eBay Chinese carbon risers - $21 for ~150g - worth it?

[WesCarroll]

I'm looking at some risers on eBay. They'd be used for a non-mountain application (no big drops or bumps)

In terms of grams per dollar - and factoring in safety - would you buy these bars?

[Jaker]

I bought 2 of these in 620mm from 2 different ebay vendors. One came in at 140g and the other at 130. The 140mm one had some visible flaws in the clearcoat and what appeared to be some misalignments of the carbon fabric. This may have been purely cosmetic.

I decided to do some destructive testing on the heavier one. After 2 of us, both in the 170-180 lb range hung from the ends of the bar with the center portion supported on a bench and did some bouncing to see if we could break it, it survived. There were some cracking noises but the bar still "felt" fine. We then inserted one side of the bar through a hole in a large metal frame, but the hole was only large enough to allow insertion to a point about 30-40mm from where the stem would clamp on. We then pulled hard on the opposite side and succeeded in making the bar fail at the point where it entered the hole. The hole had a somewhat sharp edge so this was not indicative of an actual riding type failure, but it convinced me that the other bar will be perfectly fine for my riding purposes.

Nothing scientific here whatsoever about my testing, so proceed at your own risk.

[WesCarroll]

I bought 2 of these in 620mm from 2 different ebay vendors. One came in at 140g and the other at 130. The 140mm one had some visible flaws in the clearcoat and what appeared to be some misalignments of the carbon fabric. This may have been purely cosmetic.

I decided to do some destructive testing on the heavier one. After 2 of us, both in the 170-180 lb range hung from the ends of the bar with the center portion supported on a bench and did some bouncing to see if we could break it, it survived. There were some cracking noises but the bar still "felt" fine. We then inserted one side of the bar through a hole in a large metal frame, but the hole was only large enough to allow insertion to a point about 30-40mm from where the stem would clamp on. We then pulled hard on the opposite side and succeeded in making the bar fail at the point where it entered the hole. The hole had a somewhat sharp edge so this was not indicative of an actual riding type failure, but it convinced me that the other bar will be perfectly fine for my riding purposes.

Nothing scientific here whatsoever about my testing, so proceed at your own risk.

That's awesome. Thanks for the detail. Exactly what I was wondering about. Risk and sample size n=1 understood

Would you be more wary of cutting cheap Chinese carbon like this vs. a name brand bar?

[DanW]

For me, it always comes back to "if you can't be sure of the quality why take the risk?"

[WesCarroll]

I bought 2 of these in 620mm from 2 different ebay vendors. One came in at 140g and the other at 130. The 140mm one had some visible flaws in the clearcoat and what appeared to be some misalignments of the carbon fabric. This may have been purely cosmetic.

I decided to do some destructive testing on the heavier one. After 2 of us, both in the 170-180 lb range hung from the ends of the bar with the center portion supported on a bench and did some bouncing to see if we could break it, it survived. There were some cracking noises but the bar still "felt" fine. We then inserted one side of the bar through a hole in a large metal frame, but the hole was only large enough to allow insertion to a point about 30-40mm from where the stem would clamp on. We then pulled hard on the opposite side and succeeded in making the bar fail at the point where it entered the hole. The hole had a somewhat sharp edge so this was not indicative of an actual riding type failure, but it convinced me that the other bar will be perfectly fine for my riding purposes.

Nothing scientific here whatsoever about my testing, so proceed at your own risk.

Okay, so the bars just arrived and if I'm not mistaken they are ****ed up. They are 18mm external diameter. Unless I'm ignorant of some new bar clamp size of 18mm, these are junk.

Jaker, were your bars 22.2?

The bars (see pic above) list "620mm, 31.8, 18mm" -- I was assuming 18 was the rise.

These are probably going in the trash

[WesCarroll]

Correction, they're actually just ~21.0 mm external diameter.

Still not useable and unsafe with my brakes.

KCNC foam grips slide on way too easily

[mattyNorm]

Do destructive testing sample size n=2!!!!!! And yes 22.2 is the standard

[WesCarroll]

Do destructive testing sample size n=2!!!!!! And yes 22.2 is the standard

Haha. I would but I've got a fixie dude on CL who wants them for $5

[Jaker]

I haven't actually measured mine yet. Now you've got me scared.

**Edit** I measured mine. I get 21.8mm. I then measured my Easton EC90 bar, and the grip area is 21.9 and tapers up to 22.2 in the shifter/brake clamp area. I'm still going to try and use mine. My ESI Extra Chunky grips are super tight on my bars and though I haven't tried yet, I feel there's enough clamp capacity to make up the .4mm (.016") difference in diameter.

[WesCarroll]

Thanks Jaker. I've got some brake levers that aren't very forgiving. I've got their clamps touching metal-on-metal before it's tight enough to be useable. I guess it depends on the lever

I'm going to order another set, one I think is a different manufacturer, in a couple of weeks. I'll update the thread. I've also got a request on eBay to the manufacturer for a replacement, but mailing these back to China would be ridiculous. If yours are 21.8, a replacement would probably have the same issue.

These bars also aren't close to circular. You'll get 21.2, then rotate and get 21.5, etc.

Someone else suggested that decent bars can taper towards the ends, but these Chinese carbon bars are too narrow even right up against the clamp area.