Ebay cheap carbon bars

[chris86]

Has anyone used any? They seem far to cheap to be true, and when they are the only thing stopping you planting your face into the dirt Im a bit dubious. Im sort of tempted to have a punt on some for the price but thought Id ask here first
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/31-8mm-3K-Car ... 1654285756

 

[LittleSkink]

no experience myself sorry, being a little risk averse I wont even buy s/h alloy bars, stems or seatpost - but that is a fatigue argument, and because I can rough with my kit

how rough are you planning on being on these?

no expert by how would you expect carbon to fail? My understanding from a composite design perspective is that if the fibre length and bonding is decent they shouldnt just break clean and you would get some warning of failure - but ultra light bike kit might behave in a more brittle manner

ebay sold listings show some sales, with some effort I guess the buyer feedback should be findable?

 

[jimo746]

They seem far to cheap to be true

You're probably right. at 110g I wouldn't use them for the sort of riding I do, probably wouldn't even trust them off-road tbh!
Cheap carbon stuff is ok, and I'm sure most of these factories churn out stuff for other branded items too, but it's the R&D and quality control, and destructive testing of the bigger brands that puts my mind at ease. For all I know those bars could be one just layer of carbon weave and split like a brandysnap if I rode off a kerb.
Google that brand/maker and see if there's any reviews, good ro bad.

If it were me, I'd spend a bit more now on some known bars, rather than forking out down the line for expensive dental reconstruction.
Having said that, I've ridden on 20 year old lightweight aluminium handlebars, and we all know alu has a finite fatigue life, so you makes your choices...

 

[chris86]

Im tempted to buy two and do some testing of my own to see how they would fail if at all.

 

[02gf74]

Yes. Got a pair of the riser bars on my yeti, which is the bike that comes closest to a dh bike.

Bars feel very solid so you need suspension forks as they dont absorb any bumpiness.
Seem well made too. Not done huge miles. Est 50 to 100 so cant comment on loingevity.

 

[kenaltobelli]

Re:

how much do you value having a nice set of teeth?
look on fake britain at carbon bars and stems
honestly would not have carbon on any bike off road or on now.

 

[mattr]

Im tempted to buy two and do some testing of my own to see how they would fail if at all.

not really relevant, as bar one, that you test to destruction might have been built by Fred in A shop on Tuesday, bar two was built by Sidney in F shop on Friday.

And you know how slap dash Sidney is.

That's one of the problems with really cheap or fake carbon, until it fails, or you cut it up, you've got no idea what's going on inside.

 

[mattr]

Re: Re:

honestly would not have carbon on any bike off road or on now.

Really? Weight for weight I'd be far more worried about aluminum than carbon. (From a decent brand anyway!)

If you're into heavy duty/heavy weight kit, carbon probably isn't on your radar anyway. And not many manufacturers advertise it as such. Despite the fact it'd probably be really rather good!

 

[chris86]

Im tempted to buy two and do some testing of my own to see how they would fail if at all.

not really relevant, as bar one, that you test to destruction might have been built by Fred in A shop on Tuesday, bar two was built by Sidney in F shop on Friday.

And you know how slap dash Sidney is.

That's one of the problems with really cheap or fake carbon, until it fails, or you cut it up, you've got no idea what's going on inside.

I was more curious to see how it would fail more than if they all would.

 

[Anisawrus]

I have some 720mm wide rise ones on my specialised,

They seem pretty beefy, work well ect, the only problem is clamping stuff on them will need some tape or fibre grip.

And the main point would be that they are cheap and seem to work.