Carbon handlebars - indentations from stem clamp

[Wookski]

The bars are f&$ked. Carbon bars are fine with assembly paste torqued correctly (I.e tight enough to prevent slipping). Anywhere near 5nm is ridiculous.

Do you have something to back that up or is your comment that “5 nm is ridiculous” baseless?

My comment is only based on personal experience with owning sub 170g bars, some as low as 140g in combination with very lightweight stems like Extralite Hyperstem. But hey, if personal experience doesn’t matter just have a read of the Schmolke handlebar install instructions (they invented the carbon handlebar) https://www.schmolke-carbon.com/wp-cont ... -DE-EN.pdf

[sennder]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I had actually confirmed the 5Nm figure for this very carbon bar with Trek directly. The technician had also said that he didn't use fiber grip on those bars, but that I could use it at my discretion.

I took my bars to the tech in my university's machine shop. He has a lot of experience working with carbon fiber and works on bikes as well. He inspected bars and said that they were perfectly safe to use. For my own satisfaction though, I'm going to try to get a replacement from Trek.

[nickf]

I had a set of control tech bars that did that. They were fine for years. Sitting in storage now and I'll use them again one day.

[Bigger Gear]

I'm not sure exactly how Trek finishes these bars but I had a set of Race XXX Lite bars from a few years ago that had marks from an alloy stem (Race X Lite). The bars had a reasonably heavy clear coat over the graphics in the 31.8 section and the stem was damaging the clear coat, not the carbon itself.

[Jengaback]

I had the same thing happen with my 3T Ergonova Team. I've since sanded the bar down as the red didn't match my bike (ikr nee naw fashion police) and the carbon itself is totally fine. It was just the thick paint that had squidged

[Miller]

I've used a variety of carbon bars with never any issues, I haven't seen dents as deep as that though. I love carbon bars, the shaping is more intricate than alloy, they're warm to touch, and lighter to boot. Handlebars are an excellent way to use carbon.

[guyc]

They’re fine. Junking carbon bars for that would be nuts.

[sennder]

Quick update. Just got a response from Trek. The technician said that it's normal for the stem face plate to imprint into the clear coat of the bars but the marks on my bars are relatively deeper than usual. They are going to replace my bars as a precaution.

Once again, I appreciate all the responses.

[Bigger Gear]

Good on Trek for replacing your bars. Better safe than sorry, both for you and them!

[TonyM]

Thanks for the update!

Yepp better safe than sorry!

[sennder]

Another small update: I took the bars to a local trek dealer to initiate the warranty process as instructed by the Trek rep since Trek doesn't do it themselves. The dealer informed me that they charge $25 for warranty on Bontrager parts unless purchased at their store. I checked with another store and got the same response. Basically, because I bought the bars directly from trekbikes.com, I have to pay $25 for a warranty replacement.

I called up Trek and was connected to the person who was handling my ticket. After explaining my issue to them, they offered to let me ship the bars to them at my cost. I said that it was unacceptable to be penalized for purchasing a part directly from trek instead of through a dealer. After that, they sent me a prepaid mailing label to send the bars in for a replacement.

tl;dr: trek dealer wanted to charge $25 for warranty since bars were not purchased at their store. Trek eventually agreed to let me ship the bars to them directly at their cost.

--Sennder

[morganb]

That's pretty standard policy at most shops. It's labor for the shop for no benefit to them. One of the shops I used to work at didn't have that policy initially but had to implement it because people were constantly bringing in things they bought on eBay to warranty.

[alcatraz]

Nice work... How about putting it up for sale and trying to score an integrated xxx. Even the china copies work well if you don't weigh twice as much as an average chinese

/a

[sennder]

I understand shops charging for warranty since it involves work on their but that basically means that any warranty claims on bontrager products purchased directly from Trek come with a $25 charge. I do appreciate Trek's support going above and beyond to resolve the issue, though.

As for the xxx integrated bars, I was very eager to get a pair from the "factory overstock" stock. It was even down to $200 on a retailer's website a couple of weeks ago, which is just over what I paid for these xxx bars. Sadly, it was one size too large for me (420/100 instead of 400/90). Amazing deal, though.

[sennder]

Try it with carbon paste will be fine.

I have the bars setup with carbon paste now. Working great without any issues!

--Sennder