….and what were the consequences ?
Just thinking of a set for my ss but something tells me there too weak.
It does have Pace RC31 forks.The bars are bontrager race x lite. Only riding xc, so no jumps or drops.
Thanks.

You’re happy to have carbon forks but are unsure about a carbon bar?

Yes, I think you’ll be worse off if the bars snapped, rather than the forks. I’ve ridden the forks for over a year and have confidence in them.

something tells me there too weak.

I guarantee you that any decent carbon bar (that includes the Bonty ones) is a LOT stronger than an almost any alumninium one…

I have carbon bars on all my mtbs – I trust them a lot more than alumninium.

any carbon bar is a LOT stronger than an almost any alumninium one

With a statement like that you should go into politics.

yeah, fair point 😉 I did think that maybe it was a bit sweeping when I made it…

OK, I’ll temper it a bit. In most cases, a decent carbon bar will be stronger than an aluminium one.

Regardless, they’re more than up to riding with and logically if you’re happy to ride on an aluminium one, there’s no reason not to ride a carbon one.

What you need is a titanium bar. They’re much more mechanically efficient.

What, maybe one with welds, looks funny and costs about £200? 🙂

Snapped a set of carbon bars at Glentress last year.
Was a bike borrowed for the day my mate supplied from the bike shop he worked in. He saw my worried face when I saw the bars – “don’t worry they’ll be fine”. I’m 14st & they snapped on 1/2 foot drop. Was a testing ride back to Peebles 😉

Never using carbon again – but hey each to their own

Will find a pic & upload!

All that shows is that carbon bars can break. As can alumninium ones. And Ti ones (talking from my own experience there…)

I’ve broken quite a few sets of alloy bars in my time, but I’ve yet to snap a set of carbon bars.

Wouldn’t tocuch one again!

Mate of mine snapped his at the stem whilst landing heavy on the front wheel, cracked his full face helmet and broke/chipped his elbow – that was a Truvative Team one.

He advised me agianst getting one but I just put it down to Truvative sticking their name on some piece of crap that was manufactured by some no-name 3rd party………I was getting an Easton Monkeylite XC so had a bit more faith in it. Whilst fittting it, using a Park torque wrench, I heard a crack:(( Upon inspection I could feel but not see a small indentation mark following the outline od the stem face plate.

Maybe mine was just a dodgy one, or my torque wrench isn’t up to much (i dont believe that tho) – whsatever the reasons there are just some things that I think its better to carry an extra few grams for, be it shimano skewers or aluminium bars – would not go near a carbon bar again.

I’ve been crashing around with a set of Monkeylite MX bars on my 6 pack for over three years now without issue. I trust them.

i’d rather have something bend than snap. hence metal not carbon.

Yes I totally agree but im my 18 years of riding I have never snapped steel. alu or ti bars all used in the same manner.

I am merely providing the results of my experiences

The bars in question were on a brand new whyte hardtail so fatigue is unlikely to have been a factor but an akward landing may have been 😳

I’m kinda with the OP. Ive got one of those new composite bars bought brand new off another STW’er. Its soo sodding light that in the back of my mind I’m thinking its ‘fragile’. Illogical.

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/3455748/

You have to be careful not to overtighten stem bolts / shifter clamps etc on carbon – maybe this was a factor on my epic fail. Looking back it has clearly snapped next to the brake mount

fototopic is officially shit! that is all. 😡

i’d rather have something bend than snap. hence metal not carbon

I snapped a Ti bar. I’ve seen several snapped alumninium bars. Your point, please…

I have an Easton EC2? I think it is carbon seatpost. Owned it for almost 7yrs(?)- its currently in my fuji commuter. Well its siezed in there. Never had a prob.

don’t forget the new composite CNH? is supposed to be stronger than regular carbon?

I snapped a Ti bar. I’ve seen several snapped alumninium bars. Your point, please…

Aye, I’ve seen some metal bars bend 90 degrees in a split second. The resultant stack was no different to if the bar had ‘snapped’ clean off.

