Easton Carbon DH bar
- Thread starter Biffff
- Start date
i'm using monkey lite bars on my dh rig and my review is best bars ever !they hold up fine , i've had no troubles.
Really nice bar, first carbon bar I've trusted more than an aluminum one. It has a great bend to it, and is 28" wide, so just perfect for me.
I use them too for racing and dh'ing. I'm not exactly easy on my stuff, but I'm not doing Bender-hucks either. I have had 0 problems. I have a buddy who has been freeriding on the same set as long as I've known him. (at least 4 yrs). He's very hard on everything. I've watched him go off 20+ foot drops with these bars repeatedly. 0 problems. These handlebars were on his ellesworth dare when he broke the frame in 6 spots. The bars were fine (this was at least 2 years ago and he's still using the same ones). I wouldn't hesitate to pick up a pair.
edit: its the monkey lite dh carbon bars that both he and I use.
edit: its the monkey lite dh carbon bars that both he and I use.
Jamie?
This is NOT a smart idea! Graphite parts should be viewed as wear items. Whether or not you think they need to be replaced, you should do so once a year.
Yep, makes sense. You've had really good luck with Easton carbon previously too.
if you knew this person, you'd understand. he's the king of bad ideas.
Jamie who? This person is my friend Chris from Roch, NY.
4 yrs is really pushing it. My 2-3 yr old Easton aluminum EA70's, or Monkey Bars, or whatever the 2" rise 27" wide bar is called, just snapped last week. On a pump track. Result= 9 stitches.
Everything breaks, but them Easton bars seem to break much less often than other brands. Good stuff.
Everything breaks, but them Easton bars seem to break much less often than other brands. Good stuff.
Thought it was maybe Jamie Ford, who used to ride a Dare and broke it in all sorts of places, and coincidentally also lives in NY. Just many coincidences I guess.
I heard that there is a set of Easton Monkey Lite Carbon bars for sale in the Classifieds section 
Easton Monkey Lite Carbon Handlebars
Easton Monkey Lite Carbon Handlebars
if you use carbon, make sure you do not over tighten your brake lever or you will regret it
last I was aware Ford lives in Mass (he attends UMass)?
you shouldn't be tightening brake levers too much anyways. regardless of handlebar material, in a crash you will damage your brake levers if they are too tight - run them a little loose and they will just spin out of the way when they hit something (as opposed to breaking). but yes, tightening is more of an issue with carbon than aluminum.
I run a MonkeyLite Carbon on my 4X bike and am digging it. I just wish they made a low rise version for my DH bike.
I run an EA70 on my Sunday and compared to the carbon, I don't feel as confident on it anymore.
Come on Easton make a low rise Monkey Lite.....please?
I run an EA70 on my Sunday and compared to the carbon, I don't feel as confident on it anymore.
Come on Easton make a low rise Monkey Lite.....please?
Goes to school at U-Mass, but lives in NY.
Oh and my statement about replacing parts every year is based on talking with my buddy's dad who is a graphite composite engineer. He's made F1 wings, the tooling for Easton's first composite baseball bats, etc. I just mention this so no more of you half brain retards leave negative "rep" for me like NMR8 saying "unfounded or uncited". Idiot.
waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh wahhhhhhhhhhhh most of us are full brain retards thank you very much.
also, baseball bats have to be engineered to a whole different spectrum of specifications than handlebars. They are designed for significantly higher impact strength than mtb handlebars will EVER see. Baseball bats will also never see the sustained low frequency vibrations experienced by dh handlebars. oh, and making the tooling for a "graphite composite" part isn't the same as designing that part. a tooling is just a mold and its associated manufacturing processes, not the part itself. apples to oranges comparison.
edit: graphite composite parts are a totally different animal compared to the subject at hand. the topic at hand concerns a woven carbon fiber mesh in a resin/epoxy compound if i'm not mistaken. not trying to be a dick here, i just fail to see the relevance of the comparison.
I use the term "graphite" loosely.
I'm not saying DH handlebars are like baseball bats or F1 wings. The tooling for the bat was not a mold, it was a machine that drew the weave through a vat of resin, a heated mandrel then wound it into the finished product shape. He designed the method of production to achieve a bat with the characteristics desired.
I asked him about Handlebars and he said in such an application where nearly all the forces are in shear in a concentrated area it is important to change the parts periodically. Everything has a fatigue life, even "carbon fiber".
That's all.
Just looking out for people, not trying to piss anyone off because they don't want to drop another $130 for bars. That's thier problem.
I'm not saying DH handlebars are like baseball bats or F1 wings. The tooling for the bat was not a mold, it was a machine that drew the weave through a vat of resin, a heated mandrel then wound it into the finished product shape. He designed the method of production to achieve a bat with the characteristics desired.
I asked him about Handlebars and he said in such an application where nearly all the forces are in shear in a concentrated area it is important to change the parts periodically. Everything has a fatigue life, even "carbon fiber".
That's all.
Just looking out for people, not trying to piss anyone off because they don't want to drop another $130 for bars. That's thier problem.
ah. differences in industry. where i work a tooling refers to the molds we use to manufacture parts (injection mold, blow molding, and thermoforming). just wanted to make sure all was clear. carry on
Couldn't agree more.
Carbon gets a bum rap from ignorant folk (check out MTBR.com) but like any handle bar, I wouldn't want to ride one for more than 2 years.
