Carbon fiber bits

[RickBullotta]

I don’t think I could tell a difference in the actual ride characteristics between alu vs carbon frame if all other components were the same.

I bought a carbon bike because it looked better!

I do notice the advantage of modern carbon bars though. The design and production techniques allow them to dial the feel (stiffness vs flex can shape) in ways that are possible but more difficult to achieve with other materials.

 

[06z]

Check these out.

Carbon Handlebar

ONEUP CARBON BARS. Strong, lightweight & vertically compliant.

The goal for the new OneUp Carbon Handlebars was to make the best feeling bar possible, something which would let us ride harder for longer.

The solution is our patent pending oval shape which combines the best ride characteristics of 31.8mm and 35mm bar standards into one package. This is the most comfortable bar we’ve ever ridden, period. It's strong, lightweight, minimizes arm pump and vibration and maximize steering response. 35 done right.

Almost every other carbon bar on the market copies the simple tapered profile of an Aluminum bar. With carbon you can take advantage of more complex shapes to get a better performing product, so that's what we did. If you actually care about bar compliance, then you don't make a regular 35mm diameter bar. Sure you can try to "optimize" the flex slightly with layup, but geometry is king and you're fighting a losing battle.

The OneUp bar profile minimizes the length of the 35 diameter clamping area as this is the stiffest portion of any 35 diameter bar. The 35mm clamp diameter quickly changes to a flattened, oval shape in the transition zone and then to a standard 22.2mm clamp diameter for the control zone.

We bench marked the OneUp bar against the most popular carbon bars on the market as well as foam filled aluminum bars. The results were, on average, a 21% increase in vertical compliance (comfort) coupled with a 28% increase in steering stiffness (responsiveness). These are more than just marginal gains.


Until now the 35mm diameter standard has had a bad reputation and rightly so. This is 35 Dia. done right.

 

[Mikerb]

First off people refer to carbon fibre …..you might as well say plastic. Composite construction with carbon fibre has a huge number of permutations not least the quality of the materials used. So the first question is......is it 100% carbon fibre or is it a mix of carbon fibre, fibreglass, Kevlar etc. Then what grade of carbon is it. Then is the cloth UD or matrix...or are both used. Is it pre peg or wetted layup. What type of epoxy is used?
A composite lay up is not necessarily lighter or stiffer than an ally construction. It depends on the design of both and the materials used for both.....there are several grades of ally as well. Where a composite layup can outclass ally is in controlled reflex and a composite layup does not suffer from flex fatigue which can cause ally to fail. It also does not suffer from corrosion but is subject to UV damage if not protected. Finally composite layups of 100% carbon are prone to impact damage and sudden failure as a result whereas ally will deform on impact...which may or may not cause a failure depending on the severity.
Properly designed and fabricated, a carbon frame should provide controlled flex in the right areas and be stiff in other areas as required. That takes a lot of design skill to get right but is somewhat easier to get that mix of qualities than with ally.
With either construction I would say the key differentiator is the quality of design and manufacture. That said I would not chose 100% CF for a mtb frame since it is too prone to impact damage.

 

[Rusty]

Until now the 35mm diameter standard has had a bad reputation and rightly so. This is 35 Dia. done right.

Never figured out what 35mm bars were about. Raced SX with mad big jumps and the 1 1/8 bars have never failed me yet except when crashing really hard.
On an MTB 31.8 has more than enough strength for probably 99.9% of the riders out there.

 

[Pdoz]

First off people refer to carbon fibre …..you might as well say plastic. Composite construction with carbon fibre has a huge number of permutations not least the quality of the materials used. So the first question is......is it 100% carbon fibre or is it a mix of carbon fibre, fibreglass, Kevlar etc. Then what grade of carbon is it. Then is the cloth UD or matrix...or are both used. Is it pre peg or wetted layup. What type of epoxy is used?
A composite lay up is not necessarily lighter or stiffer than an ally construction. It depends on the design of both and the materials used for both.....there are several grades of ally as well. Where a composite layup can outclass ally is in controlled reflex and a composite layup does not suffer from flex fatigue which can cause ally to fail. It also does not suffer from corrosion but is subject to UV damage if not protected. Finally composite layups of 100% carbon are prone to impact damage and sudden failure as a result whereas ally will deform on impact...which may or may not cause a failure depending on the severity.
Properly designed and fabricated, a carbon frame should provide controlled flex in the right areas and be stiff in other areas as required. That takes a lot of design skill to get right but is somewhat easier to get that mix of qualities than with ally.
With either construction I would say the key differentiator is the quality of design and manufacture. That said I would not chose 100% CF for a mtb frame since it is too prone to impact damage.

thanks for this - you've helped make me feel marginally more comfortable with my " carbon" bars. They're just nukeproof ( Nukeproof Horizon Carbon Riser Bar | Chain Reaction Cycles ) and I bought them because they were advertised as more robust than alloy yet pretty much the same price . I guess I was hoping laminate technology has come a long way since the early 80's ...so your comment about construction techniques nade me look closer - these have fibreglass as well. Bonus, by 35 year old fibreglass 5ksb ( 5 knott shit box) yacht has survived...these bars should be fine....now I'll just go ignore the different properties of carbon and fibreglass, and all the potential issues with hidden de lamination following the dragged behind the car incident....

