kosmonooit Posted November 30, 2010 Share Watching the latest Aussie program Cycling Central (28-11-2010) last night, they covered the Cape to Cape MTB event in Western Auz - there were two instances of the one side of handle bars breaking clean off. No technical details where forth coming I can only assume carbon bars. First time I have heard about that happening. Anyone had that experience or seen it happen and/or can share more details? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldron Posted November 30, 2010 Share Watching the latest Aussie program Cycling Central (28-11-2010) last night, they covered the Cape to Cape MTB event in Western Auz - there were two instances of the one side of handle bars breaking clean off. No technical details where forth coming I can only assume carbon bars. First time I have heard about that happening. Anyone had that experience or seen it happen and/or can share more details? Cheers. Aluminium or carbon strengths are well above any human's ability to break. They break when mistakes are made - carbon not laid up properly, stem over tightened, contaminants in the aluminium, sharp edges on stem locking mechanism etc. It's partly human error (over tightening etc) and partly luck of the draw (manufacturing errors). Personally I will never own a carbon bar, stem or seat pillar because I think there is too much human involvement in the manufacturing process. Drawn aluminium is a nice automated process with little to no human input. Aluminium is more prone to contaminants though so who really knows what the probability of alu breaking versus carbon breaking is? You make your decision, pay your money and take your chance. Changing your bars every year is advisable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kosmonooit Posted November 30, 2010 Share Metal bars will bend, carbon will snap. Both two instances of bars breaking in one race? Looks like they broke off at the clamp. The first it was after a small jump through a forest on some single track, the force of the body mass transferred to the bars, then pop. This guy (who was leading at the time) even had a helmet cam on and was recording when it happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldron Posted November 30, 2010 Share Metal bars will bend, carbon will snap. Don't be fooled man - I've had two team mates snap alu bars right next to me during races - once was a "oh sh!t" moment followed by a huge crash - the other was a "aaaaaaaaaargh" moment followed by some miraculous bike handling. The muppit even finished the stage with the bar dangling by the brake cable (it was before STI was invented). There was no warning of impending doom aka bending in either case. Based on that I check my bars every few times I clean my bike - only takes a few seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Posted November 30, 2010 Share ive bent plenty bars but never snapped one. must be a very scary moment(s)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kosmonooit Posted November 30, 2010 Share Metal bars and other bike bits (normally Aluminum Alloys) might break but only after its fatigued, or around a weld if that is not done properly. Carbon on the other hand has totally different properties from what I understand, can be brittle along an axis that it was not designed to carry load or impact. Think of images of carbon bike frame that snap. So carbon bars snapping off at the stem clamp hmmmm. No that I am mistrusting of carbon bars (which I use) would be useful to get some failure analysis of these incidents, so you can at least be aware of vulnerabilities. Edited November 30, 2010 by kosmonooit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headshot Posted November 30, 2010 Share i would imagine those who have snapped ali bars were running really light thin wall ones? My old Ritchey comp risers weere so thick I doubt they'd ever break - they didnt in 5 years anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Li Mu Bai Posted November 30, 2010 Share Watching the latest Aussie program Cycling Central (28-11-2010) last night, they covered the Cape to Cape MTB event in Western Auz - there were two instances of the one side of handle bars breaking clean off. No technical details where forth coming I can only assume carbon bars. First time I have heard about that happening. Anyone had that experience or seen it happen and/or can share more details? Cheers. Crash hard enough / often enough and anything will break Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ti-ny Posted November 30, 2010 Share Carbon MTB Bar snapped nowhere near any clamp on my 3rd ride with it. Seweweekspoort in 2006 at 34km/h, nothing on my bike will ever be carbon again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shebeen Posted November 30, 2010 Share http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_V54WWNeyyp4/TDtbN8Bi12I/AAAAAAAACbo/FPBlU2uR3b0/s1600/IMG00204-20100630-1908.jpg http://www.bustedcarbon.com/ Edited November 30, 2010 by SteveCT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted November 30, 2010 Share 24H of Wiesenhof and seeing the end result to William Keith whose bars snapped was not a pleasant sight ... looked like he had been dragged over a grater! Good man he is, he sent his wife to get a new handle bar from his shop and was back on the bike in very little time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kosmonooit Posted November 30, 2010 Share Okay I can understand metal bars breaking because of metal fatigue, but the thing with carbon is that it doesn't fatigue, it can flex without loss of integrity (ie Scalpel flexible carbon chain stays)but with metals the flexing can effect the crystalline molecular matrix that holds it together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodTi Posted November 30, 2010 Share So should'nt we all just apply a few layers of Duct tape to all of our bars - coz if it can hold together a plane [google: duct tape airplane alaska], then maybe it might buy you a few seconds of time, in order to take a moment and fully appreciate the epic amount of pain that is shortly to befall you... Edited November 30, 2010 by RodTi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kosmonooit Posted November 30, 2010 Share Moenie jok nie! I in fact do pack a small roll of duct tape in emergency kit, its damn handy stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldron Posted November 30, 2010 Share Okay I can understand metal bars breaking because of metal fatigue, but the thing with carbon is that it doesn't fatigue, it can flex without loss of integrity (ie Scalpel flexible carbon chain stays)but with metals the flexing can effect the crystalline molecular matrix that holds it together. Bear in mind you get elastic and plastic deformation. If the load is low enough (in the elastic deformation zone) then the fatigue life is infinite. It's only when you head into the plastic deformation zone that fatigue life becomes measurable. Carbon fibre also has a fatigue life - mathematically superior to aluminium but in ye olde real world the fatigue life is more dependant on manufacturing process than on the textbook properties of metals/composites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kosmonooit Posted November 30, 2010 Share Okay thanks that makes sense. I understand there are also different properties between Al Alloys and Carbon it they way they handle sudden loads - perhaps there is more give/elasticity with metals, whereas with Carbon material the molecular bonds snap under extreme loads (?) Edited November 30, 2010 by kosmonooit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now