for the next 5 seasons of racing…

PSA: At the moment you can get Easton Haven 35mm Carbon bars and stem for £77 on CRC – bars £55, stem £32, less £10 with the code.

I remain to be convinced by carbon bars – my SixC bars were impossibly stiff and very very uncomfortable. I was glad to see the back of them.

Much happier back on alloy Pro Tapers.

PSA: At the moment you can get Easton Haven 35mm Carbon bars and stem for £77 on CRC – bars £55, stem £32, less £10 with the code.

Good Psa. Shame they only have stems in 70mm upwards!
Got a 60 on my fatbike, would have gone for 55mm.

What’s the 35mm benefit over 31.8 apart from maybe strength?
None of my lights will fit 35mm

I’ve got the Race Face Next jobs and clamp a light without issue. Shouldnt be a problem

Mouse pointer currently poised over a CRC basket with Easton EC70 bars, EA70 Stem and Ritchey WCS foam grips…

Just need to kick my inherent Yorkshire-ness into touch and click Buy now…

Exotic do some funny shaped bars so check the numbers, my flat one was like 4 degrees backsweep, no up

hmm, do flat bars actually have upsweep? I thought the just had sweep and you can keep em level or rotate them to provide a bit of up sweep.

Easton Haven 35mm Carbon … bars £55

sooooo tempting, new bike deserves a bit of carbon dunnit?

Goldigger – Member

What’s the 35mm benefit over 31.8 apart from maybe strength?
None of my lights will fit 35mm

Apparently just MOAR STIFFERER, but that’s not what every rider wants.

Wider tubes make stiffer structures… So you can either do 14% EXTRA STIFFS in your marketing (regardless of how good an idea that is, folks will buy it because it’s 1 louder), or you can possibly use less material for the same stiffness. But then you have to think about crush and impact strength too so you can’t spread it too thin. Pretty interesting, but I think the main advantage is probably that nobody actually wants it so you can get really nice bars and stems from CRC for £77.

D0NK – Member

hmm, do flat bars actually have upsweep? I thought the just had sweep and you can keep em level or rotate them to provide a bit of up sweep.

It’s mostly a matter of where the stickers are tbh 😆 But if there’s only 4 degrees and you roll it forward to get some rise on, you end up with something that’s basically a straight bar. Hated it, tastes may vary but that’s just not the shape my hands are.

Finally clicked buy!

Thanks for the comments.

OP – im probably the heaviest rider here and have been riding carbon cars for 15 years with zero problems. Stick a bit of carbon paste around the stem plate – fit and largely forget.
I dig the fact that they weigh less than a Cheryl Fernandez fart.

The On-One bars mentioned earlier are great value – I use the stiff version but I should imagine the ‘chewy’ version would serve you well for comfort.

For peace of mind watch some vids of people hitting things with carbon frames/bars etc really REALLY hard without causing any immediately noticable damage. (obvs always replace any bar after a heavy crash).

I have no actual facts but based on assumed sales percentages, i’d reckon Alu bars out-fail carbon significantly more frequently.

looking at the PSA for Haven carbon 35 bars and stem..

If I go from a 60 to 70mm stem and from 780mm bars to 750mm. I’d pretty much still be in the same position while on the bike, rather than the extra 10mm in stem length stretching me out a little?
Will this make much difference to the steering feel? (Fatbike)