Time to scrap handlebars and stem?
 

I went over the handlebars last month in a crash hard enough to bend my frame and fork beyond repair and send me to the emergency room. (The incident was described elsewhere; I won't go on about it here). Now that I'm mended enough to do some mechanical work, I stripped down the wrecked bike--my winter singlespeed--and built up a replacement on another frame. I reused the drive train parts, and put aside the headset and derailleurs for later use.

But I'm a little conflicted about the handlebars and stem. They don't seem to be bent or cracked. On the other hand, judging from the impact on my ribs, I must have hit them pretty hard. One brake lever is also badly bent, evidently from hitting the road after I had gone on ahead of the bike.

We're not talking Cinelli stuff here--just garden-variety Japanese, or more likely Taiwanese hardware. Regardless of what anyone says, I think I'm going to play it safe and put them in with the metal recycling pile. But I am sort of curious. What would others do--or what have they done--in similar circumstances?

If they haven't bent or gotten dented somehow, I'd reuse them. My answer might be different for ultralight bars of high alloy aluminum or carbon fiber, but then again it might not be.

The frame and fork damage reflect a front end collision involving the wheel. There's an excellent chance the bars were never subjected to any meaningful impact.

BTW- if after reading this post you change your mind and decide to keep the bars, please don't blame me if they fail.

If you are going to take it out of commission for your own safety, destroy the items beyond use. Save someone else from grabbing it to use.

We did that all the time at the shop.

OR. Use the handlebars as a rack for one of your bikes.

IMO

If the stem and bars didn't hit the road hard, I would rethink your decision to scrap them. Your ribs would compress (a lot) upon impact, and apparently they did. If you can't see even a hairline fracture on the components, I would not toss them.

I understand your concern however.

No way, man--you're on the hook for anything that happens to me.

Could you PM me your contact information so I can share it with my lawyer when the time comes?:D

Honestly as much as I re-use stuff, I'd still probably toss those bars and stem. You just never know, and definitely dont want to repeat that crash. And since you said it's not particularily high end stuff not a big deal in the end.

No problem have him email me at fb@gosuckanegg.net

When I got hit pretty good by a car riding a carbon fiber bike, LBS had no problem with me continuing to ride the frame but wanted me to replace the handlebars.

I dunno in your case. I will say that my old Cinelli bars seem way stiffer and tougher than some new alloy bars I bought (Civia Emerson compact bars)

If I couldn't find a bend or a crack anywhere I'd re-use them and wouldn't lose any sleep about it. I've hit a lot of things when falling... not all of the damage I can explain... or remember.

Rather than your bars, I'd get your wheel and rim checked carefully. Cracked flanges, spoke holes, and resultant loosened spokes?

i've bought and installed tons of bars and stems, and none came with an itemized history of decades of use.

lots had dings i them, which i always polish out.

none had dents.

the only bars i toss are steel.

Interestingly enough, both wheels seem fine. The front was a little out of true after I T-boned the bulldog with it. The spoke tension isn't perfectly uniform now that it's trued up again, but who is to say that it ever was perfectly uniform? It's one of those indestructible non-eyeleted Araya rims.

The replacement singlespeed I just built up had its own rims, so the ones from the wreck are spares for now. For some reason they worry me less than the stem and handlebars, though.