[Closed] hope carbon bars? general carbon bars snapping?

Main reason not to buy is availability, I think. and price.

You can have Enve bars for less money.

As for snapping, they certainyl can if you're not careful when installing, but if you'r enot ham fisted then no issues. Always seems to be RaceFace SixC when you hear of carbon bars snapping

Carbon bars breaking isn't a common thing, only time i've seen it is when torque settings have been ignored and brakes/shifters/ stems have been overtightened.

Where are these horror stories? I've not come across any.

Have been riding carbon bars for best part of 15 years and never had any issue - and i'm a lard-ass. I'd imagine that Alu bars aren't impervious to over tightening either.

Like all things carbon, they're fine so long as they're not damaged. I know someone who took a tumble, not noticed any visible signs of damage on the bars, carried on using them and they've snapped a couple of rides later and he came to work with a nice black eye, fat lip and missing tooth. Carbon is a great material, but has its pro's and con's just like any material and if you take a tumble then damage that affects the ongoing structural integrity might have taken place - it's not always visible at the surface like cracking and dents like you get with metal. So you could buy some, use them for years, take a tumble then you'd have the dilemma to continue running them or not....or you could be unlucky, buy them and take a tumble on your first ride out. I'd have them on a road bike in theory, but the significant additional cost vs. marginal weight loss is just not worth it in my view, but i'd definitely not have them on my MTB at any price. I'm too clumsy - a habit of coke and hookers would be cheaper for me.

Been running Renthal carbon on both my bikes with no issues. The ones on my Geometron are coming up 2 years old, have been hammered in the Lake District, the Highlands and most recently 6 days in Malaga with 40000’ of descending. Several decent crashes and no hint of failure.

My carbon RSP DH Pro bars didn't cope too well with the Mega quali course. I probably over-tightened the shifter clamp mind you.
Doh!

[img] [/img]

Cue one slightly embarrassing one-handed ride back through Alpe d'Huez....

(Had a spare set of aluminium bars with me)

thanks for the replies, the video above has probably helped make my mind up.
slimjim, that looks like a horror story, also lots of the mtb groups on Facebook

I really like carbon bars. They take out a lot of vibration and add a little flex. I will only run 35mm clamp decent brand ones, I currently have the Santacuz Enduro bar and on my other bike the Easton Havoc (which I’ve run for 6 years). They have done alps trips, large drops to flat and clipped a few trees.

No problems for me. The key is torque settings and using carbon paste. The above video for me goes to show the shifter was too tight- broke exactly on the clamp.

I've run Easton Carbon Bars for years without any problems and i don't own a torque wrench.
I always use carbon paste and a combo of experience and "feel" whilst tightening.

I've been running some Renthal Carbons for 3 months or so now, hardly a lengthy period but they feel very solid and as so much lighter than the answer pro taper dh they replaced.

Providing you assembly them correctly (get a torque wrench), use carbon friction paste to stop things slipping (and removing the need for clamping down too hard on stuff) then you should be fine.

Plus carbon is teh sex.

my main concern is ive seen horror stories of carbon bars snapping etc. is this a common thing? a reason not to buy?

Have tried a few others since then but I don't think they're worth a premium. There's as much variation in carbon bar 'feel' as there is in aluminium bars

My bars snapped without any warning. They were aluminium.

rocketman - Member
I've not snapped any in a catastrophic way but some of the fibres in an old pair of USE carbon bars started to tear after a crash. You could lean on the bars and see the weave open up.

NewRetroTom - Member
My bars snapped without any warning. They were aluminium

Thus proving that carbon bars don't always fail without warning and nor do aluminium bars bend before breaking (generally the old tropes which are recited whenever the subject of carbon bars comes up!)

Personally I'm north of 100kg and running Bonty race X lite bars on my cx/road bike, RF Sixc 35mm on my HT and have just ordered some of the new RF Next R bars for my FS bike. I like the flex and vibration damping properties (and I'm a bit of a tart!)

With regards to the Hope bars a friend of mine in the industry told me that there's only one lad at hope who does the carbon layup so he's either making frames or bars, which if true might explain the supply issues.

ir_bandito - Member

My carbon RSP DH Pro bars didn't cope too well with the Mega quali course. I probably over-tightened the shifter clamp mind you.
Doh!

I've got some of these to put on my HT build.
will make sure I use carbon past and a torque wrench.

I had some Eastons which I spotted a crack on the rise section, thankfully I wasn't riding. Did a little tester and managed to snap them with very little force once they had started to go. Was scary to think on the what ifs.

Out riding with a friend this year & he had some SIXC bars, went round a berm & the right side of the bar just splintered and came apart, all frayed. Just after that corner the trail lead into a juicy jump line - again, the what ifs were not one for thinking about.

I still have a set of Enve's on my HT which are going strong but have migrated away from carbon on my FS bike - racing a lot my bike gets a fairly tough life and I don't fancy them snapping at the wrong time.

The weight difference is bugger all & I can't feel any difference in stiffness, trail chatter, etc.

Alu tends to bend before it snaps, which appeals a little more to me 🙂

The only bars I've snapped or seen snap have been ally ones. A pair of Azonics decades ago (seen) and a pair of ancient OE Peugot roadbars that kind of "unwound" in a spiral as I pulled away from the lights commuting.

Been using and crashing on carbon MTB bars for the last 10-12 years with no ill effects. Hope bars if anything are likely to be on the overbuilt side.

Got a set of hopes bars a few months ago for the Geometron to keep to a product theme, plus they are quite subtle graphics wise.

Exchanged before fitting as I noticed a inner layer of carbon had move during manufacture leaving a thin and thick spot, thick good, thin bad.
New pair have been fine.

I have been running Easton DH and Havoc bars for maybe up to 10+ years and more recently also have a set of Renthal bars all without issues.

However a friend recently snapped both ends of some Ritchey WCS carbon bars at Llandegla, they are a xc bar, it was short travel fork HT, he was landing a jump.
Left side snapped near the brake lever clamp, the right side about 40 mm from the stem.
Ironically I had got him a set of 35 mm Eastons in the sale for his 50th as I was a bit concerned about a xc bar and his riding style but he had neglected to fit them 🙂

The forum update ate my post so:

Broken two sets of carbon bars

Both were secondhand and I think were overtightened judging by the breaks.

Both gave plenty of warning (creaked, felt weird and one had evidence of delamination in the outer layer). Neither actually cracked in two whilst riding.

Now riding with On One knuckleballs (cheap, carbon and light, a recipe for trouble!).

I'd happily ride with most carbon bars. I'd not buy second hand ones again though.

Ive just bought some Joystick Analog Carbons.... lovely looking bars. I’ve swallowed my carbon bars scepticism... let’s hope so don’t end up eating dirt... 😆