- Cheap Chinese carbon bars and titanium skewers. Any good?
I wouldn’t. 2 areas you really don’t want failing.
Posted 3 years agoWith your reputation? : )
Why bother.. I don’t wreck as much kit and I’d always use RWS or XT skewers and reputable bars.
Posted 3 years agoI’ve been running a chinese road frame for the last 3 years as a training bike. I originally had a one piece bars/stem combo and had no issues. I changed it out for a longer stem.
Can’t really comment on mtb bars. Must admit, in the 2004 Enduro I’m building up I’ll get a set of Renthal’s, road riding is one thing but on the trails is something else.
Posted 3 years agoI know there’s been a few threads on cheap Chinese carbon frames, and I think the general consensus was that they are good value for money and just as durable as the well known brands.
What about components though?
These two in particular.
Carbon bars for £14.
Titanium skewers for £7Are they all made in the same factory and it’s just that these haven’t got a known brand name printed on them at the end of the production line, or are they some dodgy substandard rip off?
Worth buying or not? I mean, cheap bars and skewers, what could possibly go wrong?
Posted 3 years agoI believe i’ll be buying a Chinese carbon full sus next year when I get the pennies together… So I’m sold on the Chinese carbon front…
However, I probably wouldn’t get Chinese carbon bars… Doesn’t sit right in my head… But I don’t doubt that some big brand bars are made in teh same factory!
Posted 3 years agoI just found some cracks in my rather expensive 3t carbon roadie bars so I don’t think failures are restricted to Chinese direct stuff 🙁
My LB rims (only thing I’ve got experience off) have been great so far and taken a beating.
Posted 3 years agoDon’t bother with those skewers, they have a really weak clamping force because of the way ti can stretch. I had some that seemed fine with a Spesh Hardrock, but when I put one on the back of a Blue Pig, on the second ride it kicked the back wheel out on a climb and bent the brake side dropout. I’d checked the skewer was tight before setting off, and would have been screwed if the frame wasn’t steel. Once I googled it, I found plenty of people who’d had similar experiences with various brands of them.
Posted 3 years agoI believe i’ll be buying a Chinese carbon full sus next year when I get the pennies together… So I’m sold on the Chinese carbon front…
I’ll send a card to the hospital when it explodes 😀
Posted 3 years agoI’ve got those exact skewers, they’re pretty naff. They come undone even if you clamp them down tight and they’re not made of titanium, it even says Aluminium on the packet when you get them.
Posted 3 years agoBeaconjon. Check out the OnOne carbon bars that were on a thread yesterday – Knuckleball I think they were called. £39 for carbon bars with 5 year defect warranty seems good.
Posted 3 years agoI’d heard that titanium at any price was the wrong material for a skewer
It stretches more under tension so you can’t get enough load
Tech note
There is no way round this all Ti has the same Young’s Modulus and it always lower than the Young’s Modulus for steel
Posted 3 years agoAre they all made in the same factory and it’s just that these haven’t got a known brand name printed on them at the end of the production line, or are they some dodgy substandard rip off?
You have no idea.
So I’m sold on the Chinese carbon front…
There is not one Chinese Carbon Bike Part Factory, I love my Chinese made carbon frame, it came with a 5 year warranty, lots and lots of R&D and testing and a solid reputation from Santa Cruz.
Posted 3 years agoI too mocked Chinese carbon for years ….. Berating all who bought and used it….
Now I have
road wheels(farsports)
Cx frame (speeder cycling)
Carbon bars(hylix) drop ones on cx bike
All had serious use and mileage without a single issue 🙂
Keep splashing your cash on the carbon with a pretty name on it if it makes you feel better/look cooler 😆
Posted 3 years agoI’ve been running those type of ti skewers (mine were from Taiwan).
Got a set on my road bike and on my cross bike. Had them on a few years with no issues. Raced, ridden, rough stuff roads and proper cross races.
Posted 3 years ago700mm? Great for midgets and kids I guess.
Posted 3 years agoNot enduro enough for youjcl 😉
Posted 3 years agoI’ve got those exact skewers, they’re pretty naff. They come undone even if you clamp them down tight and they’re not made of titanium, it even says Aluminium on the packet when you get them.
Presumably that’s the handles? Aluminum skewers would be pretty scary!
I had a pair of cheap (AEST?) skewers, they came with plastic cup washers rather than brass which deforemd as soon as you tightened the QR, so they got binned.
Bought KCNC ones from XCracer and they’ve been fine, apparently the Mt Zoom ones at half the price are even better but at the time i just wanted some good ones that worked so opted for the most expensive rather than risking it again.
Posted 3 years agoIs the widespread fear of Chinese carbon failure based on real world evidence then, or is it just that they are not reassuringly expensive with a boutique brand name printed on it?
By some and report back!
Posted 3 years agois it just that they are not reassuringly expensive with a boutique brand name printed on it?
It will be a bot of both
Its an unknown leap in the dark
they could be he same as a boutique brand from the same machines or they could be made as cheap as can be in some backwoods factory with no QC
If i was to to do this I would use a big well know manufacturer or supplier of carbon parts for peanuts. That is not that supplier from what I can see
Posted 3 years agoAll I ever use on my road bike is Chinese carbon and I am still alive. Frames, bars, stems and seatposts all without bursting into flames.
Posted 3 years agoI had those skewers, binned them and went back to Shimano. Weak clamping force and mine had a cheap plastic bushing thing that fell to pieces.
Posted 3 years agoYou’re just #SoEnduro, as you seem desperate to keep pointing out.
