Originally Posted by
chucky
I'm looking at Velo-orange bars which are available in 23.8mm compared to a similarly shaped cheaper 22.2 bar (also in aluminum). I doubt there's any difference in wall thickness. ID at the ends are obviously standard and I'd be very surprised if any of these unusually shaped bars were butted. Alloy and heat treatment is hopefully at least as good or better for the 23.8mm bar because only enthusiasts would want that size.
But from you`ve posted so far I`d say you`re overanalyzing things.
Velo-Orange themselves offers a number of bars in both diameters. None of them are aimed at anything other than city commuters. All are alloy and none are heat treated. Neither are they anodized. The main reason they`re offerred in two sizes is to give people the option of using either mtb or road brakes and controls so that if they want to change their bars they don`t have to change everything else too.
The only alloy road bar I`m familiar with thats heat treated is made by /itto in Japan and is almost double anything made by VO. And I pretty much believe you get what you pay for so if you`re looking at ANOTHER bar thats even cheaper than whats offerred by VO and are concerned about stiffness then the advice is pretty simple: buy cromoly.
The reality based on my own experience with motorcycles , mountain and road bikes is that ALL bars flex. The only difference is how much load it takes. So the question at this point is: What are you driving and what will you be doing that you think will be a major challenge to your bars? And if its so important why are you looking at products that are just designed for casual use?