Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 50 total)
  • Chinese carbon drop bars?
  • hora
    Free Member

    Any pointers, anywhere cheapish?

    neilsonwheels
    Free Member

    Aliexpress. Try flyxii or yushin for starters but any seller with a top rating will do. The former will do there own brand bars and the latter will sell copies. I have had the copies before in the past with no issues what so ever. Just make sure they are a trusted seller.

    oliverracing
    Full Member

    I know someone that has a set of These – nice and light (although not as light as claimed – 210g 😯 ) and less than £30! also hexinyi is a relatively “trusted” seller

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    bob_summers
    Full Member

    Farsports have been good in my dealings with them.
    http://www.wheelsfar.com/accessories/handle-bar-fsd08-320.html

    clubber
    Free Member

    Miracle or Ican on aliexpress are one of the good companys to deal with.

    http://www.aliexpress.com/store/409931

    hora
    Free Member

    http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2014-ZIPP-SLC2-Full-carbon-UD-finished-road-bike-split-handlebar-drop-12-8CM-reach-80cm/1804229328.html

    Are these the same Zipp that merlin and ribble are selling for shed loads more?!!!! (or the Chinese ones ‘Zipp’ copies?). Just seems like imported here then whacked up on price.

    atlaz
    Free Member

    They’re hookie copies. Whether they are fit for the purpose is another matter tho

    Gary_M
    Free Member

    Well the Zipp version weighs 190g, the one in the link weighs 280g – so I would guess its not the same product.

    gary
    Full Member

    Are these the same Zipp that merlin and ribble are selling for shed loads more?!!!! (or the Chinese ones ‘Zipp’ copies?). Just seems like imported here then whacked up on price.

    If you have to ask, are you sure you are ready for the direct chinese import approach 🙂

    hora
    Free Member

    Hmmmm some of the reviews are suspect. Excellent! and another Excellent then Excellent!

    iain65
    Free Member

    I had a set of very cheap Bontrager RXL branded bars off ebay about 5 months ago, they have now just cracked. I suspect if they were proper Bontrager bars they would not have.

    I took the leap a while ago of buying proper branded carbon bars for my road bike as I think the risk in this area is just too high if you suffered a failure.

    hora
    Free Member

    I took the leap a while ago of buying proper branded carbon bars for my road bike as I think the risk in this area is just too high if you suffered a failure.

    Hmmm good point. I have Easton Havoc carbon bars on my mountain bike and trust doesn’t even need to be thought about.

    Where though for decent 44cm width branded bars? Its alu-wrap or £100>

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Do they need to be carbon? Even the Pro’s usualy opt for alu as they prefer the alu bars and don’t need to save weight, bar’s dont save much anyway. And a nicely butted alu bar will be comfortable anyway, and different brands butt them in different ways, some have very flexy hoods/drops, others dont, etc.

    Shape’s more important than weight, find some you like the shape of and just buy a nice alu version. My preferance is Ritchey EvoCurve’s.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Do they need to be carbon?

    This ^^^

    Shape’s more important than weight

    And most definitely this ^^^

    zippykona
    Full Member

    Only slightly relevant but my friend popped round on his Chinese Pinarello copy. Totally made with Chinese carbon bits and it came in at 15.9 lb with pedals,computer and cages.
    I was impressed.

    ChunkyMTB
    Free Member
    nemesis
    Free Member

    I wouldn’t trust branded items from Aliexpress – they’ll be copies. Go with the products on there where the manufacturer isn’t trying to pretend it’s something it’s not.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Wondering what bars you got at the moment and what is it you want to change about them?

    Gary_M
    Free Member

    Where though for decent 44cm width branded bars? Its alu-wrap or £100>

    So you’re saying you want aluminum with a carbon wrap? Why’s that.

    Plenty of decent aluminum bars – Ritchey, Zipp, FSA on my road bikes and they’re all fine. 3T bars have a 65g difference between ali and carbon so no big deal.

    Although I do fancy a change to 3t for no other reason than they would match forks brand wise.

    hora
    Free Member

    No I’m saying its all alu wrap or you have to pay over £100 for decent carbon.

    I want comfort and flex/vibration absorption etc. Weight is secondary.

    njee20
    Free Member

    I wouldn’t trust branded items from Aliexpress – they’ll be copies. Go with the products on there where the manufacturer isn’t trying to pretend it’s something it’s not.

    A million times this!

    FWIW I’ve got some (real) Bontrager Race X Lite Carbon bars and don’t really notice any vibration damping.

    plus-one
    Full Member

    I’ve a lovely set of hylix carbon bars(integrated cable routing) brand new unused check my profile for link ..

    Lovely bars I have non integrated ones on way

    £45 posted uk

    Save yourself a 3 week wait and gamble of customs charges 😉

    hora
    Free Member

    Will do

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    I want comfort and flex/vibration absorption etc. Weight is secondary.