Yeah I’ve snapped some carbon bars. 1 crash craked them. Then I stopmed hard, standing on the pedals and pulled off half the bar in my right hand as I did so!

I wouldn’t use carbon bars on an MTB. Ever.

Of the all the carbon and aluminium bars I’ve owned, I’ve only ever snapped aluminium ones!

I use Carbon bars, i have snapped a set of Steel bars.

Only other bars i have seen snap have been aluminium

and the comment by Yoshimi is the reason why Torque wrenches are bad! use instinct do not rely on something telling you.

Yes, in 1993, bar end snapped off.
I’ve used carbon bars on my mtbs for years, never broken one – but I only keep them for 2-3 years before binning them.

blimey, all you snappers. i’ve broken 4 or 5 sets of bars over the years and they’ve all been bends. sounds like i need to MTFU, as they say.

I took mine (FSA flats with bar ends) off my SS as heaving uphill on the bar ends made them flex a lot which I found disconcerting – I was never worried they’d break, it was just a bit too bendy. The new alu bars aren’t less comfortable with a rigid fork and I can’t say I’ve noticed the tiny weight gain.

I wouldn’t expect them to be weak unless you crushed the carbon by overclamping.

and the comment by Yoshimi is the reason why Torque wrenches are bad! use instinct do not rely on something telling you.

Torque wrench bad! Classic!

Depends whether you have the instinct of a flea or a gorilla.

Or whether you get them calibrated regularly…

Why are people using XC carbon bars and landing from jumps? duh!

I use raceface carbon with titanim weave-if it snaps then hopefully some of it stays together.

My local rides are becomeing burly so I’m changing my xc to AM gear. Ok adding 150grams -but I rather have 150g extra than a snapped bar.

Why are people using XC carbon bars and landing from jumps? duh!

So you don’t do/have jumps on your XC rides???

I suspect these threads need rider weight figures.

I weigh 65kgs. I try to break stuff, really I do, but it just doesn’t happen for me. 🙂

I think some of it comes down to a riders weight. I would think carbon is ok maybe for an average rider. But it does flex a lot and someone at say 17 stone banging about over bumps and drops etc will for sure make them flex a lot more than a jockeys whip 10 stone XC rider. Carbon fishing rods are great but they can snap when flexed to there max limit. I reckon bars follow in the same ilk. There is also no doubt that carbon crushes a lot easier than good quality alloy. Not only that but once a stem just nips in around the carbon and scores, its lost some of its strength in that area. Its hard not to leave scores on the clamp area. Like carbon seatposts that seem to always get scored around the clamp. Thast is then the weak area of the length of bar. Also the bit that takes the most stress.

If I heard my alloy bars creaking though I would change them, often a sign there is something wrong you can always see.

I weigh 96kg so I’m using Alu for now.

I wouldn’t do jumps with carbon XC bars, all mountain bars-sure.

Look at what the manufacturers say about use and read the instructions? and stop complaining.

I weigh in at 84kg and have been running carbon bars for the last 4 years or so and they have yet to break even though i have managed to crash a few times with them on, though the crash haven’t been that bad. Mind you i have yet to break anything in the way that is normal (or so it seems) for here.

I’d be very interested to hear if anyone has broken THESE:

http://www.eastonbike.com/PRODUCTS/TECHNOLOGY/tech_cnt.html

Never ever snapped a set of bars, my rides include some big drops 8+ ft. Any gorrilla can snap or bend most bits of bike kit learn to be a bit smoother! Using all xc kit on my bike, got a nice set of FSA carbon bars 😯

I weigh over 100kg which is why I use carbon. As I said above, I reckon that carbon bars (in general!) are built stronger than alumninium ones.

Personally would never touch em.
Snapped a brand new carbon post in 30mins of dusk till dawn.
First big hill on first day of transalp, guy at top trying to fix his carbon bars with a stick.
Was only 2 mins later I realised I should have given him the gaffer tape I had in my bag.
Carbon forks are OK though…
Just kep an eye on them.