Do you trust carbon handlebars for gravel?

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NickJHP
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Location: Canberra, Australia

by NickJHP

A good evaluation of quite a number of handlebar failures by Luescher Technik here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFUTFmZHq_4

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wheelsONfire
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by wheelsONfire

I don't think you'll snap a handlebar from a pothole strike. Maybe if you crash and have a strike at the dropbar handle.
I would probably be more worried if i used some of the super light carbon bars and stems if i had a stiff fork.

Off topic from your thread/ question, but have you considered running a Lauf Grit on your gravel machine?
It will rid you of extremely much vibrations and keep your front tire planted better.
Less bounce, more traction.
I have Grit and i have been going back and forth to my 3T Luteus II, but when going gets tough i prefer Grit.
Sure, we could go in to detail + vs - between stiff and Grit.
But if you'd like that, just send me a PM and i will be as informative as i can.
No questions are stupid!
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MikeD
Posts: 1000
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2014 9:55 pm

by MikeD

If you hit a bump and the bars rotated, couldn't the stem have scored the bars at the clamp?

Kumppa
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Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2014 10:05 am

by Kumppa

No but just becouse I like to add some offroad on my gravel routes and time to time small crashes when trying something whats too hard for my bike handling skills.

dim
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Location: Cambridge UK

by dim

if the bike falls down (from a bike stand, or from where you rest it such as a wall etc) it always lands on the bars....

would you feel safe with the same light carbon bars after you dropped your bike while you are riding down a steep hill, travelling at 45+ Km/Hr?
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jfranci3
Posts: 1572
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:21 pm

by jfranci3

Yes.
You’re forgetting alternative is aluminum which is of the same strength, fails just as easily, can’t flex like carbon, and doesnt fatigue as well. The problem with carbon is the mfg process, not the resulting product. You’re not going to get a void or bad laminate with AL. A bad bar is going to fail wherever you’re riding it.

Carbon doesn’t fail on a lot of small impacts (like AL will), it can flex and fails on big impacts. Carbon composites can take a lot more hits at close to their ultimate strength than AL parts can.

You’ve also got the bars covered in padded tape. In an impact the wheel will fail first and you’ll flip off the bike. The bars can also turn, the shifters can slide. A solid pot hole hit while riding on the drops is worse than most accidents. If they do fail, it’s probably better than the alternative part breaking.

moonoi
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by moonoi

JonWalter wrote:Hi all!
I work in a shop. Every so often I get asked to install one of these. I *always* use a torque wrench, which is nice so when the bar breaks during install I can tell the customer exactly what torque the bar broke at. Roughly half the time they break before I can even get up to the stem manufacturer's torque.

There are some outstanding alloy bars that are probably roughly the same weight as the knockoff carbon bars that are very reasonably priced. And you won't be taking your life into the hands of whomever made this bar you know nothing about other than it's really cheap. If you can't afford name brand carbon at online prices that are somewhere in the neighborhood of wholesale dealer cost, you should use an alloy bar.

There's no upside to knockoff carbon. It isn't any lighter than alloy, there's a huge safety concern - really the only upside is that carbon looks cool on your bike
Cheers
Erm, knock off bars aren't being mentioned here, the OP is talking about his lightweight genuine deda superleggara bars...

To the OP, are you using the matching deda stem? I've had the same rotation happen hitting a pothole on the road with the superleggara, had to install with carbon paste after that, since even torqued up to the max they would then rotate even on smaller hits, I've switched to a Pro Vibe Aero bars and stem now, that have so far been fine.

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Marin
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by Marin

JonWalter wrote:
Mon Apr 09, 2018 9:31 am
Roughly half the time they break before I can even get up to the stem manufacturer's torque.
Are you saying you are breaking customer bars by blindly tightening the bolts with your torque wrench until the bars break, or did you just make up a scare story?

Which shop are you working at again?

youngs_modulus
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by youngs_modulus

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