im in the market for new bars and stem i think i want to go with carbon but they need to be stiff,lite and strong ,what do you recommend

carbon stem is just a waste of money and it doesn't save weight either. a good aluminum stem (like Easton's EA90) is a much better value for your money, oh and in the case of Easton, it's lighter than their most expensive carbon stem. But in any case, stem doesn't matter, and if you're dead set on carbon don't listen to me. Get what you can afford, what looks good to you and is in the length you need.

As for bars, what matters most aside from width, (even more than whether it's carbon or alu) is the style of bend you want in the drops, the reach from the drops to the levers, and the height. Basically, it's a very personal choice based on your comfort and hand size, so it might be worth trying a few bars out at a bike shop, if you're willing to buy locally.

Personally, I like aluminum better for cockpit components, because the bars are the first things you whack if you crash or your bike just falls over for whatever reason. I don't want the possibility of my bars snapping as I descend 2000 feet over two miles to haunt me in the back of my mind. Secondly, I have found some very comfortable aluminum bars (Ritchey BioMax) that weigh a ton, but just feel right to my hands. I'm no stranger to carbon components, but I kind of think it's a waste of money here.

Zipp SL Bar
Zipp 145 Carbon stem

ha, I love this in the description of the carbon bars. Pretentious, much?

I guess I should feel bad about preferring what feels good to me, then. For some reason I don't though

I could put that $300-$400 to so many good things...

Carbon bars are stems are madness. They don't save any meaningful amount of weight over lightweight aluminum ones. The amount of money spent on them could be spent on pretty significant weight-savings things like forks or wheels.

They carry a high risk of catastrophic failure. Even if they don't fail catastrophically, then they're still extremely fragile and prone to breaking from something as simple tipping your bike over, never mind crashing.

Some people say that they dampen the effects of the road, but so does cork tape, or gel pads underneath the cork tape, gel gloves, and carbon forks.

I have some EC90 carbon bars and really like them. I recently bought some FSA K-wings for another build they look cool but havn't tried them yet.

As for stems I stick with Alu here as there are usually lighter than carbon, Ritchey WCS 4-axis are my #1 choice here (also see them on a lot of pros bikes)

Have the best of both worlds, ITM Millennium Wing Shape carbon wrapped AL bars. Not the lightest, tho, at 310 grams.

Deda Newton Handlebars
Deda Newton Stem

Super stiff and very light.

well what al. bars do you suggest

What he said....

Thomson elite stem
Deda Newton Handlebars

Any decent 4-bolt stem. Thompson stems are the classiest and American made, as well as being fairly lightweight. Lots of people here like Ritchey stems, those are good.

As for bars, it's all personal preference! I use Cinelli Criteriums on one of my bikes, and TTT Primas on another. I love both.

How can we make any recomendations without knowing your preferences to shape. Bars come in every shape imaginable. What do you like?

short reach, long reach, small drop, big drop, flat transition to the hoods, deep transition, anatomic bend, classic bend, ect..

Easton's EA70 bars are extremely light and strong. Just make sure you test them out if possible. You may or may not like the bend. They're comparable in weight to a decent set of carbon bars.

Should I replace the aluminum Icon bars on my 1999 Trek 2300? I replaced the quill stem with a generic threadless stem/adapter because the icon quill stem was recalled for cracking problems, Im thinking it wouldn't hurt to get rid of the old handlebars.

I think that's more the marketing of Competitive Cyclist. Their write ups are always a little cocksure.

I've been very happy with the FSA OS-115 alum. stem and carbon K-Force bar combo on my IF. I'm a big guy, sprinter type and they've given me no reason to doubt my confidence in them. I've got them wrapped with Cinelli gel cork bar wrap for even more comfort. Carbon really does take the buzzyness out. On my IF switching to the carbon front end (new alphaQ fork too) cut about a 1lb off and now the bike turns in even better.

Since you didn't give many specifics I recommend what I use: a lovely 3ttt quill stem and 38cm Cinelli Giro D'Italia bars circa 1972. BTW they are steel, I've heard that aluminum is more prone to "catastrophic failure" than steel.

I like Ritchey. I have a 4Axis and a 4Axis Carbon (wrapped alu). The carbon is marginally lighter but looks much cooler. It is still wrapped alu so is still and should be fairly strong.

I've got an EA70 stem available in the for sale area. I like Ritchey WCS stuff.

deda Aluminum, lighter and stronger, plus you dont have to empty your wallet.

But they are not stiff. I have some for sale, they move too much for me.

Ok I'll hijack the thread...make me a recommendation I'd like short reach small drop, flat transition to hoods w/anatomic bend.

+100000 on the Deda Alu stuff. It's light and not expensive. Get it from PBK. Zero stem if you want light and stiff, Newton stem if you want really stiff. Then get a Newton handlebar in your choice of Anatomic (yuck), Short round drop (ya!!!), or Deep round drop.