Helderberg

And if so, do you feel they help with hand felt vibrations? Do you feel you have less of a numb hands situation? If you do, what style and or shape and brand do you use? Are there brands that you would avoid?
Thanks, Frank.

The next level

I am interested in this topic also. A friend spoke highly of his carbon bars. He claimed reduced harshness of ride. I have been looking around for carbon drops with flare for my diverge.

Wilmingtech

Funny this comes up. I spent all last week reading all kinds of reports, reviews, failures, success of carbon handlebars. I was looking at getting a Deda Superzero carbon handlebar and in the end I went with Aluminum.

I went aluminum for a few reasons.

1. It was going on my gravel bike. I'll be bouncing around and was hoping to get carbon but there are times when I get the bike off the ground or pull up to get into and over some obstacles and....

2. I am a bigger guy than the average cyclist - 185 - 190lbs. I put a lot of that weight on the handlebars when sprinting and climbing. I am often pulling up on the bars as I stand and get over the tops of climbs.

3. About once a season inevitably on one of my bikes a brifter will start to loosen a little. Just enough that it starts to feel slightly mushy and I will need to tighten up the clamp again. I was concerned about the brifter digging into the carbon bars over time.

4. The thought of a carbon bar snapping is a little scary.

I am curious to know how many larger cyclists have had carbon bars that they have beat up on a bit and over a 3-4 year period have had no issues with them.

-Sean

DorkDisk

I run several, under two conditions: anticipated harsh ride and bling. I do feel that some do reduce vibrations, but not all crabon is equal and tires+air volume still make a bigger impact on bump absorption. Grips also make an impact

On a vintage Cannondale MTB with the notorious/legendary (super harsh/super light) Pepperoni fork I run a fairly standard and lightweight straight 25.4 mm handlebar with 5 degrees sweep. Weighing 150lbs, I don't feel that the Pepperoni fork is overly harsh with this combo but still not on par with a quality steel fork on a quality steel frame. TBH I didn't think it was too harsh with Al bars but I can feel a small difference. I don't have any wrist issues related to cycling so YMMV.

Design is a factor and material does not say it all. A 90's Aluminum Hyperlite weighed 140g and was designed to flex for comfort, which it did. It also had a weight limit and was meant to be replaced often. Many modern generic Al risers weigh 400g and don't flex under 300lb riders. Cheap crabon can be a veneer over Al or weigh more than an AL bar.

Generally I prefer Al bars and only go crabon mostly for comfort on a harsh bike. Sometimes I put it on for bling. Sometimes I will stock up on come clearance crabon bars and those get issued.

Ti is an option that is strong, flexy and not prone to assploding, unlike crabon

SimplySycles1

Hi all our bikes have CF bars, road drop and riser MTB. Have used MTB since the early 2000, maybe 2005 and road since 2008. i am 6-0 185 and my wife is very powerful also.

She likes using wide (for her size) MTB bars and believes it takes the sting our of a ridged frame. i don't notice much difference off road due to tire size but on the road for certain CF bars (and stem) takes the buzz feeling out of a ride.

We have used Easton for all those years with never an issue but always using a torque wrench for anything related to CF.

ColonelSanders

Before you change your handlebars, try these grips first.


GP1 ? The Original ? ERGON BIKE


They totally sorted my numb hands situation after a couple of rides, and plenty of people on here have said the same thing.

wgscott

I weight about 200 lbs and have had FSA carbon drops on my gravel bike (which sees serious off-road use) and no issues in five years. The frame itself is steel, fwiw. The bars, stem and fork are carbon. If you are really worried, get nice wide tires, if you don't have them already. Buy and use a good torque wrench.

Wilmingtech

Do the Carbon bars make that much of a difference as far as shock absorbtion?

I think thats truly the only reason I would go carbon. The weight difference between the carbon version and aluminum version I bought was 90g. Not enough to sway me to spend more money.

If the difference in feel between aluminum and carbon bars is negligable then Ill just let some air out of the tires

-Sean

79pmooney

I won't run CF bars (no need to get into that here) and have used aluminum forever with steel forks. As I've aged, I've made a concession. I now wrap my bars with two layers of tape. Fizik on two bikes, cloth on the rest. All my bars are relatively old-school weight and thickness. Nittos or other Japanese makes. Nothing "high-strength" or light.

I rode 70 miles of gravel last weekend with ~6000' of descending. No hand issues at all. In fact, Monday morning I couldn't even feel my chronic issues. (Now I do take real care to optimize bar shape, bar rotation and lever placement to minimize numbness which I do get if my wrists aren't cocked just right.)

Ben

wgscott

Mine came on my bike, and I haven't switched them out, but my impression is that they do make a significant difference. I have aluminum ones on another bike, but the fork is also different, so it really isn't a properly controlled experiment.

To make my aluminum bars comfortable, I wrapped Fizik tape over an old inner tube. It is still not as comfortable as the other bike with carbon bars, but part of that might be other differences.

Helderberg

Thank you all.
Frank.

Wilmingtech

Marianne Vos - @3:53

vader957

In my opinion tires at reduce air pressured and saddle makes the most noticeable difference. Anything else is just minor improvement or weight weenie upgrade.

Nessism

I'm using 3T Superergo carbon bars on one of my bikes and love them. Super comfortable flat top shape. If they made them in aluminum I'd consider those instead. Bought them on a lark after finding a good deal but now my other bikes bars pale in comparison.