Hi all,

Bought a groupset on t’ebay recently which came with a set of carbon bars – seller said the bars had a bit of lacquer flaking round the clamp area but had it checked by lbs & it was fine. Everything arrived, groupset was spot on but the bars, I’m not so sure about – definite indent where the “flaking lacquer” was, rubbed it back with a fine sanding pad to get a better look & i certainly don’t think I’d be trusting my face at 45mph with them, what say ye?

If i recall the collective thought on second hand carbon bars was generally negative.

Then again, it’s your face 😀

Yeah I know – I’m not overly upset by my current face so would rather cut my losses & accept it in its’ present state 😆

Suppose some pictures would help 😉

Wouldn’t trust them personally. You’re always going to have a bit of doubt. Not worth the risk unless you’re sure they are ok.

that looks like where the stem face plate has been overtightened. i’d chuck those straight in the bin.

No way on earth I’d put those on a bike. No way on earth I’d have sold them to be honest. As Daver27 says, looks like the stem faceplate has been overtightened

Crushed by the stem face plate. Can you throw them back to the seller ?

unreal scam there. what a prick selling those.

Not a chance in hell.

Yeah that’s my opinion – emailed the guy back & he’s sticking to the “my lbs said it was just lacquer flaking” line after I emailed him those pics, adding if I wanted to just sent the whole lot back… the groupset is in great condition (and already on my bike) so I don’t really want to do that, but I’m also slightly miffed that someone would sell what looks like (fairly obviously) cracked bars and claim they were fine, as their lbs said so – as soon as I looked at the damaged area it looked rather suspect, someone who didn’t know better could end up in a pile by the side of the road… (road bars btw – sorry 😳 😉 )

I’ll email them asking who their lbs is so I know to avoid them 😆

Only good place for those bars is the bin.

Scrap.

LBS clearly muppets too!

flaking lacquer!? HA HA! You can even see the shape of the stem faceplate where it curves around the fixing holes! 😆

I’d consider re-purposing them for a posh kitchen roll holder for the garage but that would be about it.

Very obviously mullered by a numpty armed with an allen key and Popeye arms.

Either your seller is a con merchant, or your seller is a bit clueless and their LBS is dangerously incompetent.

Obviously don’t use it.

thats just ridiculous.

ask who the lbs is and give them a call. thats both dangerous and stupid.

In the seller’s defence I’ve had some stems that specify wildly different bolt forces to others- one of which I didn’t actually dare torque up all the way (on the steerer side).
An lbs isn’t an expert in these things although they should err on the side of caution some are know it alls. And yeah they look done in, but how did they look prior to sanding them?

Straight in the bin or back to the seller with those . I bet the LBS looked at them story is bull as well .

I would put in for a partial refund with the buyer personally.

Keep them for the moment in case they do get sent back.

Obviously don’t use them though! 😀

Incredibly shonky to sell bars on like that. I wouldn’t want the possible outcome in my conscience.

TBH They didn’t look terrible, but I thought straight away the clamp area looked crimped & it only took 20 seconds with a sanding pad to rub back the flaking lacquer – the opposite side had some flaking lacquer that was obviously just that. Have emailed him back politely say the groupset is spot on but the bars are a liability & I’d happily send them back so he doesn’t think I’m at it – can’t be arsed stripping the other bits off the frame again but don’t want to let it slide purely on principle.

Would not be riding those! That said I’m generally suspicious of carbon bats anyway for no real good reason.

The mtb is completely carbon free and will stay that way.

The racer I’m more open to the idea of carbon for – but it’s just the frame and brake levers so far (at least I think the levers are carbon – unless they’re fake carbon).

joebristol – Member ……. I’m generally suspicious of carbon bats anyway for no real good reason ……

never buy carbon bars* from anywhere other than reputable known sellers and never second hand

They are ruined and the seller must have known this – what sort of person sells knowingly dangerous safety critical equipment?

* all my MTB’s have carbon bars

Excellent work, Letmetalktomark.

Even I wouldn’t ride them and I usually use stuff till it breaks.

Wow. I wouldn’t even consider selling them. What a t0sser.

Even I wouldn’t ride them and I usually use stuff till it breaks.

Well, to be fair, it’s broken 🙂

Evening all, after the last email, I had a genuinely apologetic message back with a partial refund from the seller which will about cover a new set of (alloy) bars, so that’s fine by me, willing to accept he’d taken the shops word for it & not had a proper poke around himself – I now need suggestions on what to do with a condemned set of carbon road bars as the he accepted his lbs were apparently not a good judge of the structural integrity of used carbon bicycle components, anyone want to buy an artisan upcycled carbon bog roll holder? 8)

Sell them to the LBS? 😉

Saw in half and bin.

Permanently keeps them out of the bike “food chain”.

artisan upcycled carbon bike rack?

I’m confused as to why anybody would buy 2nd hand bars, carbon or Aluminium.

I’m confused as to why anybody would buy 2nd hand bars, carbon or Aluminium

Why wouldn’t you?

Where does this logic surrounding secondhand carbon/metallic goods end? What about a BMW I3 car with a carbon chassis, or an Audi A2 or Hajuary with an aluminium one? Both could’ve suffered damage that you cannot see…at least with a set of bars you can inspect them.

Wasn’t really too interested in the bars themselves, would have probably swapped them sooner than later either way, but they came with a groupset that was in great nick & already had shifters mounted & recently taped, would have used as a stop gap until the rest of the bike was completely sorted. Don’t really see a problem with sh carbon if you’re confident of the history, but it’s definitely better to err on the side of caution given the failure mode… saying that, alloy can go quite suddenly too if fatigued enough *goes off to find a solid steel butchers bike from the 40s on eBay*

What about a BMW I3 car with a carbon chassis, or an Audi A2 or Hajuary with an aluminium one?

At least that couldn’t fail catastrophically and…………

I’d mount those bars in an old stem, stick that stem in a big vice and hang weights on the end till they break! Could be an interesting exercise!

(you may be surprised how strong they are, or they might go “snap” immediately, that’s the fun with carbon structures….. 😉

Daffy – Member
I’m confused as to why anybody would buy 2nd hand bars, carbon or Aluminium
Why wouldn’t you?
Where does this logic surrounding secondhand carbon/metallic goods end? What about a BMW I3 car with a carbon chassis, or an Audi A2 or Hajuary with an aluminium one? Both could’ve suffered damage that you cannot see…at least with a set of bars you can inspect them.

POSTED 20 HOURS AGO #

Actually, re reading through I missed that they’re road bars and I would have less issue with used road bars (plenty of issue with those though!).

MTB bars absolutely not, the original owner may have been a Josh Bender Wannabe or just a bit of a crasher.

The car analogy isn’t really relevant

I’m confused as to why anybody would buy 2nd hand bars, carbon or Aluminium.

I swapped my Rover 214 for a used carbon bar. Once I’d hammered the grips off they were fine. Not sure who got the best deal to be honest.