shock absorbing from INSIDE handlebars
 

has anyone ever heard of this or tried it? im thinking that a good way to keep vibration down (and if you're into aesthetics and don't want to keep the bars thickly wrapped) may be injecting some sort of hardening foam inside the handlebars or maybe stuffing them with silly putty (a good shock absorber).

i've seen the gel inserts for underneath grip tape, but im thinking inside like twinkies.

I think there are bar plugs that are said to do this.

try carbon bars. or a carbon fork, my wound up does wonders.

Hey,

You might want to try filling your bar with sand. I know super expensive audio speakers is stuffed with sand.

Or you can fill the bar with sealant glue. Cheap.

T

Sand is heavy. carbon would be best: weight saving and vibration absorbing imo.

or you can try gloves with better padding or use fatter tires with lower pressure, or get a suspension fork altogether.

I just put some Fizik bar tape with gel inserts underneath on one of my bikes. I was having issues with my ulnar nerve being pinched and causing numbness in my ring and pinkie fingers. I really like the Fizik tape (I just had classic cloth, bar wrap before). Not only does it absorb the vibrations from rough roads but it makes the bars feel thicker which just feels a lot better in my hands. Two weeks in and no numbness of any kind and I did about 30 miles today some of which was on some rough cobble stones.

Bontrager BzzzKills. Work pretty well.

or u can try riding a suspension mountain bike...

Its a placebo effect. Those have been determined to be a sham by just about every review done on the product. Its another way of the wonderful TREK corporation to get people to buy things they don't need.

Nothing beats road buzz/vibration than good tape. I'm using Arundel that I bought at $14 and it is by far the best I've ever used. Pair that up with some really well padded Pearl Izumi gloves and its happy trails.

some motorcycle riders use that spray insulation foam in the bars......

Yep, good way to add weight to your bike for no benefit.

I think wine corks would be excellent at vibration dampening. shave them down with an exacto knife to a fit size and push through with a coat hanger wire.

These are supposed to work, as mentioned above:

http://media.bontrager.com/images/pr...05bt261714.jpg

Bontrager BzzzKill handlebar vibration dampening plugs.

Never had a problem with handlebar vibration with Nitto bars though.

thicker gloves + wider tires + lower pressures = smoother rides.

Bar Snakes, available at lots of motorcycle dealers. A rubber rope that is pulled thru the bar (then it expands) and is then cut to length.

Yes, they really work.

The Bontrager plugs DO work, but as someone mentioned above, it is not worth it. The aluminum ones are not heavy enough to make a difference. The much heavier brass ones work infinitely better, but they seem to lose effectiveness the further you get from the plugs. Essentially, they only worked, albeit very well, when I was in the drops near the end of the bars.

Frankly, they helped me get used to the drops when I first started biking since I was a newbie with a death grip and needed all the comfort I can get, but now I just use gel bar tape or I tape with cork tape pretty thick and my Bonty plugs are in my spare parts bin somewhere.

As for it being a placebo effect, that was not the case for me. I was riding with the flu once on a MUP (flu mentioned to note that I really wasn't too aware) and my right brass plug fell out (Oval bars' IDs are bigger, I suppose) and I definitely felt the difference (I was in the drops... go figure). Luckily my riding partner had a good eye and found them for me.

"Great Stuff" foam.


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...pic/stuff1.jpg

^ Will that really work?

I think i have a cross fork cause i have those buzzkill things in my fork. They work down there that's for sure

^ Trek/Bonty put skinny versions of those things in their forks for a while - not just the cross forks, but road forks also, kind of like Specialized Zertz inserts.

How bad can the vibration really be?

sometimes bad enough to cause nerve damage.

i ride on the streets mostly. if its possible to reduce how much of the road vibration gets into my hands im all for it. especially since (like many of us here, im into bike aesthetics):

1. i can't afford carbon track drops
2. i don't really like the look of other carbon (cheaper) bars
3. a carbon fork looks terrible on a vintage lugged frame
4. i realize the gel inserts would help, but if its possible to reduce vibration internally, i can keep my chrome drops shining in the sunlight haha.

If we are talking about resonance as opposed to road shocks, then there is an old cure.

This used to be a problem with motorbikes in the days of big capacity single cylinder bikes before the Japanese bikes civilised them.

The answer was to stick a very small piece of lead at each end of the handlebar. It need not be very heavy, but it is sufficient to change the resonant frequency of the handlebar.