bars - how light is too light?

larry english said:

aluminum bars, butted 6061 alloy.

how light would be
way too light for safety,
about right,
and unnecessarily strong?

What sort of bike? 150g used to be a kind of watershed for straight MTB
bars; anything below this weight and they had better be expensive.

Zog The Undeniable said:

larry english said:

aluminum bars, butted 6061 alloy.

how light would be
way too light for safety,
about right,
and unnecessarily strong?

What sort of bike? 150g used to be a kind of watershed for straight MTB
bars; anything below this weight and they had better be expensive.

Strange point of view. If they are so light that they will break in the
first fall, then they better be expensive? Price does not necessarily
correlate to strength. The only correlation there would be material and
mass. It does seem clear that risking bar failure for a few grams is
foolhardy.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | ...nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or
_`\(,_ | property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person
(_)/ (_) | within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. --
Fourteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution.

the only thing you can say with certainty, is that the lighter, the more
risk and the need to change more frequently.

there's not hard rule here - individual circumstances, stem clamps,
rider style, etc. etc. make this very imprecise.

in principle, the new oversize aluminum and carbon bars should both
exhibit good fatigue resistance.

larry english said:

aluminum bars, butted 6061 alloy.

how light would be
way too light for safety,
about right,
and unnecessarily strong?

wle.

On Sun, 02 May 2004 19:10:54 -0000, w l e @ h o t m a i l . c o m

(larry english) said:

aluminum bars, butted 6061 alloy.

how light would be
way too light for safety,
about right,
and unnecessarily strong?

wle.

How light are you?
How high do you jump?
How much fork travel do you have?
Are they straights or risers?
Standard or oversized?
How well is your stem clamp designed?
Are you neat and precise, or clumsy?
All bars are eventually breakable; how often is acceptable to you?
How long is your replacement cycle?

Depending on your answers to these questions, the lightest acceptably
safe bar could be anywhere from <150g to >400g.

Kinky Cowboy*

*Batteries not included
May contain traces of nuts
Your milage may vary

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 02 May 2004 19:10:54 -0000, w l e @ h o t m a i l . c o m

(larry english) said:

aluminum bars, butted 6061 alloy.

how light would be
way too light for safety,
about right,
and unnecessarily strong?

wle.

How light are you?

145 lbs

Quoted message said:

How high do you jump?

road bike, never

Quoted message said:

How much fork travel do you have?
Are they straights or risers?
Standard or oversized?

Quoted message said:

How well is your stem clamp designed?

plain road bike quill, threadless on another bike.

Quoted message said:

Are you neat and precise, or clumsy?
All bars are eventually breakable; how often is acceptable to you?

never

Quoted message said:

How long is your replacement cycle?

depends on perceived safety

wle.

wle@H_O_T_M_A_I_L.com (wle) said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 02 May 2004 19:10:54 -0000, w l e @ h o t m a i l . c o m

(larry english) said:

aluminum bars, butted 6061 alloy.

All bars are eventually breakable; how often is acceptable to you?

never
wle.

In that case, you need steel bars, they're going to weigh about 500g,
and make sure you protect them entirely from corrosion. Then avoid all
crashes and other overloads, and you'll be dead before they break.
Probably from boredom.

Kinky Cowboy*

*Batteries not included
May contain traces of nuts
Your milage may vary

larry english said:

aluminum bars, butted 6061 alloy.

how light would be
way too light for safety,
about right,
and unnecessarily strong?

If you worry about whether they're too light, then they're too light.

Nick

David L. Johnson said:

Strange point of view. If they are so light that they will break in the
first fall, then they better be expensive? Price does not necessarily
correlate to strength. The only correlation there would be material and
mass. It does seem clear that risking bar failure for a few grams is
foolhardy.

The theory is that more money gets you stronger metal and butting.
Cheap sub-150g bars were usually not up to the job at all. Yes, there
is expensive bad stuff, but there isn't much cheap good stuff ;-)

Kinky Cowboy said:

In that case, you need steel bars, they're going to weigh about 500g,
and make sure you protect them entirely from corrosion. Then avoid all
crashes and other overloads, and you'll be dead before they break.
Probably from boredom.

They're also quite expensive for the good ones, because they're sold to
a small market of track sprinters. Anatomic bends are rare.

wle-<< how light would be
way too light for safety,
about right,
and unnecessarily strong? >><BR><BR>

'Unnecessarily strong'???

Geeezzaz, really 'heavy' aluminum handlebars 'may' be 100 grams heavier than a
light set..about the weight of a Powerbar..Don't trifle with anything where
your body touches...like Stems, hbars, pedal spindles, seatposts...breaking
same can REALLY hurt.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Nick Payne <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

larry english said:

aluminum bars, butted 6061 alloy.

how light would be
way too light for safety,
about right,
and unnecessarily strong?

If you worry about whether they're too light, then they're too light.

Nick

ok so then no one knows.

i just saw a bunch of comments on 'stupid-light' components, i just
thought someone would have an opinion.

usually opinions are a dime a dozen.

wle.

<w l e @ h o t m a i l . c o m (larry english)> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

aluminum bars, butted 6061 alloy.

how light would be
way too light for safety,
about right,
and unnecessarily strong?

wle.

199.9378 grams.

<w l e @ h o t m a i l . c o m (larry english)> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

aluminum bars, butted 6061 alloy.

how light would be
way too light for safety,
about right,
and unnecessarily strong?

wle.

199.9378 grams.

wle-<< ok so then no one knows.

i just saw a bunch of comments on 'stupid-light' components, i just
thought someone would have an opinion.

usually opinions are a dime a dozen. >><BR><BR>

Then use your head and choose carefully. Examine the 'goods and others' of each
handlebar and the weight savings...Don't delude yourself that saving a few
grams on a handlebar will make you faster!!!

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

each

Quoted message said:

handlebar and the weight savings...Don't delude yourself that saving a few
grams on a handlebar will make you faster!!!

that;s not the situation.

the situation is, i have 2 road bikes,

naturally they have handlebars.

the question is, when to replace?

one is new, i know how its history.
it has bars that say, 275 grams.
6500 miles or so, 2 years riding.
they seem fine.

the other one has winpista aluminum bars.
not sure how old they are.
i have been riding it a year.
2500 or so miles.
don;t know the weight.

so, when to replace and how to inspect?

someone will say, well if you have any doubts.
but that is silly.
i don;t have any doubts.
on the other hand with no way to really test or inspect them,
there is no real way to either trust them OR doubt them.

so, either replace every month, or don;t worry til they break off?

i mean, there are some serious conflicts in the advice given so far.

wle.