[zmtber]

I was thinking about upgrading some parts on my bike this coming year I would like to go with carbon fiber because of the lost in the weight factor, but I am not sure if I can trust the durability. The trails around here are packed with large rocks and I am afraid of breaking the new 100+ dollars parts when I fall. I am looking at pars such as handle bars and so on and I was wondering how you guys feel about carbon fiber parts compare to non-carbon fiber parts. Should I just go with lighter non-carbon fiber or are carbon fiber parts stronger then ever and I have nothing to worry about. Can you guys help me out and maybe give me suggestion for good quality components will you are at it.

Also how many of you have carbon fiber components on your bike?

 

[RhinofromWA]

Nope...no need to run carbon on a Freeride bike, or a DH bike. Trail bike maybe, but not for big guys like me UNLESS it was something like carbon bar ends or something.

 

[bigdrop05]

No carbon for me cause if it scratches it becomes a possible snapping point & I just am not very confident in it.
I thought about STEEL riser bars to replace my aluminum Azonic risers .

 

[motomike]

carbon spacers and handlebars

 

[formermtboarder]

mike u could run all carbon u skinny ass twig

no i think it seriously depends on ur weight and how smooth of a rider u are, if ur light and smooth (mike) u can get away w/ weaker components

but carbon fibre is just so expensive, i really dont think its worth it...

 

[joelsman]

I have carbon handle bars on my trail bike, it came with them. I think carbon is ok if your smoother, but it is expensive. BLing factor is high, and weight is low. dh racing ok, hucking not so much. If I had the money I would probably get some for my dh bike.

 

[Sir_Crackien]

carbon is good on road,xc,and trail bike but it has no place on fr or dh bikes. i look as carbon as a way to take vibration out of a point of contact like handle bars. carbon seatpost i think should only be used on road bikes. it has its applications and should only be used for those.

 

[Kntr]

I broke my Easton EC70 carbon fiber DH bars in about a month. No way, never again. Protapers and EA70s are only like 20-40g heavier. Why even risk it? They should be illegal.

 

[maxyedor]

I'm all about the stuff I use it everywhere on my DH and FR bikes except seatposts, but I run that SDG I-beam so it's not an option anyway. Carbon bars, x.o rear der x.o shifters, waiting on a pair of tru-vativ stylo carbon cranks, brake levers, helmet, shoes, h.s. spacers. but I tend to be easy on parts, but kill forks. You should see my road bike it has almost no metal what-so-ever

 

[p3rider182]

I think it depends on the trails, you stated above your terain is rocky, and FR, so its iffy, i deffintly would not recomend carbon for urban, because you will hit so much and throw your bike around, to risky. But if you are a good rider, and ditch your bike rarly, crabon is fine... Carbon Bars, Head Set Spacers, Crank Arms, Seat Post. I's personaly stay away from carbon levers, jsut because there isnt a need, and there super vonerable on the trail, even without falling.

Carbon parts are stiffer, and CRAZY lgiht, some people dont relise how much you can actually save, going to a set of FSA Pro Carbon BMX Crank arms, will save you Half of a pounds right there, Get a Thomson 4x Stem, and a Easton EC Monkey Light DH, another half pound (those are goign from holzfeller parts, so already pretty lightweight, you can jsut imagine how much of a differenece it would be with diabolus setup) But, if you do manage to it a carbon part, you shoudl be fine for hte rest of the day (no guerentees) But when you get home, trow some JV weld on, and your as good as new.

I am a big guy, 220 lbs, and i run carbon parts confidently, and im droppin 20 footers, DH racing, and some Urban Hucking, and i will never turn back, it is a noticble weight change, and stiffer, no flex, and i can just imagine how it would hold up for alot of you lightweights.

