Corroded handlebars: what to do?

Quoted message said:

I pulled the tape off my handlebars tonight and found that the handlebars
were covered in white aluminum oxide. I've only seen this much oxidation in
untreated aluminum parts that spent too much time underwater. The oxide was
a few mm thick in spots, and the handlebar was lumpy. I'm surprised I
hadn't noticed the lumps before.

Quoted message said:

Do I continue to use the handlebars? I know you can't really answer this
without seeing them, so that's really just a rhetorical question. I think
they'll be OK since the high stress area near the stem is just fine. But
if you have experience to tha contrary, I'm willing to listen.

Equipment details: cheap unmarked faux cork handlebar tape, Performance
Ergo SL handlebars of unknown vintage (probably mid-90's).

Forget the oxidation issue; if the bars are from the mid-90s (probably?),
and have have a fair amount of use, get rid of them. Life's too short to
risk it on a handlebar that could break (and handlebars most definitely *do*
break from time to time). Especially an older handlebar with an "SL"
(presumably "superlight"😉 designation. If you're not too picky about
handlebars, you can get some pretty inexpensive "take offs" from your local
bike shop.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"dvt" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I pulled the tape off my handlebars tonight and found that the handlebars
were covered in white aluminum oxide. I've only seen this much oxidation in
untreated aluminum parts that spent too much time underwater. The oxide was
a few mm thick in spots, and the handlebar was lumpy. I'm surprised I
hadn't noticed the lumps before.

The oxidation only occured where the handlebar tape contacted the bars.
The rest was clean. I suppose the handlebar tape trapped water and sweat
next to the bars, giving it plenty of time to catalyze the oxidation. The
same theory was posted to an hpv list here:

http://www.ihpva.org/mailing_lists/hpv/archive/1997q3/v04.n1150

Now for the questions... how do I remove the oxide? I buffed it a bit with
fine sandpaper, and that seems to remove the powder. But I'm sure it just
exposes more aluminum to oxidize.

How do I prevent this in the future? The local company that hard anodizes
has a minimum order, and that was $75 at last check. Better to get a new
handlebar, I think.

Do I continue to use the handlebars? I know you can't really answer this
without seeing them, so that's really just a rhetorical question. I think
they'll be OK since the high stress area near the stem is just fine. But
if you have experience to tha contrary, I'm willing to listen.

Equipment details: cheap unmarked faux cork handlebar tape, Performance
Ergo SL handlebars of unknown vintage (probably mid-90's).

Thanks for the help.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Forget the oxidation issue; if the bars are from the mid-90s (probably?),
and have have a fair amount of use, get rid of them. Life's too short to
risk it on a handlebar that could break (and handlebars most definitely *do*
break from time to time). Especially an older handlebar with an "SL"
(presumably "superlight"😉 designation. If you're not too picky about
handlebars, you can get some pretty inexpensive "take offs" from your local
bike shop.

Thanks for the answer, Mike. I doubt that the Performance name brand is
on anything that's "superlight." 🙂 I don't know much about the
handlebars, though; they came on a used bike I bought a few years back,
and I've been using them since.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

I ride 70's and 80's bars and the tube walls are 3-4mm thick. They
are thick thick thick, and weigh 300 grams at 38 cm! If your bars are
similar you have nothing to worry about. If you have modern bars,
closer to 200gm than 300gm, i'd get rid of them and get another set of
aluminum bars !! Don't mess with carbon !!

Oxidation is usually self-limiting with aluminum, so as long as the
bars are reasonably thick i wouldn't worry about it. In the 1970's
about half the bars made were UN-anodized and many are still going
strong! So handlebars needn't be anodized to be durable.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Donald Gillies said:

Oxidation is usually self-limiting with aluminum,

This may be true. On the other hand, I've seen aluminum with 2-4 mm pits
after days and weeks of continuous exposure to water. That may be
galvanic corrosion rather than oxidation. But it's certainly possible
for aluminum in a wet environment to corrode to the point of weakening.

The handlebars in question don't have noticeable pits when the powder is
removed. So I don't *think* they're seriously weakened.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

dvt said:

I pulled the tape off my handlebars tonight and found that the
handlebars were covered in white aluminum oxide. I've only seen this
much oxidation in untreated aluminum parts that spent too much time
underwater. The oxide was a few mm thick in spots, and the handlebar was
lumpy. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed the lumps before.

