Carbon bars, stem, seatpost

[Dombo]

Thinking of getting the above, changing from my current alu ones as there are some good web deals on offer just now for Easton kit.
Is there a noticeable difference swapping to carbon for these contact points, not weight necessarily but "feel", comfort etc. Frame is carbon seat tube, top tube and seat stays, steel for the rest. Bike weight around 18.75 lbs

[Dombo]

Interesting, I'd have thought the fibres might hold it together, and at the type of impact that would cause road bars to break you'd be hitting the deck anyway. I don't imagine that carbon breaks spontaneously.

My mtb has easton carbon riser bars, the same pair since 2003 and done Afan Argoed several times, SDW twice and numerous high speed hacks around Swinley, Leith etc.

[Jon H]

[quote="Dombo"]Interesting, I'd have thought the fibres might hold it together, and at the type of impact that would cause road bars to break you'd be hitting the deck anyway. I don't imagine that carbon breaks spontaneously.

[Andrew G]

I wouldn't touch carbon stem or bars on a road bike primarily for the reason Jon mentions (TT bike is less prone to a crash so may be less of an issue although I currently have aluminum). With a stem or bars it could be your face that heads rapidly for a jagged edge of carbon if this happened. Might be a long shot of it happened but I'm happier sticking with aluminium.

Carbon seatpins take out some of the road buzz and give a less harsh ride than say an aluminium pin in an aluminium frame. Aluminium in a steel frame I find is no problem and still a comfy ride, so may be similar with carbon frame and aluminium post? If you get a carbon seatpin then get some of the special antislip compound to put on it when you fit it. This stops it seizing but also gives a good grip so you don't have to tighten too much to still have a securely held seatpin.

[Antloony]

I have all carbon, its made a difference to me, more on my hands than anywhere else. As for carbon breaking so easily they'd never sell it or be put to good use by the pro's if it was that weak. Alloy can suffer fatigue and snap. As Sean says they use carbon forks all the time and I'd have thought they would be the last thing you'd want to fail yet bar the wheels I'd have thought they take more hammering than any other part of the bike.

[sonic909]

I have Spesh BARMAC all in one bars on my daily driver and they are lush...

As for durability when i hit the edge of a van door at about 25ish'mph they didnt crack.

I have played with carbon fibre doing car parts and i love it... i am currently in a few bidding wars for a ritchey seatpost for my 2010 project!

[img]http://www.wiggle.co.uk/images/spec%20sworks%20barmac%20wedge.jpg[/img]

[Andrew G]

Forks don't tend to receive stress in a direction they aren't intended for too often. Bars and stems take the impact in an accident as they will be one of the first things to hit the ground and can then bounce around for multiple impacts.

Pros use what they are paid to use combined with the ready replacement without any cost to them in the event of a crash. Lotto had a series of carbon stem failures in the close/early season a few years ago and replaced the whole lot.

[Marek]

My tuppence on this is that the seat posts do seem to make a bit of difference in ride quality, noticed it more on the Alloy bike with a change from alloy seat post to carbon post. For a tall lad like me the weight saving was a good reason to go carbon on this part.

In relation to bars and stem, I had a good look at a few possibilities, taking into consideration price etc. After a bit of research I found that a lot of the carbon bars were actually a fair amount heavier than the alloy ones. Maybe that was because they were relatively cheap versions, although they were not that cheap. After much research and looking at what the pros ride I decided to go for ITM Millenium bars and a 4 bolt ITM stem as they were light relative to a lot of the other carbon and alloy bars and Tom Boonen used them, so I therefore presumed they were strong. So far so good.

Cheers

Marek...

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Hmmmm....trying hard to find a component on my bike that isn't carbon....frame-no. wheels - no, h'bars - no, stem - no, saddle - no, seatpin - no, chainset - no (aha the chainrings - mental note to self) ergo levers - no, rear mech - no, front mech - no, pedals - no.

aha, the chain is not carbon, and nor are the cables.

The carbon stuff now is over-engineered with a big safety margin, and I have not had any problem with any carbon component (unlike aluminium which has a limited shelf life and subject to fatigue).

You pays your money and makes your choice.

Oh, and it looks so good!!

Guru p

[mlocke]

[youtubewww]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9hqUJIwpRc&feature=youtube_gdata[/youtubewww]

[Dombo]

Cheers guys. These were all Easton parts I was considering, so decent quality, and all at 50% or so discounts at chainreaction. Incidentally, if anyone's looking for Ultegra 10 sp triple chainsets they have them at an absolute bargain £80, down from £200 odd.

[jon avery]

[quote="Andrew G"]Forks don't tend to receive stress in a direction they aren't intended for too often. Bars and stems take the impact in an accident as they will be one of the first things to hit the ground and can then bounce around for multiple impacts.

Mmmmmmmm Not sure about that! As you know i have been wiped out several times, and each time i have gone into the side of a car or van, the forks take the brunt of the impacted, As a previous poster put, pay yer dosh and take your choice

[Ivor]

[quote="mrP(Boonen)VT"]aha, the chain is not carbon, and nor are the cables.