I hope you paint your 1100mm bars fluoro yellow for extra #Enduro points?
The best lightweight skewers I’ve tried were either Tune AC16/17 or Mt Zoom. The Tune ones have a proper internal cam, but they’re bloody expensive. The levers on the KCNCs were too short IMO, the Mt Zoom ones work very well.
Posted 3 years agoLast 2 years of XC racing on unbranded Chinese carbon bars now, first year mostly rigid, then hardtail. Prior to that was using Easton carbon monkey bars, they cracked.
Chinese ones have not exploded and I’m still here posting about it
Posted 3 years agoCan’t remember, bought on eBay with some skepticism but I have as much faith in the as any other bar now
Posted 3 years agoOh and a climax 130g weenie seatpost that’s taken a beating on my local roads without snapping and rogering me 😯
Posted 3 years agoHow wide do you want? There are loads of “Mr Ride”/Climax 660mm ones, 145g. So not crazy light, but only £40. I’m contemplating their seatposts.
Posted 3 years agoI have a friend who rides XC and cross at a reasonable level. Both his XC and cross bikes are generic chinese frames and his cross wheels also. He’s had no issues with any of his kit.
Getting back to my chinese road frame and bars, it’s handled the ripped up tarmac on alpine descents 3 years on the trot and there are some big holes coming down the HC side of the Joux Plane.
I also run a 90mm tub chinese front on my Scott Plasma, it’s been a solid purchase at £150 delivered.
I don’t have tons of cash to throw at exotic gear so I make it stretch where I can.
The Chinese stuff is ok but I’m still reluctant about fitting some to my Enduro as I’m not sure they’ll survive a half decent off, saying that, a nice light ally pair probably wouldn’t fair much better I guess.
Posted 3 years ago
Undecided.To the OP, I’ll be interested in your views on the bars should you get them.
Posted 3 years agoI’ve run an MT Zoom Ti skewer for years in the rear. Never been a problem.
Posted 3 years agoYou’re just #SoEnduro, as you seem desperate to keep pointing out.
No. Just with the times.
Posted 3 years agoAaah, so you’re a fashion victim? Presumably you’re using a Yardstick bar or equivalent? What did you praise before the industry told you that wider was better?
Posted 3 years agoUsing exotic carbon bars on my Lurcher rigid, which gets a beating. No issues with instant death whatsoever.
Also took a punt on some fully built whells from chinese ebay seller CN Carbon. They’re really rather good too.
AndyV
Posted 3 years agoThis quick disassembling carbon fiber handlebar is easy to use,and one of the best gifts to your friends
The carbon fiber handlebar is made of high quality carbon fiber.So that you can use it relieved
With the special design,the carbon fiber handlebar can save for a long time
Well thats me sold.
Posted 3 years agoThe best lightweight skewers I’ve tried were either Tune AC16/17 or Mt Zoom. The Tune ones have a proper internal cam, but they’re bloody expensive. The levers on the KCNCs were too short IMO, the Mt Zoom ones work very well.
I’ve got some Extralite ones which seem pretty good. I also have KCNC ones on the roadie where they’re fine, but wouldn’t use them on a MTB.
Posted 3 years agoI’ve got some Parts of Passion ones which are obscenely expensive, but utterly useless, I’d avoid them!
Posted 3 years agoCan you write convincing marketing spiel in Chinese?
Posted 3 years ago
Nope, but then my day job isn’t flogging stuff on ebay to the chinese.
What does ‘quick disassembling carbon fiber handlebar ‘ mean to you?What does ‘quick disassembling carbon fiber handlebar ‘ mean to you?
To me it means somebody made a poor translation/mistake
Posted 3 years agoInteresting thread. I too have had a bunch of cheap unbranded bars and seatposts in my ebay watch list for weeks now, still not brave enough to try them.
Posted 3 years agoAlso took a punt on some fully built whells from chinese ebay seller CN Carbon. They’re really rather good too.
Their £300/1320g 38mm clinchers look good!
Posted 3 years agoI too have had a bunch of cheap unbranded bars and seatposts in my ebay watch list for weeks now, still not brave enough to try them
That’s exactly why I bought some actually, every time the topic came up there would be lots of fear-mongering, scare stories and teeth sucking, and 2nd hand anecdotes about the postman’s nan’s hairdresser’s husband who had a Chinese carbon bar that exploded once and sent carbon fibre shards straight to his heart and killed him and his cat dead, but very little actual 1st hand reports.
I was (and still am) very sceptical about some fo them, but I bought some cheapies off ebay (£15) and put them on just rode them as normal, nothing broke, so I started using them on my race bike, trying to do a proper 1st hand test and use them under the same conditions I would any other bar.
The bars (and me!) survived, so I kept using them. They don’t seem noticeably worse finsihing wise to the other branded bars I have either.
Who knows how they will fare long term, or in terms of ultimate strength, but I’ve had a couple of years on them now with no drama and I pretty much forget they are there until someone asks what make they are.
There seems to be general acceptance of cheap Chinese carbon when its a frame, or rims, or even a fork, but for whatever reason there’s still a lot of doubt about bars and seatposts.
Make of that what you will, but all I will say is I have noticed that in general, most of the scare-mongering comes from people who haven’t used them (natural perhaps as they have doubts so aren’t going to), where as most people that have used them have reported very few issues, certainly no more than any other material or brand.
Posted 3 years ago
The topic ‘Cheap Chinese carbon bars and titanium skewers. Any good?’ is closed to new replies.