My Carbon Parts -
Carbon Headset Spacers
FSA Pro Carbon BMX 165mm Crank Arms
Easton EC Monkey Light DH Bar
2003 Manitou Dorado DH
Sram X.0 Black Box Rear Deraileur
Sram X.0 Rear Shifter

To save weight, and still have strenth, some of the other changes i have made are

Thomson Stem, And Seatpost, Tubless 32 Hole Wheel Set (Mavic EX 823 UST,32 Spoke, lace to Hadley Trials, And DH Hubs), Single Ply Tires (never had a rpoblem), High End Drive Train (top of the line Sram)

I would never turn back to some of my older components, there isnt a need for heavy, stems, super stong seatposts, moster wheels. Just get smoother, like i said, i run a 34 Pound Full Supsnion bike, with duel crown, and it is a SOLID bike, even for a 220 pound guy doing 20 foot drops...

But i do come from a BMX background, so i am somewhat smooth

GO CARBON, THERE WILL BE NO TURNING BACK

 

[sleepinggiant]

no i think it seriously depends on ur weight and how smooth of a rider u are, if ur light and smooth u can get away w/ weaker components

There is a slight problem in your statement, carbon is stronger than both steel and aluminum. People are confusing strength with fracture style. A steel or aluminum bar will begin to bend and permanantly deform when a certain amount of energy is applied to it. A carbon bar can actually absorb more energy than steel or alum. but when it reaches its limit, it fails completely. And as for the guy that mentioned scratches becoming possible points of breakage, the scratch has to make it thru the resin that the carbon is cured in and actually dammage the fibers themselves, something that is hard to do. Personally I feel that it is safe to run carbon bars, headset spacers and seat post, especially since most fh/dh/dj/urban bikes have barely any seat post showing anyway. I still havent made up my mind on cranks, it does depend on how smooth and skilled you are. Hope this helps

 

[luelling]

I would steer away from carbon chain guides (and probably most carbon parts for that matter). I had a friend that had his carbon fiber MRP bash ring delaminate because he smacked it on a rock and you said your trails are rocky.

 

[Jabuttri]

a little carbon in places like spacers and stuff but it scares me for the more major components

 

[Kntr]

Carbon handlebars should be ILLEGAL. They are unsafe. Get them off the planet. JUNK. Garbage. Down with carbon bars. Die. Burn them all...

Can you tell I hate carbon bars.

I broke mine on a trail ride. I bought them new. They were uncut. All brakes and shifters were perfectly "just right" tight.

Before I ran carbon bars, I said..... "I will never brake these bars. There is no way." When they broke my buddy laughed and said, "I knew that was going to happen."

 

[maxyedor]

Kanter, just curiose what brand carbon bars were you running, did you use a torque wrench to establish "just right", and how did they brake? Normally carbon is significantly stronger than the alloy part it replaces.

 

[maxyedor]

I would steer away from carbon chain guides (and probably most carbon parts for that matter). I had a friend that had his carbon fiber MRP bash ring delaminate because he smacked it on a rock and you said your trails are rocky.

Carbon bash rings are just a bad idea in general, you can't make them in a way that will take advantage of the carbon's stength, for other parts you can manipulate the fiber lay-up pattern to get the strength.

 

[sleepinggiant]

Carbon handlebars should be ILLEGAL. They are unsafe. Get them off the planet. JUNK. Garbage. Down with carbon bars. Die. Burn them all...

Can you tell I hate carbon bars.

I broke mine on a trail ride. I bought them new. They were uncut. All brakes and shifters were perfectly "just right" tight.

Before I ran carbon bars, I said..... "I will never brake these bars. There is no way." When they broke my buddy laughed and said, "I knew that was going to happen."

Well, you had a bad expierence, it happens with all parts. I'm sure people have had the same expierence as you had, but with alu or steel bars. It happenes with all parts, its just unlucky.

 

[Kntr]

Well, you had a bad expierence, it happens with all parts. I'm sure people have had the same expierence as you had, but with alu or steel bars. It happenes with all parts, its just unlucky.

It was the world famous Easton EC70 Monkey Lite DH bar.


Maybe, I dont go big enough or Im super smooth, ok maybe its both, but I hardly ever break parts. An alum or steel bar would have never broke in the same situation as the carbon did.

