are they worth it for downhill? is it true that if you scratch them they will break really easily? ANSWER WITHOUT FLAMING.
carbon bars
- Thread starter demo 9
- Start date
Considering you're on a Demo 9 I would look elsewhere for weight savings.
Yes, when scratched, their integrity is compromised, but it's difficult to scratch them.
If you overtighten your stem/controls/grips, you can also compromise their integrity so it's a good idea to invest in a torque wrench with carbon.
I'm sure if you search there will be a lot of info regarding this topic.
Yes, when scratched, their integrity is compromised, but it's difficult to scratch them.
If you overtighten your stem/controls/grips, you can also compromise their integrity so it's a good idea to invest in a torque wrench with carbon.
I'm sure if you search there will be a lot of info regarding this topic.
all true.......... with any material.
speaking from experience, i'm on year two with gouged, scratched and otherwise abused K-force bars. i wouldn't trust them for 30+ foot hucking, but people told me they were going to break a year ago and.....
seanmankiw : This is your LAST WARNING. 1 more post like the one i just deleted and you get an imposed vacation. You have been warned more than once already today.
Easton CNT Monkey Lite DH vars work very well I have been running them for about 2 years and going on my third. I have stacked a few times on them but because they are not a true carbon weave but "Carbon Nanotube Technology" they have a smooth finish that does not splinter. They do cost quite a bit of change though!
dam it, and i didn't get to see his brilliant insight.
I was about to ask how you flame a thread like this but...
not sure if the K-force are the same , but they also are smooth and didn't splinter. Mine took about a .09" deep digger right on the tangent of the top bend in moab. having the same preconceived fears of them breaking i was sketched for a while, but a year later they only freak out others
they said the same thing when people switched from steel to aluminum.
70 grams difference from steel to aluminum? hmmmm
I had carbon bars for a while and while they were light, when I got a set of EA70 low rise bars they were almost the same weight (feeling wise). I figured I've seen enough horror pics of carbon bars just sheering right off. I'd rather have my bars bend then just sheer off.
fine, 170 grams, hell 270 grams who cares?
point is the industry moved to a lighter, stronger material....guess whats next?
hopefully carbon that doesnt break
helium?
play-doh?
have these been 'modern' dh specific carbon bars? i've heard plenty of hearsay, but have never personally seen or heard of one snapping. companies wouldn't sell them if they were inherently dangerous - too much liability risk. for what its worth i've got an fsa gravity dh carbon bar on the way - we'll see how it goes...
My buddy rides a Gravity FSA DH carbon bar and goes HUGE. He hasnt had a problem yet.
The EC70 bar I broke was an 05. I bought it new and it lasted one month almost to the day. It broke between the grip and shifter. I have seen a lot of broken carbon bars too. No thanks. Ill stick with my EA70.
The EC70 bar I broke was an 05. I bought it new and it lasted one month almost to the day. It broke between the grip and shifter. I have seen a lot of broken carbon bars too. No thanks. Ill stick with my EA70.
Chances are your shifter was too tight and marred the carbon.
These threads never end up going well.
You'll get people that say they're perfectly fine.
You'll get people that say don't get them its not worth the weight penalty.
You get people that say they'll snap.
People will refute all the breakages due to negligence of some sort be it installation, over torqued, brakes too tight, lock-ons too tight, shifter's too tight.
Its an endless / almost pointless battle.
Your best bet I think is to talk to someone you trust (bike shop, pro mech) and see what they've ran it and hope they give you an honest answer.
Carbon bars is one of the last things i'd change on a bike since there's usually plenty more places to save more weight with less drama. I'd look to save rotational weight first.
You'll get people that say they're perfectly fine.
You'll get people that say don't get them its not worth the weight penalty.
You get people that say they'll snap.
People will refute all the breakages due to negligence of some sort be it installation, over torqued, brakes too tight, lock-ons too tight, shifter's too tight.
Its an endless / almost pointless battle.
Your best bet I think is to talk to someone you trust (bike shop, pro mech) and see what they've ran it and hope they give you an honest answer.
Carbon bars is one of the last things i'd change on a bike since there's usually plenty more places to save more weight with less drama. I'd look to save rotational weight first.
Overtorqued or like Transcend said, marred it with the shifter. Not a logical place for a bar to snap unless it was weakened beforehand.
whats the lowest ride OS carbon bar? sunline @ 3/4?
http://www.sixsixone.com/Catalog_SunlineCycling.aspx?id=5036f271-af7b-41ba-9a2b-604069dfd50b&product=4b4b4f92-a1d0-4b8d-8c50-b02189786139
http://www.sixsixone.com/Catalog_SunlineCycling.aspx?id=5036f271-af7b-41ba-9a2b-604069dfd50b&product=4b4b4f92-a1d0-4b8d-8c50-b02189786139
I don't want to award too much praise to Easton's carbon DH offerings, because I want them discounted to hell, but they are far and away the best bars I have ever ridden.
