Originally Posted by
JoeyBike
I
Remember this rule of thumb: "Anything on your bike that fails in front of the bottom bracket will probably result in dental work and plastic surgery."
That's a great (and sobering) rule of thumb.
Apart from the condition of the bars themselves, there's also the fitting to consider (i.e., it's one more thing that will work loose over time and need to be checked periodically). Coming loose and rotating around the bars at the wrong moment would probably equal "failure", for all practical purposes.