FrikkieMeyer87 Posted May 17, 2017 Share Howdy parteners! (Peter Sellers, "The Party", 1968) I would like to get an idea about the general feeling towards carbon parts (especially handlebars, stems, saddles and seat posts) on mountain bikes, more specifically for use in beginner to intermediate singletrack (i.e. small jumps, rock gardens, etc.) Do any of you make use of carbon parts on your MTB? If so, what is your experience i.t.o. lifespan and dependability? Note that I'm aware that if you hit a tree, it can break. I'm talking about the likelihood of taking a jump and snapping your bar in two on the landing. Would you say that 3K carbon is better than UD, or vice versa? Thank you kindly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andretraut Posted May 17, 2017 Share Hi Frikkie, my entire mountain bike is virtually made of carbon... frame, rims, front hub, handlebar, stem, seat post, saddle, crank arms, brake leavers, crown of the shock and the bottle cages. No problem! FrikkieMeyer87, Andrew_Smith and openmind 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrikkieMeyer87 Posted May 17, 2017 Share Hi Frikkie, my entire mountain bike is virtually made of carbon... frame, rims, front hub, handlebar, stem, seat post, saddle, crank arms, brake leavers, crown of the shock and the bottle cages. No problem! Awesome thanks for the feedback man! Have you done / do you do some moderate downhill singletrack with it? I'm not talking Red Bull Rampage, but like Lombard's Terra etc? Also can you perhaps divulge your brands and whether you trust certain brands more than others when it comes to carbon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtrider Posted May 17, 2017 Share Never for me thanks you . Only carbon forks . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APJ88 Posted May 17, 2017 Share works for me and I weigh 82kg's FrikkieMeyer87 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaGearA Posted May 17, 2017 Share Carbon bar on enduro hardtail , take away a lot of small bumps and flexs a little on big impacts Never even think it will break T-Bob, FrikkieMeyer87 and Andrew_Smith 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrikkieMeyer87 Posted May 17, 2017 Share works for me and I weigh 82kg's Nice, I'm about 2m tall and 105kg so I'll just take it easy haha Carbon bar on enduro hardtail , take away a lot of small bumps and flexs a little on big impacts Never even think it will break Awesome, I also have a hardtail so that's great info to have. So you never feel like you have to take it slow and steady for the sake of your bars? You can moerit comfortably? APJ88 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grease_Monkey Posted May 17, 2017 Share Carbon frame and bars on my AM bike, I weigh 105kg, and like rocky "rough stuff" - no problems whatsoever. I have never felt the need to take it easy for the bars sake... Carbon fork on my 29er SS, yet to test it out, but I cannot imagine having any problems. More and more of the pros in Enduro are using carbon bars and rims, and if they can't break it, I'm sure you won't have any issues either... Edited May 17, 2017 by Grease_Monkey FrikkieMeyer87 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrikkieMeyer87 Posted May 17, 2017 Share So when it comes to carbon parts, do you prefer any specific brands or have something to look out for? For instance, you get 3K carbon (which has the visible "weave") and UD carbon (which is much finer not as visible). Is one better than the other, or doesn't it really matter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the nerd Posted May 17, 2017 Share "I may be dumb, but I'm not carbon stem dumb..."- Charlie the Bikemonger Rocket-Boy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nqobile Ndlovu Posted May 17, 2017 Share Definitely yay for carbon bits. I ride an aluminium hardtail and considering a carbon seatpost and hadlebars to take the edge of the harshness in rocky trails. Besides being lighter, the elasticity of carbon allows it to flex and recover better than aluminium would. However carbon suffers catastrophically in failure and may hurt you whereas metals simply bends in failure and is repairable in cases. There's a vid on youtube addressing this issue. Word of warning, bike frames were hurt in this experiment: https://youtu.be/6APhKvaW6ig FrikkieMeyer87, Ferro and dirtypot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtypot Posted May 17, 2017 Share That's a cool video! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrikkieMeyer87 Posted May 17, 2017 Share Definitely yay for carbon bits. I ride an aluminium hardtail and considering a carbon seatpost and hadlebars to take the edge of the harshness in rocky trails. Besides being lighter, the elasticity of carbon allows it to flex and recover better than aluminium would. However carbon suffers catastrophically in failure and may hurt you whereas metals simply bends in failure and is repairable in cases. There's a vid on youtube addressing this issue. Word of warning, bike frames were hurt in this experiment: https://youtu.be/6APhKvaW6ig Cool thanks, that follows my line of thinking as well. Those are the very same thoughts that led to this thread being born. I've also got a aluminium hardtail (26er from the Mesozoic era, but I digress) and I've read some mixed reviews as well as seen both awesome proven durability as well as catastrophic failure videos on Y-to-the-T. Some guys have great success and rave about it, other guys fall their pword off when they snap in half but it does not appear to be a concrete YES or NO from everyone. Some hate them and avoid them, others love them and swear by them. Something I'd be interested to hear (read) is if there's any brand suggested or preferred above others when it comes to carbon parts. Also (queue head kicking by anti-importists) I have ordered myself a set (bar, stem, saddle and seat post) from good ol' China to check it out seeing as it's dog cheap. Yes I know it might not (probably won't) hold up as well as the proven brands, BUT it's also a LOOOT cheaper. So we shall see... It's in the post as we..er.. type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCD Posted May 17, 2017 Share Good quality carbon is great and stronger than most alloy parts. There is the crux. Don't buy cheap black ware when it comes to items whose failure would be very painful like a handle bar Your weight is definitely out of the normal design range for most performance bike items, whether they claim it or not. And yes, no carbon stems, not at this weight . Frame, wheels, cranks should be ok if you do your research and source strong items (Rocky Mountain frames are very tough, Race Face Next cranks too, Csix rims...). FrikkieMeyer87 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrikkieMeyer87 Posted May 17, 2017 Share Good quality carbon is great and stronger than most alloy parts. There is the crux. Don't buy cheap black ware when it comes to items whose failure would be very painful like a handle bar Your weight is definitely out of the normal design range for most performance bike items, whether they claim it or not. And yes, no carbon stems, not at this weight . Frame, wheels, cranks should be ok if you do your research and source strong items (Rocky Mountain frames are very tough, Race Face Next cranks too, Csix rims...). Excellent, thanks for the pointers. I'm trying to cut down to sub-100kg but at my height and build that requires some pretty drastic dietary and exercise lifestyle changes that I'll have difficulty justifying as I'm really just riding for fun, not racing etc (yet ) Coming to think of it, a broken stem is probably the worst thing to encounter while riding single track. You could still recover from a handlebar break if you're lucky, but theres no recovering from a stem break. That's a guaranteed faceplant. I'll be sure to test all of these incoming parts thoroughly in a safe environment before ramping up the abuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackheart Posted May 17, 2017 Share Big Fat YAY.I have carbon everything, incl rims. I weigh 86kg and ride a Niner Jet9 RDO.Not one single issue. I have been involved in composite design in both the yachting and car racing world.Basically any impact severe enough to cause a catastrophic failure of a carbon composite would have destroyed its aluminium counterpart too. It's only when one starts pushing weight limits at the cost of strength that the trouble starts.And that counts for any material. FrikkieMeyer87 and Ferro 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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