    Just get some better/thicker bar tape with maybe some gel pads (e.g. this or this.)

    theflatboy
    Free Member

    I toyed with getting some China specials but couldn’t bring myself to do it, too paranoid about quality. I’m aware that many already on here will swear blind that there’s nothing to worry about, but we all have out limits!

    In the end I got some (genuine!) FSA carbon bars from CRC, reduced to around £70/£80 from far more, which are doing very nicely so far!

    Gribs
    Full Member

    No I’m saying its all alu wrap or you have to pay over £100 for decent carbon.

    I want comfort and flex/vibration absorption etc. Weight is secondary.

    If carbon bars made a noticeable difference the pros would be using them. Just get better tape and run bigger tyres.

    Gary_M
    Free Member

    I got these in 440 width. Alu but crazy light.

    That’s not crazy light.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    And if this is for the new PX then haven’t you only had it a week or two? Ride it a bit, get use to it, before you start chopping and changing parts.

    Unless the shape is wrong for you I wouldn’t start swapping bars in search of comfort. If it’s just a bit of road buzz then just get something like this. (I’m also tempted to suggest that you probably have too much weight on your hands.)

    hora
    Free Member

    21st May- I’ve ridden it almost daily since. Even when I went to London for my birthday it…..came too 8) so unlike a lot of fashion roadcyclists, I’m riding more than them and finding bits that I like, bits that I don’t like and adjust quicker..

    The hotel room… :mrgreen:

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Mrs Hora must be very understanding 🙂

    nemesis
    Free Member

    Or keen to get rid of him for a couple of hours 😉

    unovolo
    Free Member

    Carbon forks(which you already have) and decent bar tape will reduce most of the buzz.
    As others have said the shapes more important ,I dont get on with the ergo/Anatomic stuff prefer the traditional round drops but in a compact shape.
    Running Deda RHM 02 in gloss white on mine at the mo,reasonably light and dirt cheap so Ideal for trying out, also using some Bontrager Gel bar tape which is pretty good to.

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Find what shape you like before you splash on carbon, I learned that the hard way.

    For me carbon is worth the outlay (if discounted) for the damping and the rock solid feel, the weight saving is a bonus if there is any.

    And carbon handlebars are one area where I’d prefer to go with a trusted brand.

    mtbtomo
    Free Member

    I got some Hylix carbon bars for about £55 off Ebay (imported from China). I’ve also since bought some genuine Easton EC90 bars which weren’t much more than £100 from Merlin.

    Deda make some pretty light alu bars. My stock Genesis bars are lighter than the Zipp Service Course ones. How is 280g light for a handlebar??

    Carbon bars are nudging 200g, so its a comparable weight saving to alu vs carbon for mtb bars surely?

    mtbmatt
    Free Member

    USE make a really nice set of carbon road bars. The 44cm width are under 200g and have a lovely shape and neat cable routing features.

    I’ve had a set for years and not a bad thing I can say about them.

    aracer
    Free Member

    Not compared to the 3T Prima 199 alu ones on my roadie (I’ll let you work out for yourself how much they weigh – can’t be bothered digging out my build spreadsheet to check exact weight, but I know they were very close to claimed). If it’s comfort and flex you’re after then doubtless those are more flexy than a carbon bar, which might be an issue for some, though I certainly don’t find it a problem – the only real advantage of carbon roadie bars is actually stiffness.

    I should point out that I’m a carbon whore, with a lot of other carbon bits on all my bikes (I’ve had carbon framed roadies since ’97) so it’s not some anti-carbon thing, just that they don’t really make VFM sense (I have to admit I also have KCNC alu bars on my MTB having spent too much replacing broken carbon ones).

    mtbtomo
    Free Member

    aracer – but surely the 3T prima’s are an exception to the rule and they presumably aren’t cheap. Are they 25.4dia or 31.8? The only ones I can find for sale seem to be 25.4dia?

    njee20
    Free Member

    Definitely an exception. ITM ‘The Bar’ was pretty light at 220g, but plenty of carbon bars are going <180g. Not necessarily cost effective weight saving, more of interest if you want funky aero profiles and what not.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    These are the ones i bought in the end, nice balance between stiffness and comfort. Had some bontranger Race-X-Lite carbons before them and hated them, they were both too flexy and a really horrible shape (tiny drops with really tight curves). Considering the carbon version is £150 more they’re a bargain (unless £3 per gram saved is important).

    http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/ritchey-wcs-evo-curve-drop-bar/aid:488072?gclid=CPmqy8-Z4b4CFbShtAodSGYA7g

    sputnik
    Free Member

    Easton EC90SL from Merlin.
    £100
    I use these and love the shape. Comfy and light too, stiff as well

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