Snapped my bars yesterday!

Low speed tumble on muddy footpath, and as soon as the bars hit the muddy ground there was an almighty cracking sound…

Broken carbon handlebars by Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr

Not even a year old and first (and last) knock they’ve ever had!

That sucks! Hope you didnt get injured.

However these posts are always slightly comforting if they result from a crash rather than just random breakage.

Are those genuine 3T bars? Bit scary they could break so easily – proper branded bar etc. I keep wondering if I should be running carbon bars on both my mtbs when I see stuff like this.

Are those genuine 3T bars? Bit scary they could break so easily – proper branded bar etc

Bought from Merlin, so I hope so.

Hope you didnt get injured.

Not even a scratch, just fell over in a pool of mud! Obviously my pride has PTSD.

NB Thanks to a PSA on here about super cheap Easton EC70 bars in Wiggle, I have a spare pair kicking around, so the only think I need to buy is some more bar tape….

We’re you holding them when you landed?

Glad you’re unscathed from that one.

I’ve never owned a pair of carbon bars but do have full carbon forks on my road and cx bikes 😬

This is always a worry for me with carbon.

Got a OneUp bar on my hardtail and some Cannondale branded ones on my ebike from a PSA on here. I’ve had a couple of tumbles on the ebike that have resulted in the bars hitting the ground hard.  Hard enough to damage the grips and the bars still seem fine. Made a horrible thud as the end bounced off a big rock.

I’m always worried though that the damage has been done and they’re now basically a ticking time bomb, waiting to kill me.

I’m worrying over nothing right? Tell me it’s nothing…

Saw a lad many years ago absolutely mash himself when a pair of carbon bars let go in a DH race. It’s a nope from me. It’s a great material, but for that application they’re just too susceptible to invisible damage and sudden failure.

I’ve always hankered after a set of carbon bars, but have never followed up on it. Touch wood I barely fall off due to being a bang average rider, but knowing my luck the 1 time I do and I’d snap the things.

Glad you’re ok though bud, could have been a lot more painful an outcome.

I had the aluminium bars on my old Stumpjumper snap years ago. Low speed impact after a fall and I couldn’t believe the bar had broken.  No doubt  a few years of metal fatigue had weakened it first – but Ali bars do break unexpectedly too.

Yup. It’s even more disconcerting when one side twists off in your hand as you hop up onto a kerb on the way to the train station…

I had a steel fork on a road bike snap the legs from the crown during high speed hard braking …oh how the onlookers giggled, somehow completely unscathed but long walk home..

shit happens  😆

We’re you holding them when you landed?

The front wheel went so quickly I hit the deck still holding on to them, didn’t have time to get a hand out (which was lucky as that is a good way to break a wrist).

Yup. It’s even more disconcerting when one side twists off in your hand as you hop up onto a kerb on the way to the train station…

Apropos of nothing, years ago me and a mate hooned down Highgate West Hill in London (long, steep and with speed bumps that we jumped) on our mountain bikes. At the bottom we slowed and went to turn right onto Parliament Hill fields. As my mate stood up to pedal the bar just snapped in his hands. Twenty seconds earlier and he would have been hospitalised at best.

Bars do snap. I don’t trust carbon, as said above can suffer internal damage with no obvious external signs. Also you don’t know how well it’s been laid up, how much glue v carbon etc etc.

That said aluminium is prone to fatigue (my mate’s bars were aluminium). The answer is obviously to make bars out of pig iron!

all bars break it’s the $$$ that hurts (the rrp for 3t gravel bars)

Carbon bars scare me, as does the carbon fork / steerer on my gravel bike.

Although aluminium isn’t immune to failure, Montgomery’s up there look like alu?

many years ago

That’s a key part of that story. Carbon technology hasn’t stood still.

Aluminium corrodes too. Have a look under your grips, controls or stem faceplate…

Aluminium corrodes too. Have a look under your grips, controls or stem faceplate…

Especially if you use your bike on a trainer. In fact, I’d not use aluminium bars on an indoor bike as I’ve seen the damage sweat causes.

I’ve snapped (well, I suspect very rapidly cracked and then “torn”) an alu bar and folded a steel one like it was a toilet roll, actualyl never broken a carbon one. Thing is good carbon can be stronger than most metal bars but I think we as punters have a habit of fitting lighter weight carbon than we probably should, same way that bike companies have a tendency to shave grams where an irrelevant amount of extra weight would add useful strength- as soon as you’re into carbon it’s tempting to go lighter still

In contrast I’ve had a few major high speed stacks over the years. Road and Mtb. Broke a few bones in the nasty ones. Never broke any of my carbon bars/post/frames etc 🤔

This thread is making me nervous.

There’s only one solution:

Was alloy rather than carbon, but ~20 years ago the right side of my road bike’s drop bars sheared at the stem clamp (not touched by me since lbs set bike up ~8 years previous) while on a shared path on way to work… I was amazed I somehow stopped the sheared bit dropping into the front spokes, keeping my balance and safely stopping. 😮