 

[juice]

Geez people, do you beleive every bit of marketing hype that you hear? I 100% agree with Kanter - carbon bars are just plain unsafe on freeride bikes. I say this based on watching carbon bars catastrophically fail, not based on some theoretical laboratory test.

I was riding Fromme yesterday, and a buddy of mine found a crack (actually more of a splinter on the inside) in the end of his carbon bars - he must have tagged a tree with them. Sommabitch is lucky they didn't explode on him. If we hadn't found the crack, he would've been burnt toast on his next ride. And before yesterday he was getting tired of me "worrying" about his bars. He now understands.

In the last 2 years about 5 of the guys I ride with have had carbon bars fail. One guy, a 150 pounder, went through 2 sets before he switched to alum. We ride trails and freeride stuff, but all the failures were just on trail rides (but fairly rocky and fast rides). None of the crew of about 10 guys I ride with will ever use a caron bar again.

When they fail they explode and leave pointy splinters of plastic sticking out. Think about it - your face or body being shot like a pile driver into what used to be your handlebar, but is now resembles a ninga fighting device.

Ok, I'll calm down now, but y'all get the point. If you want to save weight, or look really pimped out, do it on a part that your life doesn't depend on.

 

[H8R]

Steel is real.

I run cromo bars and cranks, even a cromo seatpost for awhile before I got a new Thomson.

Eventually I want a cromo frame, stem, a King Steelset, etc.

Carbon is for racecars and spaceships.

 

[sleepinggiant]

An alum or steel bar would have never broke in the same situation as the carbon did.

Ehh, I think "never" is not the right word to use there because its entirely possible that an alum or steel bar could have failed. Look, I'm not trying to change your mind and get you back on carbon plart, all I'm saying is that from an engineering standpoint (I'm a materials engineer) I trust carbon and will continue to run it. There are plenty of prople that agree with me, and there are plenty of people that have the same opinion that you do. More people hear about stories like yours because if someone has a bad expierence with something, they always let people know, however, not everyone that has good expierences screams it from a mountain top. The system is just a little lopsided in that matter.


Just out of curiosity, were you running a 2 bolt or 4 bolt stem when you broke the bars?

 

[Urban FR'er 666]

The only carbon part I have is a H-set spacer, and there is pretty much no other part I would use in carbon!

 

[face]

i could see myself doing spacers and seat posts and like brake lever just things that dont take big blows. speaking of carbon scotts new long travel bike

 

[Jayridesacove]

no carbon handlebars as I tend to crash into trees alot at fast speeds.

anyways, my friend Derek has a custom made carbon freeride hardtail that has gone through a few revisions, take a look

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133625

here's the original model

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113828

 

[zmtber]

i am not mush of a freerider, i usually am nto hucking my bike. i manly stay to the local trails in which i have explanined to you guys before

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

I would rock carbon on stuff that if it totally fails it wont matter. IMO carbon bars on a DH bike is a bit sketchy, maybe not for racing but any other type of DH i would stay away. I friend of mine runs monkey light xc on his vp free with a 888. Dude goes real big, and i am just waiting for the bars to say no.

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

.

Carbon is for racecars and spaceships.

hahahha

 

[Biscuit]

First of all, I like the feel of carbon bars.

I've been running my FSA Carbon DH bars for almost a year now. I was super scared at first, got used to it and have been riding them hard ever since. Interesting part is, I have several deep scratches in them (one is way through the resin). But it's at a thick part of the bar where there is plenty of material.

The FSA guys looked at it at crankworks and said it was fine. An engineer buddy of mine who breaks carbon for a living said it was more than strong enough. Even with the huge gouge.

I also had a set of FSA carbon XC cranks on my trail bike for a while. Rode the bike two days at N* with them while my DH bike was broken. Smacked the crap out of some rocks (cranks and der's are my most frequently broken parts) and everything was unbelievably fine.

Just keep an eye on it. If it starts splintering and creaking, it's about to break. Carbon rarely breaks without warning, you just have to check it occasionally.

