Carbon Bars - Replace after a crash?

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SDA

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Went for a slide down Snipe track earlier today out at Lysterfield. Unfortunately my fairly new carbon bars decided to help slow me down (see below).

The gouges in the bars are reasonable and I am not sure whether I should replace them?

Do you guys replace your carbon bars after a crash?
 

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moorey said:
My mates renthals didn't look that bad...and just gave way. Why risk it?
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The only answer is alloy. I've been known to ride carbon bars... but until I spoke to a fellow rider that had a set of Eastons unexpectedly shit themselves , leading to him being absolutely fucked up... I'm now convinced that the difference in weight between carbon and alloy isn't work the risk.

I'd be ditching the carbon altogether....

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CRC have the answer protaper sl on special. Safer to replace them.

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JTmofo said:
The only answer is alloy. I've been known to ride carbon bars... but until I spoke to a fellow rider that had a set of Eastons unexpectedly shit themselves , leading to him being absolutely fucked up... I'm now convinced that the difference in weight between carbon and alloy isn't work the risk.

I'd be ditching the carbon altogether....

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But Easton have really dropped the ball on their carbon recently. Their old cnt monkeylite bars, C70 stems etc were bombproof, and I've got a set of the 1st gen Haven carbon wheels that are very good. Now there are horror stories of the rims blowing out at 40psi just sitting there and bars failing all the time.

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Agree with some of the people above, if you're doing any sort of drops or jumps best to replace them after a big stack. Without getting a specialist in carbon to look at them, you're really not going to know what the structural integrity is like. They might be fine with a few scratches on the outside but on the other hand they might have fractures in them that cannot be seen by normal eye.
 
Carbon bars scare the absolute fuck out of me. Probably the only part on my bikes I won't run carbon on. Spank vibrocore here and it's been super.

Your damage looks minimal, but I'd change 'em out just to be safe I guess
 
Ky1e said:
Carbon bars scare the absolute fuck out of me. Probably the only part on my bikes I won't run carbon on. Spank vibrocore here and it's been super.

Your damage looks minimal, but I'd change 'em out just to be safe I guess
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Carbon bars.... stems... and cranks can all eat a bag of dicks. Minimal gain for increased risk of getting mutilated!
I'd still run carbon wheels as I feel these offer benefits above the risk.

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So we pay big dollars to have carbon parts, have a little bingle and "have"
to buy a new part because its considered unsafe..........

Cudo's to the marketing machine that is mountain cycling
 
Hellyeah said:
So we pay big dollars to have carbon parts, have a little bingle and "have"
to buy a new part because its considered unsafe..........

Cudo's to the marketing machine that is mountain cycling
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Only those who drank the kool aide...wheelsize, plus size, boost...
Next thing they'll want us to replace helmets after cracking them...
 
I wouldn't ride those bars at redbull rampage, but i would still ride them at lysty.

I've only ever snapped alloy bars, people who still use alloys bars are taking their live lives literally in their hands.
 
scblack said:
They look like just surface scratches to me. I would keep using them.
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Wot 'e sed.
Cosmetic damage only; I'd ride that with no greater than normal concern.

The thing with carbon is if the hit isn't enough the break the bar (or whatever component) at the time of impact, it will NOT just fail suddenly and instantly snap at a future point. There are literally millions of fibres in the carbon layup; it will take a massive shock to break them all at once. IF a weakness has been introduced, subsequent breakage will be progressive in nature as fibres break individually.

One of my (roadie/triathlon) customers had a bingle a while ago caused by trying to put too much grunt through a buggered drivetrain. About three weeks after the crash he had the bike in for the drivetrain service and new bar tape, and while removing the tape I discovered the damaged handlebar. It was soft, but holding together, but he'd been riding it for three weeks, with much greater damage than pictured above.

I had a bingle at the You Yangs a bit over a year ago, riding pretty well carbon everything. There's a ding in the top tube of the frame where a shifter hit it; I'm observing it, but it hasn't grown, and will patch it if it looks worrying. Nothing has broken or looked remotely in need of replacing.
 
Looks superficial, but it's always hard to be sure. The bar could have taken a bending force that's snapped fibres on the inside. Was one grip all dirty and/or torn from the accident?

Drop everything off the bars and tap the bars with a coin. Compare sides. If the sound is different between sides, or even areas, don't use it. If there is damage, putting your body weight on one side should snap fibres and you will hear it. Tap next to, but not on the scratches.

How much is a face reconstruction worth to you? Not trying to scare you, but help you asses the situation. I ride carbon, and love it. But a man must know it's limitations.
 
How many carbon bar failures are the result of being too tight at the stem? Could be effecting the rate of failure stats anyway.
 
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