Originally Posted by
thcri
Yes they both are carbon. Funny the dealer didn't mention anything about that. Will hand tighten for now until I get a torque wrench. Can't ride it in this snow anyway. Hand tighten for pictures only unless I can figure out how to ride around the pool table in the house.
Can you rent or borrow one? I'd lend you mine for the hour you'll need it if you were in Seattle.
I put a pair of carbon fiber handlebars on my CX bike, without a torque wrench. I'd heard a lot about people crushing their bars by over-tightening them, so I made sure not to do that. You can probably tell where this is going ... the first bump I hit in the road, which was going down a hill, the bars rotated downward on me. I was riding on the hoods, and they dropped a good two inches. I opened the stem, and it turns out I'd cut a big gouge into the bars; you could see the cut fibers with the naked eye. I got the handlebars on clearance for $80, and later paid $20 for a toque wrench ... if I'd had it sooner, the bars would still be on my CX bike.
You can put them on loosely and take a few pics, as long as you don't put your weight on them.