Will Carbon bars snap?

[THEFALLGUY]

I was thinking of getting some renthal carbon DH bars but carbon scares me. Am I mad?

 

[cce]

anything will snap if you hit it hard enough.

 

[02gf74]

anything will snap if you hit it hard enough.

Not too sure about that. Many materials will bend as oposed to snapping. Carbon fibre can be designed to flex, see cannondale scalpel chain stays but generally made to be stiff.

Im using carbon seatposts and bars, not to mention carbon frames and chainsets and none have failed.

My daily commute bike since at least 5 years had carbon bars fitten when i bought it around 1999. Not sure they are 100% carbon or carbon wrap but are lighter than alloy. The are still going strong, im more concerned about effect of uv over such a long tims.

 

[hamster]

Re:

Carbon parts from reputable manufacturers have a UV-resistant lacquer / varnish on them. Cheap stuff may not.

 

[T'boo Ted]

I ran a Scott thermoplastic bar for DH in 96-98, then used that bar normally for riding until 2003, replaced it with an answer hyperlite carbon and used that for years, now have an easton ec70 bar thats been fine for the last year.
Running carbon bars on my current roadie (3T) and am on my 3rd carbon road bike,1st one, a cannondale did break, but still bought 2 more.

Carbon is fine, sure it can break, but so far never broken a carbon bar, but have destroyed 2 aluminium ones (both due to hyper bar ends). You just have to make sure you install al the equipment carefully and keep checking for any scratches issues (although I never did, only found the frame crack when I was washing my bike). They'll take anything that a similar aluminium bar will take pretty much.

 

[THEFALLGUY]

Cheers for all the all

 

[T'boo Ted]

Of course this assumes you are buying a quailty brand, not some cheap copy style. Not saying the cheapy copy will fail, but you never know how they are made, could be just as good or better...or terrible.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Re:

This is an oft revisited subject, and the same debate rages on countless sites.

My take is that the so called cheap non brands tend to made in the same factories as the rest. Setting up to manufacture is expensive.

I never trust second hand carbon gear that is important. A light bracket is not a stem.

Used carbon frames for many, many years and never had a serious failure. Seen many though.

Had a carbon seat post snap whilst hammering through central London on a rigid bike, luckily the seat fell off and a few fibers remained to allow it to clunk the rear wheel and alert me before I sat on the shards.

It is an amazing material, and really comes into its own in applications demanding a huge amount of strength and reasonable weight.

For non race ready bike frames? I prefer steel and that is that.

I don't have to worry about chucking a steel bike in the van without coddling it against a knock or two.

Perhaps I don't have to worry about the same with carbon, but for the saving of a couple of pounds I will stick with my gut feeling.

For anything without full suspension steel is my only interest.

 

[Blackstar]

Am I mad?

Should be fine.

 

[Reluctant]

Renthal will be just fine as will products from most reputable brand names. Avoid cheap Chinese carbon off ebay though. I've seen bars and stems snap with very little provocation. Fortunately, they were being "tested" in a workshop and not being ridden at the time