mhotten

I was hit by a car yesterday. Fortunately I just suffered cuts and bruises but my road bike handle bars faired alittle worse. The top of the left handle bar was bent in 90 degrees from about the place where the palm of your hand sits.

I took it to my local bike shop and he just bent in back using his hands. Still in a daze I thanked him and headed home. I am now thinking that the metal is probably weakened and should I be riding on them?

Any thoughts much appreciated. I have got a 70 mile early season ride on Sunday and am not sure how safe things are!

Retro Grouch 

If it was my bike I'd definitely replace the bar.

mhotten

That sounds like good advice! Thanks.

FBinNY 

It's a road bar so it already has about a 90° degree bend. Did it really bend 90° from where it started? Of so, I'd scrap it. But if it bent much less, it depends on what the bar was made of, where exactly it bent and how knowledgeable the mechanic was.

Many grades of aluminum can tolerate reasonable crash damage and straightening very well, but some grades cannot. If the mechanic knows his stuff it could be a judgment call, but the old standby rule also applies, -- if in doubt, throw it out.

Fidelista

Yes replace the bars and don't go back to that LBS.Bars which have been bent and straightened will break and when they do they will cause a very nasty accident. I think it's pretty irresponsible of that bike shop to let you ride on a dangerous machine.

mhotten

It really did bend 90 degree inwards - the advice seems pretty clear - scrap it! Thanks.

FBinNY 

That's a strong indictment, coming from someone who doesn't know the facts.

For all you know it's a skilled, knowledgeable, experienced mechanic who knew what the bar was made of (we don't), exactly how much it was bent (we don't), whether there any any localized hard bends or buckles (we don't) and who then made an informed judgment call and saved his client the unnecessary expense of replacing it. OTOH - he could be a hack as you say.

I'm often willing to second guess others or back seat drive, but tend to defer to the guy with the advantage of actually being there.

adzzz

Similar thing happened to me, got doored and bent my handlebars, managed to bend it back and it was riding fine but now has an annoying creak and moves a tiny bit when i press hard on it, will be taking it to my LBS for a free safety check sometime this week.