 

[Pdoz]

Never figured out what 35mm bars were about. Raced SX with mad big jumps and the 1 1/8 bars have never failed me yet except when crashing really hard.
On an MTB 31.8 has more than enough strength for probably 99.9% of the riders out there.

Try riding those bars along corrugated outback tracks. Tapered bars were a massive improvement for vibration reduction - I have no idea if this was just from removing the cross brace or some psuedo scientific engineering magic , but by the second or third week of an outback trip a good set of tapered bars are worth every cent. How this relates to 35 vs 31.8 mm, I don't want to understand. Probably more relevant to the really extreme riders who can go deeper yet still notice the difference a few extra mm of dilation makes.

 

[118]

How this relates to 35 vs 31.8 mm, I don't want to understand.

Market saturation perhaps..

 

[routrax]

I've been bit scared of carbon bars since I saw a YT video (which I can't find!) where the bars broke and the rider somehow ended up getting an injury in his groin from the carbon somehow. It didn't look like fun.

 

[Rusty]

Try riding those bars along corrugated outback tracks. Tapered bars were a massive improvement for vibration reduction - I have no idea if this was just from removing the cross brace or some psuedo scientific engineering magic , but by the second or third week of an outback trip a good set of tapered bars are worth every cent.

100% agree. Have run Tag bars or Pro-Tapers since they first come out. Tried Flex-bars but they are just lacking feel for me. Without the crossbar they allow just enough flex to take the harshness out of a ride without being too 'whippy' when landing from a big drop.

 

[Mikerb]

thanks for this - you've helped make me feel marginally more comfortable with my " carbon" bars. They're just nukeproof ( Nukeproof Horizon Carbon Riser Bar | Chain Reaction Cycles ) and I bought them because they were advertised as more robust than alloy yet pretty much the same price . I guess I was hoping laminate technology has come a long way since the early 80's ...so your comment about construction techniques nade me look closer - these have fibreglass as well. Bonus, by 35 year old fibreglass 5ksb ( 5 knott shit box) yacht has survived...these bars should be fine....now I'll just go ignore the different properties of carbon and fibreglass, and all the potential issues with hidden de lamination following the dragged behind the car incident....

Delam is due to poor manufacture typically in a wetted layup. Impact damage is different. Carbon is brittle. Impact can break several individual fibres and create a weak point. Most especially if that area is subject to flex it can cause a sudden failure. The fibre damage can be below the top layer of the composite and therefore not be visible. Most of the components of my windsurf kit are 100% carbon....mast,boom, fin. Boards typically use carbon as part of their sandwich construction with glass or wood. All are incredibly light and strong for their intended use but need handling with care and breakages are fairly common.

 

[gaba]

My last 3 frames have all been carbon. I have 2 carbon wheel sets. All my bars are carbon. I have 2 sets of carbon cranks. I agree with most of the posts here. I like CF for certain applications when it’s done well. Clearly there is an art to designing CF with the desired characteristics. My carbon Renthal Fatbars are so good I put them on all of my bikes. You can feel that they designed them to flex slightly to absorb vibration. I had ENVE bars in the past but to me they felt stiff and unforgiving. ENVE has new bars out now that I haven’t tried and maybe they are better now. I have a set of Nox Farlow wheels that are on an Enduro 29 and the carbon Rovals that came on my Levo. I like them but the ride is quite different than my Industry Nine alloys. The carbon feels stiff which is better in some situations but the alloy feels more comfortable overall. The small amount of “suspension” in my alloy wheels is really nice and faster on some of my loops. I don’t think I’ll go back to alloy frames or bars. Wheelsets, it’s a tossup, especially considering the price. I’ve put thousands of miles on all of my carbon bits. Some I’ve had for more than 5 years. I’m a big guy at 6’4” and 225#. I’m not hucking huge airs but I do some jumps and drops and ride shuttles and lifts in addition to my regular local loops. I’ve yet to crack or break anything carbon.

 

[Gary]

How this relates to 35 vs 31.8 mm, I don't want to understand.

Pretty much sums it up TBF

Probably more relevant to the really extreme riders who can go deeper yet still notice the difference a few extra mm of dilation makes.

Nope.