Carbonfiber Handlebars

[mimbresman]

Both bikes are sport'n carbonfiber handlebars. I like them so far.

I have Performance risers on the full rigid Merlin SS. They take the edge off for sure, and are stiff enough for the grunt work of climbing.

This weekend I've been riding the Litespeed and I have a set of flat carbon bars on it. I like them too. The Litespeed has a SID fork which is very smooth, but I can still feel the benefit of the bars. The Litespeed's ride is silky smooth both fore and aft.

[rockyrider]

Just make sure you take the time to ensure that there are no burrs or sharp edges on the widgets that go on the bar, or the stem. Very very bad.

The carbon bars are very good at filtering out high frequency vibration and chatter.

[robcycle]

Rocky, since you won't be using those bars anymore, hows about you take one for the team and stress test them? You know, put them in a stem and hang weight off the damaged side until they fail. You can take pictures and fill us in on just what it would take to put your fist through a wheel :p

-Rob.

[mimbresman]

Yesterday I gave the Performance carbon risers a pretty good test. Mounted on the full rigid Merlin, I rode 12 km to the "trail head" then 12 km up hardpack/steep climbing/heavily rutted road, then 12 km back down the same road, back to the trailhead where my friend's SUV was parked.
The carbon bars do take the edge off. I like them. It was a very comfortable ride.

[rockyrider]

All CF bars are are not created equal, especially in comfort/vibration damping department. Bars that are made thicker and stiffer to be super safe don't have the same comfy factor as the bars that are super engineered for having just the right material in the just the right spots. A company like Easton has a lot of engineering chops, and some of the other off shore OEM companies are doing something cheaper, less complicated and less tweaked.

[mimbresman]

The Eastons were out of stock so I opted for the house brand. I asked the guy if they were strong enough for me. His reply was if they break, I can sue Performance. :confused: :rolleyes:
Anyway, so far, so good. Hopefully I won't break my neck.

[rockyrider]

Usually the house brands will be over built, rather than under built (keep the lawyers happy). Without having buckets of R&D cash, BEM and FEM software and elaborate production capabilities, they tend to be thicker, heavier and stiffer than they need to be. I've been surprised at the difference if vibration damping feel between the Easton MonkeyLite and the FSA K-Force riser bar of similar size and weight. The Easton feels like it has an edge in taking out vibration.

[rockyrider]

OK, as part of my personal carbon sequestration program, I have added some more carbony bits to my ETSX Team.

A shiny new FSA OS-99 CSI stem with an aluminium stem hidden inside a crunchy carbon wrapping. mmmm mmm! 31.8mm bar clamp, with a carbon faceplate and all Ti fasteners. Light and stiff. It seems to be intended for road use but it is super stiff torsionally when reefing on the bars.

25940

The new stem is paired up with a new Race Face Next 3/4 low rise 31.8mm carbon bar. Trimmed down from 27" to 25" width and still plenty of room for the controls and grips. The combination of the bar and stem weigh 315gms which is just 8 gms heavier than the FSA alloy stem and 25.4mm Race Face carbon low rise bar, but it feels stiffer to steering input and bar wrestling.

25941

25942

[mimbresman]

That's nuts Rocky! I look forward to a long term evaluation. What length is that? Looks old school longish. Cool! :cool:

[rockyrider]

It's only a 110mm stem, it's just skinny in the middle. I found the 100mm stem didn't climb as well as I'd like.

[mimbresman]

It's only a 110mm stem, it's just skinny in the middle. I found the 100mm stem didn't climb as well as I'd like.

After years riding on a 130mm (or longer), I swapped out on both bikes a 110mm. I really like it. No more neck pain and still good climbing leverage. I need to get a better stem for the Litespeed. Right now it has a OEM (from some other bike) no name stem that a bike shop manager friend gave me. Unfortunately all projects concerning the Litespeed will have to wait since it didn't make the flight down here with me this time. :mad:

[rockyrider]

I do have a nice light 110mm FSA XC-115 stem (http://www.dirtragmag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18496) for sale

[mimbresman]

I do have a nice light 110mm FSA XC-115 stem (http://www.dirtragmag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18496) for sale

I'll e-mail you. :cool:

[rockyrider]

First chance to ride this bar and stem combo today. Man, this setup it stiff. I previously had a 25.4mm clamp carbon low riser bar on the bike and a light FSA stem, and it always felt pretty solid, but this fat bar and stem is super solid for out of the saddle climbing.

And as I expected there is more tire chatter transmitted through the fat bar than the 25.4mm bar, but holy moly this combo is solid. No trace of bar or stem wind up when sawing back and forth.

If you do a lot of out saddle climbing with a lot of leverage on the bars, these 31.8mm fat bars would be worth the purchase, even if it were the alloy version.

[Moe\/elo]

My previous fs bike had the 31.8 combo, very stiff indeed, for that bike it was awesome. The rigid I am riding now is the old standard 25.4 and I'm thankful for that. Horses for courses.

[real_ss_budgie]

kool aids....