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Looking for a carbon riser bar but don't want to spend silly money on it. I've got an eXotic one from carboncycles.cc and am very happy with it but they haven't got much in stock at the moment of anything so starting to broaden my search. Don't really want to go secondhand as I find knowledge of where handlebars have been to be quite reassuring in my mind. What else is out there I can look at?
they who shall not be named (shall we go out on one and call them companyX?) do some that seem to get decent reviews
The Selcof ones are great in my experience.
Unfortunately out of stock at the moment. I have an email notification set up for when they're back in stock if I haven't found something else before
Exposure Lights have an online outlet store; USE riser bar, max available width is 720mm, 31.8mm.
Half price at £75.
Brand X on CRC? I picked up one from there a few months back for my new hardtail build. Still without a frame yet so I haven’t tried them but they seem nice enough and fairly light.
Coincidentally, I'm just scanning the CRC sale and they are £70 with an extra 10% off if you order by tomorrow. That's even a choice of widths and rises available.
RSP Ego Carbon bar. I was happy with the flat version on my hardtail, they also so a riser version. Wide too.
3x RSP ego DH here, great bars if you like minimal sweep.
Chromag Cutlass?
I note they don’t mention Ritchey (WCS) or Easton (EC90), so are probably fake, so I wouldn’t touch them with yours.
Yes I spotted that too. But just because they have the same logos and are 'fake' Ritchey or Easton doesn't mean they're not carbon handlebars. Ritchey and Easton must get their carbon bars made in a factory somewhere so why can't the factory sell bars having used the same moulds? Just because they don't have the brand names on, does that automatically mean they aren't well made?
Its your face...
When the brands get stuff made, they have a minimum standard that the products have to be made to, QC checks and reputations to protect. The factory doesnt have to adhere to that without the brand watching over them (what is to stop them selling stuff that didn't pass QC?). If it even is the same factory as the brands use. Yes they are carbon handlebars, but could be of varying quality.
Maybe they'd have been ok if they had WCS written on them.
tomhoward ^^^ has it.
Stick to a known and proven brand.
You haven't said what width and clamp diameter.
Your main concern appears to be cheapness - I could be wrong; if it is that will probably involve a trade-off.
My main concern isn't cheapness, but I'm not in the market for spending £115 on bars when carboncycles sell ones for £70, or at least they would if they had any in stock.
Looking for about 750mm wide and 31.8mm clamp if that makes a difference.
Did you look at the CRC ones linked above? A little wider than your preference, but bang on the price. You've missed the extra 10% sale though.
I'd rather have some nice alloy bars than cheap untested carbon off ebay.
If you buy cheap carbon bars from exotic or planet x then you have come back should something go wrong.
The ebay shop will close and reopen with a different name and ignore your messages.
Who was it who bought some on here and then snapped them as a test and filmed it?
Some things in life are worth a few extra quid, responsible / main brands have stringent QC controls in place for component construction
Are you sure your cheap bars meet these same standards ?
Are you sure your cheap bars meet these same standards ?
If they are bought from a proper retailer, not some unknown Chineese, (or random British seller for that matter) eBay shop I'd have no problem with cheap handlebars. I'd be equally wary of aluminium from the same sources mind, it's poor engineering providence not the material that's the risk.
I’ve bought the Brand X ones from CRC and they seem alright in terms of finish and presumably they’ve been through a decent QC program.
They’re 31.8mm and 780mm wide. You should be able to cut them down to 750 if that’s what you want to do. What more do you need?
They seem really light to me vs the Marin 31.8 / 780mm wide bars I have here and I think they’re lighter than the 35mm clamp / 780mm wide Planet X ElGuapo bars I have too.
I did look at the Brand X ones but they're quite a chunk heavier than the eXotic ones I have on my other bike.
I did look at the Brand X ones but they’re quite a chunk heavier than the eXotic ones I have on my other bike.
Is 240g heavy for a handlebar? They’re 30mm wider than what you’ve got so if you trim them down you’re going to save weight.
I really wouldn’t buy cheapie / unknown manufacturer carbon off aliexpress / eBay etc - saving a few grams (what 60g at best) isn’t worth endangering a bad injury for.
Easton must get their carbon bars made in a factory somewhere
Easton dont make MTB kit any more.
I did look at the Brand X ones but they’re quite a chunk heavier than the eXotic ones I have on my other bike.
Ah, so you want cheap, strong, light and additionaly NOW. 🤔 That's a difficult combination.
I'll just wait for carboncycles to get their bars back in stock. I thought if one brand could achieve their weight price and quality other brands would be able too.
I have those WCS flatbars on my mountain bike. They’re fine. I got down the Golf Course decent in Bakewell yesterday (and countless other technical climbs, descents and bimbling around) hanging in to them.
I took a chance and so far, I’m winning. I also have some branded as Race Face Next which have a really weird upsweep for what should be a flat bar. They’re comfy though.
I took a chance and so far, I’m winning
It’s when you stop winning you need to be worried about....🤕
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/HBSECFFH/selcof-carbon-flat-handlebar for £50 (145g claimed) and buy a suitable stem for the rise you require.
Play around with inputs in http://yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/stem.php to come up with stem that gives you the raise and reach you want.
We’ve all got to go at some point 🤪