Anyone know when they will be available? Or had one in their hands to see how stiff it is? Supposed to weigh 215g

I'd never use carbon bars, too risky. And before you all go and say Ullrich uses them, he no doubt changes his very regularly, but for us without that luxury, I'd go for safety. Same with stems, the ITM "The" stem, is deadly....and then people go and shave more of it....I'd stick with stronger, heavier components rather than risking things.

Yarr. I aggree with the stem comments pete.. known 3 riders with 'em.. all three cracked stems despite painful installation instructions. I think carbon bars will get better with time.. the one's above look pretty unusual.. I expect they would be mega comfortable. In terms of weight reduction you can shave perhaps 50 grams using carbon but I'd go for summat like the above if it was more forgiving in longer RR's. Same with my saddle.. San marco era Ti, 260 grams or near enough.. still great to ride on after 4 hours of chewing the bars.. seen dudes on stage 3 of a 5-day race with SLR's rding out of the saddle 'cos they're hurting so much!!

Can't afford carbon bars though, so it's all academic really!

doozer

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would manufacturers go with the risks of breaking bars?

Id say: Buy em!

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Has anyone actually seen carbon bars break? A lot of this sounds like hearsay. Aluminum bars are theoretically just as dangerous as carbon...except that alu bends before it breaks usually. However, Alu has a finite fatigue life when compared to that of carbon.

I have seen alu. bars break but never a carbon bar. I have been riding an EC90 bar for years with no problems. I do agree with the stem comment though. Everybody I talk to about "The Stem" says the same thing, stay away from it! But where talking about mag. there not alu. or carbon.

I'm with JTC. Use easton carbon ec90's Crashed and broke my arm. had the bar and fork ultrasounded - no cracks!

Be aware as far as I know only the kestrel carbon pro (NOT the SL) can take aero clip on's. used them after the crash so i could keep riding with a cast on.

I have ridden 4,000 miles on my ITM The Stem and never have had a problem and also use Carbon bars!!!

carbon bars are fine, as long as you check them regularly, just like with any other componentry.

i used to run an itm magnesium stem, but the faceplate bolts kept backing off. finally i gave up on it after the bolts backed off on a descent, almost causing me to crash with loosened handlebars

since then, i've been running the syntace f99 stem, which is excellent. much better design, marginally lighter than the mag stem, much cheaper, and it's made from aluminum. i run this in conjunction with my schmolke bars, which are the best, but unfortunately, some of the more expensive bars out there. if you can afford them, get them.

there is also an alloy stem sold by extralite, known as their road ul i believe. i do not recommend this stem. similar in weight to the mag stem and the syntace f99, i've seen two crack at the face place, and at the steerer tube. these things have been milled down to the point of stupidity in my opinion. extreme weight savings in this area of the bike are simply not worth the risk!

correct jim...
1 had a carbon stem that broke!
never again!

carbon stems... another material not suited for stem usage. add magnesium to that list also

I've used a crbon stem for about a season, a very long season should I say. Never had any problems. Super stiff and super strong. Not the lightest but still in there at about 128-135 depending on the size you get. I love it, Super stiff in really hard sprints and climbing. In fact I've noticed when climbing on the hoods that my bar flexes but the stem doesn't. And I weigh like 160 right now.

For the weight of 215g, you better go with the Zepp XL, also very stiff and alu