I am usually all about numbers and facts, but there is something about the carbon bars that 'feels' better to me. It might just be that they're carbon and that gets me excited to ride!
There is a lot of misinformation and prejudice floating around about carbon bars from people who misused and abused early models. I've tried to use light weight carbon bars on my DH bike occasionally and it's true, they're not meant for it.
Easton and FSA's bars (as well as others) are made for DH and there's no reason to fear them snapping more than any other. Carbon is a good choice for this application. Better, in fact, than many other ways it's used on mountain bikes.
I am usually all about numbers and facts, but there is something about the carbon bars that 'feels' better to me. It might just be that they're carbon and that gets me excited to ride!
There is a lot of misinformation and prejudice floating around about carbon bars from people who misused and abused early models. I've tried to use light weight carbon bars on my DH bike occasionally and it's true, they're not meant for it.
Easton and FSA's bars (as well as others) are made for DH and there's no reason to fear them snapping more than any other. Carbon is a good choice for this application. Better, in fact, than many other ways it's used on mountain bikes.
Torqued by one of the best bike mechanic in this area. The guy use to wrench with Dave Turner back in the day. Im pretty sure it was done correctly.
Doesn't matter how good the wrench is if he doesn't know the torque specs on a particular bar.
The torque spec comes from the object doing the clamping, not the object getting clamped. But still.... many times that is the cause for breakage.
Although catastrophic failure is possible, generally if the bar fails you would see a crack and choose to stop riding it. Hopefully you look at your bars every once and a while, whether they are carbon or alloy.
Interestingly the only bar I have outright snapped was an old and well used Azonic Double Wall. I had another one almost the same age on another bike - looked closely at it, and sure enough tiny fractures all over the inside bend. Probably would have snapped that one too.
So a carbon bar's torque spec is determined by the shifter's torque spec?
You're backwards on that one.
No. The torque spec for the bar, is determined by the material strength of the bar, at the point the shifter is being clamped to it. Not by the shifter.
Hmm, I've been under the impression the opposite was true, a least for most of the parts I've used. I just took a look at the Truvativ and FSA websites and they don't list bar torque specs, but rather stem clamps specs in their technical documents(maybe I missed it, or they only include these documents with the products?). I do vaguely remember having a superlight carbon xc from Answer that had a torque spec.
The clamping parts will have a clamp spec as all things with bolts do, carbon parts are particular in that you can only torque so far before you start to scratch/cut/mark the surface. Breaking the surface of carbon parts fatiques them prematurely and can lead to failure.
You can get a weird paste to put on carbon parts to use when clamping things. Apparently it has some stuff in it to create a bit of friction and greatly reduce the clamping force needed. Never used it myuself (no carbon posts/bars etc) but i have seen it around.
Just grabbed this from a random trek/bontrager bike setup instruction sheet. As you can see, pretty large difference.
Yes of course, but it seems companies don't have these specs readily available.
Gotta look for the actual instructions they don't usually ship (available online or whatever). The easton ones i read a few weeks ago when looking for a friend were frightening. They amounted to "if you ever scratch, nick or otherwise mark the surface, destroy bars immediately as they will break sooner than later."
thats how i broke my fsa k force carbon dh bars
I just broke some Syncros DH carbon bars,they were 6months old,it was in a largish crash that snapped my brake lever mount also. I will try the Eastons next. The Syncros finnish wasn't that great.
Do you think ally bars would have broken in the same crash?
And, if you had ally bars and they didn't break, would you have replaced them anyway?
Alli bars may not have snapped,but yeah I think they'd have bant.I doubt I'll ever bend Alli bars and I think that carbon bars will only snap if the force is larger than that needed to bend Alli bars. I'll run them again,I like low weight(performance) and they offer the best. I don't mind if they need a bit of care in set up,and replacing a bit earlier. If I was heavier I would just run alluminium. Carbon bars really is just splitting hairs. Alli is light enough and strong enough. I just like light because I'm piss weak.
anyone use these?
a little rarrow but have TI clamping area.
http://www.bti-usa.com/item.asp?item=SY2652&searchtype=partNo&itemsearch=SY2652&showSec=
a little rarrow but have TI clamping area.
http://www.bti-usa.com/item.asp?item=SY2652&searchtype=partNo&itemsearch=SY2652&showSec=
Ummm... I work here. No I am not backwords on this one.So a carbon bar's torque spec is determined by the shifter's torque spec?
Torque is a rotational unit applying to the fastner. Not all bolts are the same size, in the same place - jeez some things even have two bolts. So yes - the shifter/brake lever manufacturer determines what torque spec their product needs to not slip or crush. Thread pitch, bolt position, thickness and type of material all effect how much torque the fastner needs to generate X amount of clamping force.
That debate is somewhat useless when we use common sense. Setup your shifters and brake levers loose enough that they can move on the bar in a crash - simple. You are far from "overtightened" at that point.