I've put 22,000 miles on the same carbon bars and they have not ASSploded. Just take care not to drop the bike or abuse it. But that can be said for carbon frames, wheels and cranks.

This is a ridiculous statement, I have the same set of Carbon bars (Easton EC90) on one of my bikes for 15 years now and have had no issues.

To the OP I bought into the hype and don't think they make really any difference over alloy bars other than weight which really isn't that much of a difference. The shape of the bars and how they fit you are far more important than what they're made of.

Not every day, but it's not unheard of. Worse, that customer didn't see the damage and thought the bar was fine and safe. That can happen.

I have two carbon frame bikes. One has carbon bars and stem, the other aluminum bars and stem. Both have carbon forks. I cant tell a difference from how the bars ride. Carbon bars are obviously lighter, but I don't feel any difference in ride quality or feel.

One or the other (carbon or aluminum) has to be more likely to fail... it's impossible for the failure rates of the two materials to be identical. I'm fine with others choosing carbon.

People afraid of carbon bars are good for all of us. We all have the free choice to ride whatever bars we want, so when the guy buys a new bike and immediately ditches the lethal carbon for safe aluminum, I can get brand new carbon take-offs-- which is how I got my K-Force Compacts for $80 instead of $250.

Steel is real ... Easy to bend and snap . i can break steel bars i can bend steel bars . steel bars rust and snap .

General rules to follow with carbom parts are , carbon is the strongest material that can be molded into the largest variety of shapes . its biggest weakness is its impact resistance . i could not snap a carbon bar by arms strength but i can bend and twist steel bars. But if i smack the carbon on the concrete it will break and snap .

Id say your best best bet for bar choice is to look up stiffness tests . find a bar thats rated high , as stiff as possible , or if you want road dampening get one thats rated high for that.

Over all i think carbon bars are better suited for aero gains and dailed in stiffnesses ..

GCN did a side-by-side of two similarly-shaped bars, one CF and the other Al, putting them through their paces in an apparatus that torqued the bars thousands of times (it's on Youtube). The end result was that the Al bar could take a bigger hit (ie, more impact resistant), but the CF bar had way more fatigue resistance (the Al bar failed after ~200,000 "torques", while the CF bar was still going strong when they packed it in at ~600,000 torques (actual numbers may be off - pulling this from memory). My take on that is that, for bars at least, fatigue resistance trumps impact resistance - if my bike (presumably with me on it) takes a hit sufficient to break the handlebar, I'll have bigger worries than whether the bar broke or not - it's not like it performs some safety function during a crash, like, say, the passenger compartment of my car. The only thing I would say about CF bars - you have to be willing to follow the rule of "if in doubt, throw it out" - better to replace a CF bar if it takes a decent hit, than run the risk of a catastrophic failure down the road. A few years ago, I "doored" my roof-mounted bike driving into a carport. The impact pulled the roof rack half off the car, and the CF fork, being the only rigid point of attachment between bike and rack, took the brunt. Although the fork looked OK, I made the decision to retire it and eat the price of a new fork - better that than eat asphalt.

Does anyone make titanium bars? That may dampen road shock and probably won't Snap and have catastrophic failure?

No, no. Sell 'em as take offs! Seller gets bars made with the "strongest material", (un-snapable by hand, unlike steel ) and seller gets a few bucks. Win-win!

I double wrap the tops , of all my handlebars (alloy bars) and never have an issue and I have arthritis in both hands . I no longer use the drops, but those can be double wrapped, too . KB

I ride whatever the pros ride.

It's just easier that way. No decisions and takes the worry out.


-Tim-

Actually, I'm not sure yet. I figure several more pages of information in this thread will help us determine the truth on whether or not carbomb bars are all they're cracked up to be.

I had a mountain bike with a CF bar fall off the back of my car going ~60 MPH. I looked in my rear view mirror to see it cartwheeling down the road.

The bars got hit so hard that it bent the stem. The bar did not break, though the ends were really bunged up.

[MENTION=493279]Lemond37[/MENTION] To the OP: It depends on what you're looking for. If it's damping road 'buzz' then maybe, especially if your like to use thin bar tape. OTOH, a 3.0mm gel-backed premium tape might provide the same benefit at far less cost and hassle than a bar swap.
If you want those cool aero profiled bars, like the K-wing and ZIPP-SL, then carbon is where you go.

In my case, I get more benefit out of the shape of the bars than the material. I ended up with a flared 'gravel' bar (Salsa Cowchipper) for comfort on my long-distance road bike. I'm a clyde, so I tend to ride the thick-walled, heavy versions of whichever bar shape I choose.


To all the rest of you; There are so many different grades and specs and quality levels of Steel and Aluminum, and CF, that it's impossible to say that one is 'The Strongest' The only thing you can pretty much predict is the most likely failure mode: (With regard to handlebars) Steel will bend, Al will crack, and CF will snap.

'You can have Light, Strong, and Cheap. Pick Two.' -Keith Bontrager

This is my issue. I have a torn TFCC and I want to take more shock out of my bars. Now if I can find an affordable bar that is 42cm

Gel pads under the bar tape can be tried first , to seek relief from that.

that too lol

I have four nice carbon fiber bikes. All of them have alloy bars. I really like the Zipp Service Course SL series bars.

I've had aluminum bars snap on me. So that's as unreliable as carbon.

And I go the other way. I've had/seen alloy snap. Carbon starts cracking and usually gives you more warning. For high stress, important stuff I prefer carbon.

Every component can be over/under built with any material, but it is the early warning of carbon fatigue I like.

Cracked and finished.
Carbon breaks, splinters, but does not snap. Some examples cracked frame, cracked wheels both able to finish the ride. Alloy likely would have snapped.
I don't have pictures of carbon bars breaking as if it is not a crash, or they are cheap eBay specials, they just don't.