 

[Kntr]

Ehh, I think "never" is not the right word to use there because its entirely possible that an alum or steel bar could have failed. Look, I'm not trying to change your mind and get you back on carbon plart, all I'm saying is that from an engineering standpoint (I'm a materials engineer) I trust carbon and will continue to run it. There are plenty of prople that agree with me, and there are plenty of people that have the same opinion that you do. More people hear about stories like yours because if someone has a bad expierence with something, they always let people know, however, not everyone that has good expierences screams it from a mountain top. The system is just a little lopsided in that matter.


Just out of curiosity, were you running a 2 bolt or 4 bolt stem when you broke the bars?

Again, an alum bar would have NEVER broke in the same situation as my carbon bar did. The bar broke between the shifter and the lockon grips. I was running a stock 888 stem, so a 4 bolt.

I will never trust carbon...... NEVER. I dont need to inspect my bars before every ride just to make sure they wont break. Come on, that is just terrible. I want to ride my bike and not worry every ride if my bars will break.

Almost ever carbon bar I have heard or seen break, didnt break from a drop, it broke while trail riding. The bar somehow took a weird force and broke. The carbon bar might be stronger when it is faced with normal up and down forces, but how often do your bars undergo a abnormal force?.... a lot. When I say abnormal, I mean a force other than up and down.

NO CARBON BARS....... BAN CARBON BARS!!!!!

I run carbon headset spacers. Your like could depend on your handlebars breaking. Why take a chance? This is my opinion. Try them if you want. Just dont get mad when they break. And if you get hurt dont blame the bars, blame yourself for owning carbon bars.

 

[sleepinggiant]

Again, an alum bar would have NEVER broke in the same situation as my carbon bar did. The bar broke between the shifter and the lockon grips. I was running a stock 888 stem, so a 4 bolt.

I will never trust carbon...... NEVER. I dont need to inspect my bars before every ride just to make sure they wont break. Come on, that is just terrible. I want to ride my bike and not worry every ride if my bars will break.

Almost ever carbon bar I have heard or seen break, didnt break from a drop, it broke while trail riding. The bar somehow took a weird force and broke. The carbon bar might be stronger when it is faced with normal up and down forces, but how often do your bars undergo a abnormal force?.... a lot. When I say abnormal, I mean a force other than up and down.

NO CARBON BARS....... BAN CARBON BARS!!!!!

I run carbon headset spacers. Your like could depend on your handlebars breaking. Why take a chance? This is my opinion. Try them if you want. Just dont get mad when they break. And if you get hurt dont blame the bars, blame yourself for owning carbon bars.

First af all, I am going to again disagree with the use of the word "never" beacuse I've seen alum bars break there. If your shifter clamp or the lock on grip clamp had a small, sharp edge on them, that can slowly cut into the bar (carbon or alum) like a pipe cutter, causing the bar to fail. I'm not saying thats what happened, I'm just speculating. Second, don't spout off about handelbar testing when you don't know anything about it. If you think the bars are only tested for shear strentgh, you know nothing. But if you think about it, up/down/foreward/backward are the most common forces our handelbars see. They do occationally see torsional (twisting), compression and elongation forces as well, but their tested for all that too.

Like I said before, you had a bad expierence and you will not run them anymore, and that is fine. Its you opinion and your allowed to have one, and I'm not saying mine is any better or more correct, its simply my opinion and I'm allowed to have one too. I just get a little disapointed when people spout off about "BAN CARBON BARS!!!" without knowing the science and engineering behind it. Happy riding

 

[Banshee Rider]

I trust carbon bars more then I do aluminum. Theres no need not to run them unless: Your a hack who hits huge drops, you constantly fall and scratch your bars, you cant properly tight bolts, your morbidly obese, and lastly, if you believe everything you read on the internet I run carbon on all of my bikes, have been doing so for 3 years, with absolutely no problems. That goes for my trail bike and downhill bike. I replace my bars and post after 2 seasons, but thats out of precautions I would take with any bar/post, regardless of material.

