Crwban

I've just bought a 2nd hand Focus Summit for my son. Apparently the previous owner only used it on a turbo trainer. I have heard horror stories of handlebars breaking due to corrosion caused by sweat. The front derailleur is rusty and completely seized suggesting the bike has been exposed to a lot of sweat. The handlebar tape looks fine but I'm concerned the bars underneath might have corrosion. Is this likely or am I worrying unduly?

10 Wheels

nope

bboy314

Couldn’t hurt to take a look.

Rick_D

I would. Think of how nasty the tape is from the same sweat (TBF looks possible it's been replaced, perhaps as a cosmetic makeover).

Iride01 

Hard to say. I've never found any bars that had much if any corrosion under them whether mine or the few others I've dealt with. And the few that had any corrosion of any notable amount were bare alloy or steel bars. Those appear to be anodized or painted, so less likely to have issues I'd think.

If you are confident and decent at wrapping, why not? Some tapes can be re-used.

Rick

I would remove everything to bare bars and inspect and clean if necessary. While the bars are bare put some force on them and look for any cracks.

genejockey 

You should remove the bar tape, if only because the blues don't match.

Seriously, though - replacing things like cables and bar tape makes the bike yours. Well, okay - PAYING for it is what literally makes it yours. But I mean it's what makes it feel like yours.

bboy314

Having worked in shops servicing bikes used for racing and training, I’ve actually seen quite a few badly corroded handlebars. Given the (probably sweat-induced) rust elsewhere on the bike, I’d probably want to take a look under the bar tape.

50PlusCycling

Normally, I would say “no,” but having recently seen someone break a corroded bar during a sprint, and causing a pretty spectacular crash, now I would say “yes.”

PeteHski

I would also remove the bar tape and inspect. They certainly can corrode with heavy trainer use. Ask me how I know?

Barry2 

The cost of a roll of tape would put your mind at rest.

it would also be a good excuse to get rid of the extra brake levers.


Barry

Russ Roth

I've seen heavily corroded bars, though never really enough to cause a failure but I always hated peeling the tape away to find the powdery gray corrosion from people over sweating. For that reason I'd always replace the tape on a used bike just cause of how gross it could be without seeing it.

spelger

i would, but just because i don't want my hands on someone else sweat mess left behind.

mstateglfr 

It's bar tape- just replace it with new stuff that your kid likes, whether thars color or texture.
The stuff is $6-30 depending on brand, website, and sale. Hardly something to even think twice about.

SurferRosa

I always replace the previous owner's gross bar tape ... during a full overhaul of the bike, of course.

Crwban

I Don't want to go off topic but I'm interested to know what's wrong with the extra levers, surely it's safer to ride with them?

base2 

It's a cyclocross racing thing. Generally they're never used outside of CX racing because nobody rides with their hands in that position unless they are climbing a steep grade and are positioning their body for best respiration and core muscle engagement. Going uphill slowly at very high effort rarely generates a need for emergent brake use unless you are in a very dense pack of people. Even then, hands on the hoods/shifters would result in more control. They are also a secondary to a crash broke brake lever.

IOW: those levers outside of that specialty use are a redundant waste of space & as such most people remove them.

Crwban

I've just taken some of the tape off and the bars look fine. I managed to stick the tape back on again also.

Barry2 

it’s one of those things!

if you have to ask………..

🙂

Barry

mpetry912 

suggest you also replace the bolts holding the stem faceplate

and re-torque them properly (4-6 Nm)

some evidence of corrosion on this bike.

/markp

zandoval 

Whats the big deal... Strip it down, buff out the existing rust, replace rusty bolts, put on new cables and tape, polish the bike up.

The bike deserves it!

Fun, Fun, Fun...

veganbikes

Yes I would always remove someone else's tape and throw it directly in the trash. It is garbage pure and simple. It is soaked in someone else's corrosive nasty sweat. Get new tape, tape is cheap if you want cheap tape or you can get some nicer tape and enjoy it more.

Bars should really be inspected with some regularity, yearly or or every two years is a good idea. It doesn't hurt to do and doesn't cost much but a corroded bar can cost quite a lot.

Biker Pete

I bought a used bike recently with carbon bars. They were too wide so I replaced them with narrower bars. Glad I did because after removing the tape I discovered the brake levers were way overtightened and caused indentations and a minor crack in the carbon fiber.

Black wallnut 

I'd replace for the simple reason that they are wrapped wrong. The secondary brake levers... I agree with base2 . Ditch them.

Replacing fasteners because of surface rust is throwing money away, however fasteners cost pennies, well they cost me pennies when I buy in boxes of 100 from an industrial supply house. Your local ACE or Turue Valuse might have them for a bit more than pennies, being metric cap screws and all.

mstateglfr 

They are also found on kids road bikes and entry level road bikes because they provide a transition safety point when people are moving from flat bars to drop bars and still not totally comfortable. Further, they have been on smaller road bikes because small hands dont grip STI brake levers as easily as large hands, and because the reach to brake levers is often a lot for many kids to continually manage. So interrupter levers allow people to ride comfortable on flat road with a hand on the brake still.

Yes, some remove them. No, they arent inherently redundant wastes of space.