My handlebar broke halfway through a ride. It is a conventional drop bar. Needless to say I am pretty annoyed as the bike did cost a fair bit and was only a month old. Before I take it to the shop and inform them of a significant safety issue, I want to know how common it is for drop bars to break through normal use. When I called, the guy at the shop said that it can happen, but I'd like some public opinion before they try to pull a swifty over me when I am in the shop with the bike later. Thanks guys.

I personally have never seen one break, nor know anyone who's had one break (outside of an accident involving a car), but I don't hang out with all that many roadies either. I've seen a couple of mountain bike bars break, but after serious crashes. This is over the last 20 or so years of being around bikes quite a bit.

Were your bars carbon or aluminum? Who installed them? Any crashes?

WHERE did it break?

"Before I take it to the shop and inform them of a significant safety issue, I want to know how common it is for drop bars to break through normal use. "


Damn right it's not!!!


"a significant safety issue..."


Damn right it is!!! This can easily lead to a serious injury or death!

What government agency is supposed to be keeping tabs on things like this. the NTSB? Here are their contact numbers:

https://www.ntsb.gov/Info/sources.htm

You should call them and report this, or call one of the shyster lawyers who advertise for bicyclists.

What is the exact make and model?

You wanna make some sheckels? Tell that shyster lawyer you hurt your back when it broke. They shouldn't be trying to f'ing kill us by selling crap like this!

I T-Boned an International Scout once. Snapped my forks clean off. But there was not any damage to the bars.

What are you riding rtay?

Bicycles are covered by the CPSC (Consumer Products Safety Commission)....

So what are the bars made off? Lighweight racing quality aluminium and they could have been made wrong or you are just too rough with them. Ordinary alumium and the only way you can break them is with a hacksaw.


BUT C.F.-- Can break at any time after a hard knock. Could have happened before you got the bike- but the knock need not be that severe.

Was it the stem? Maybe this one?
https://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09135.html

hey guys - i didn't have an accident - the bars started flexing a little more than usual and throughout the ride got slowly worse until, before I knew it, it came off. i had flipped my stem, but I don't think this really should cause any problems. The bar snapped on the left side, approx 10cm from the stem. How strong should bars be? I have already spoken to various people about this and bars should NOT flex at all. So, if I were to use the handle bars to do pull ups, it should take my weight right? I am not a big guy - 72kgs on a 56cm racer. OK - give me more of your thoughts on this and I will think about what I am going to do with this issue.

From one of his previous posts:

"hi - i ride a road bike, not a branded one, but one built by the LBS."

I'd be on the LBS like white on rice....

-R

OK - back from the LBS and they showed concern for the broken handle bar, and replaced it with another which I thought would have been a whizz bang bar. It looked solid enough - but I found that it cost AUD$40, which kind of felt like a slap in the face. Anyway I have a video of the break and photos as well, so I am thinking of taking it to the owner of the shop. They are a discount bikeshop, but the bike cost AUD$1400, with Shimano 105 gearset. the equivalent Trek with the same gearset would cost $2600, so i guess in a way, you get what you pay for. I am going to find out the owner of the shop, and mail the guy the video, the photos and a letter. I also told the LBS that they should recall those handlebars. They said they would let the authorities know. We'll see what happens when I start making a little bit of noise. I am pretty p@#$sed off though, that they replace the handle bar with a $40 job. What if I had a serious accident? I bet if I had some serious injury, things would have been different. Anyway, I'm not done yet.
i'll reveal more once I have a had a chance to deal with more senior management at the LBS.

AUD$40 seems quite cheap for a handlebar. What handlebar did you have on the bike previously and when you flipped the stem did you overtighten the stem damaging the handlebar?

No, not really. That's not their intended usage.

I sympathize with your situation I really do. But I don't quite understand what you expect the LBS to do about this. You say a AUD$40 handlebar is a "slap in the face". Meaning it's too cheap or too expensive? Obviously some handlebars cost far, far more than that. Did the LBS tell you your bike came with a high-dollar handlebar and then actually spec a cheapo handlebar? If that's the case then I think you have every right to be upset with the LBS. Usually I know what level components a bike is speced with before I bought. That said, even a cheapo Hbar shouldn't just break like that. By all means let the LBS know of your problem and they may even make it right. They need to know to watch out for a quality problem with that model of bar. But I don't understand the need to "go after" the LBS. Unless some fraud took place. The LBS didn't make the handlebar did they? They're just a user of it, like you. Judging by some of your previous posts, there may be more to this story, we just haven't heard it yet.

In some cases a less expensive aluminum handlebar may actually be stronger as it is typically heavier and made of much thicker wall tubing. More expensive aluminum bars are thinner wall for reduced weight and frequently more likely to fatigue fail over time. Also more sensitive to incorrect stem clamping pressure and other potential problems.

One month's use is IMO totally unacceptable but if you are a rider who puts lots of stress on the bar with out of saddle riding and hard upward pulling on the bar then it will likely eventually have a fatigue failure. ALL aluminum components can fatigue fail with continued hard use. From my reading I get the impression that cranksets, bars and stems are the big offenders there. Pro bike teams used to change these components on a regular basis for just that reason.

Had a big discussion with the LBS - they assured me that the new handlebar would not break. It is a a K6 OnAir bar - anyone know much about these? They had an el cheapo bar on it before... not sure how much it would cost but anyway - it broke and it should'nt have...

Can't say as I've ever heard of that brand, but I'm in the US. I found that they're only $10 in NZ https://www.kiwivelo.co.nz/store/inde...product_id=754 (there was another google response that showed an Australian shop selling them for $39 called Cell Bikes). Might be particular to your area of the world, couldn't find a thing by trying varying googles with On-Air (bikes, components, etc). Does this shop specialize in cheap?

I would bet that either the broken bar had been installed previously on a different bike, or there was some major problem with the metal. Did you look closely at the metal at the break?

Even an el-cheapo bar is going to have a predictable lifetime that exceeds your one month. I've had a MTB bar get loose, then come off in my hand. It was a cheap one, and had suffered many crashes, and hundreds of jumps. I accelerate from a stop sign, pulling up, and whee! Later inspection showed the crack had progressed from the underside and had been doing so for a while. Half of the break was dull grey aluminum.

My strategy has since been: it's okay to buy cheap bars as long as you replace at reasonable intervals. But I'm tempted to take a close look at all my bars after hearing your story.