I've got carbon bars, seatpost, derailer, shifter, and spacers. I have frequently bashed my cranks off rocks in the past, which is the only thing stopping me from carbon cranks. Its lighter and stronger, why not run it?

 

[Kntr]

First af all, I am going to again disagree with the use of the word "never" beacuse I've seen alum bars break there.


"BAN CARBON BARS!!!" without knowing the science and engineering behind it. Happy riding

I dont need to know the "science and engineering behind it" They are weak. Mine we not even a month old and didn't even have a single scratch. I have seen the same NUMBER of alum bars and carbon bars break. Im willing to bet that there are more alum bars out there. You would think you would see more alum bars break. With that percentage alone, I can make a judgement call and say carbon bars are weaker than alum.

Carbon bars MIGHT work on XC or trail bike but not mine. I wouldnt even put them on my wifes bike and she weighs 130lbs.

You dont even know what happened so how can you disagree with how mine broke. I still dont think a alum bar would have broke when and where my carbon bars did.

I really dont care what you or anyone thinks of carbon bars. Run em. See what happens. I just dont see the benefit. The lighest carbon DH bar is only 20 grams lighter than a alum Protaper. Yes, the carbon bars feel a little different.




So are you saying that a carbon bar is stronger than a alum bar?


Why even run a carbon bar when you can get a alum bar for 20-40 grams lighter that is stronger?

Carbon bars should be illegal.

 

[vibiker]

Two words. Catastrophic failure.

 

[sleepinggiant]

I dont need to know the "science and engineering behind it" They are weak. I can make a judgement call and say carbon bars are weaker than alum.

So are you saying that a carbon bar is stronger than a alum bar?

I don't have a problem with you choosing not to run carbon bars. But I do have a problem with you posting incorrect information. You can make that judgement call, but its worong. Yes, I am saying that carbon bars are stronger, because they are. The one flaw with carbon is that more often that not, when it fails, it does so without waring, its a material property. However, that failure point is higher than either steel or alum. It is unfortunate that this happenes, but it does. Unless you got seriously injured when they failed, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that your most bent outa shape because a part that you payed a lot of money for failed after a short period of time and left you very unsatisfied with the product. What if they had lasted a year? 2 years? Would you still be flying off the handel like this? You say you don't need the know the "science and engineering" behind it, but you do, without it, you can not support youor claims. For example, if you didn't know anything, and I mean anything, about how the engine in a car works, would you try to tell someone why their car makes a funny sound when it starts? Thats exactly what your trying to do here. You don't know anything about the material properties of carbon, yet your making statements like you do. The only problem is that the person your trying to convince (me) has a substantially larger understanding of the topic than you do. You don't really have a leg to stand on, all you can say is "Mine broke, carbon bars should be illegal." Each time you reply your defense is getting weaker and weaker. I'm trying to be civil and let bygones be bygones, but you keep replying with imformation that is simply wrong. I most likely will not return to this thread, so how about we leave it at this: You enjoy your alum bar, I'll enjoy my carbon one, and we'll both enjoy riding our bikes, beacuse at the end on the day, thats what were both here to do.

 

[sleepinggiant]

Two words. Catastrophic failure.

That is the technical term for the failure type of carbon. It doesn't have a very nice ring to now does it?

 

[lovebunny]

well i do know orvan has been running carbon bars for well over a year now. and hes an expert level racer. he rides alot and is hard on parts. hes got scratches all over those things too. i personally want to try carbon. oh kanter. how do you know that you didnt just get a bad bar?

 

[Kntr]

I guess I could have gotten a bad bar. Easton sent me 2 EA70 bars to replace my EC70 bar. Easton does rock and I will only run an EA70 bar or a Protaper.

I have seen maybe 5 or 6 carbon bars break and I have only seen one alum bar break. With the amount of alum bars out there, you would think I would have seen more alum bars break. Coincidence?

I do have one buddy that has run a carbon bar for 3 years with no problems. Lucky? I think so.

I sure hope I got a bad bar because mine broke so easily I couldnt believe it.

Im not trying to argue. Im just stating my side and what I have seen.