The oxidation only occured where the handlebar tape contacted the bars.
The rest was clean. I suppose the handlebar tape trapped water and sweat
next to the bars, giving it plenty of time to catalyze the oxidation.
The same theory was posted to an hpv list here:

http://www.ihpva.org/mailing_lists/hpv/archive/1997q3/v04.n1150

Now for the questions... how do I remove the oxide? I buffed it a bit
with fine sandpaper, and that seems to remove the powder. But I'm sure
it just exposes more aluminum to oxidize.

How do I prevent this in the future? The local company that hard
anodizes has a minimum order, and that was $75 at last check. Better to
get a new handlebar, I think.

Do I continue to use the handlebars? I know you can't really answer this
without seeing them, so that's really just a rhetorical question. I
think they'll be OK since the high stress area near the stem is just
fine. But if you have experience to tha contrary, I'm willing to listen.

Equipment details: cheap unmarked faux cork handlebar tape, Performance
Ergo SL handlebars of unknown vintage (probably mid-90's).

Thanks for the help.

I found similar corrosion under the tape on an older set of handlebars.
I decided to junk them just to be safe. I think the corrosion is
accelerated by salt from sweat. I noticed that sections of the bar that
had plastic tape (to hold down cable housings) were not corroded, so I
suppose an easy fix would be to wrap the bare bars with electrical tape
before wrapping with bar tape.

I ride 70's and 80's bars and the tube walls are 3-4mm thick. They

Quoted message said:

are thick thick thick, and weigh 300 grams at 38 cm! If your bars are
similar you have nothing to worry about. If you have modern bars,
closer to 200gm than 300gm, i'd get rid of them and get another set of
aluminum bars !! Don't mess with carbon !!

And I'm thinkin' how many "3-4mm thick" Belleri handlebars I saw break, from
back-in-the-day. Even an occasional 3TTT and Cinelli tanker. Not worth the
risk. You can buy tough-as-nails road bars for not much money these days. A
pair of bars every 10 years isn't going to break the bank, but a failed bar
could quite likely break your back.

On the other hand, I may be going after the wrong item (as far as things
that ought to be replaced more often). I've had two stem failures myself,
but no bar failures. One was a Mavic, one an Ibis Ti. But from what we see
at the shop, bar failures are far more common.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

I ride 70's and 80's bars and the tube walls are 3-4mm thick. They

Quoted message said:

are thick thick thick, and weigh 300 grams at 38 cm! If your bars are
similar you have nothing to worry about. If you have modern bars,
closer to 200gm than 300gm, i'd get rid of them and get another set of
aluminum bars !! Don't mess with carbon !!

Quoted message said:

And I'm thinkin' how many "3-4mm thick" Belleri handlebars I saw break, from
back-in-the-day. Even an occasional 3TTT and Cinelli tanker. Not worth the
risk. You can buy tough-as-nails road bars for not much money these days. A
pair of bars every 10 years isn't going to break the bank, but a failed bar
could quite likely break your back.

I don't disagree that you saw a lot of failures, especially in the
first bars mentionedf. In fact, there was a big bunch of bad bars
from france, some were AVA, others might be Belleri. Its altogether
possible that they were made under contract at the same factory.

The problem with the french bars was not publically diagnosed but they
were known to warn their users by sprouting hairline cracks a few
weeks or months before they broke, near the stem area. Thanx your
warning about Belleri bars I'll check my trek 500 later today.

It probably also matters how you use the bars. I don't do track
sprinting and I seldom use the drops. I use narrow bars (38) so the
moment arm at the stem is less. I don't overstretch myself with a
long stem. I put probably less load on my bars than most road bike
users.

It also matters how you mount the bars. There were many vintage
sizes, including 25.4, 25.8, 26.0, 26.4, etc. Using the wrong stem or
overtightening or over-scratching during installation can harm
handlebars.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

I ride 70's and 80's bars and the tube walls are 3-4mm thick. They

Quoted message said:

are thick thick thick, and weigh 300 grams at 38 cm! If your bars

are

Quoted message said:

similar you have nothing to worry about. If you have modern bars,
closer to 200gm than 300gm, i'd get rid of them and get another set

of

Quoted message said:

aluminum bars !! Don't mess with carbon !!

Quoted message said:

And I'm thinkin' how many "3-4mm thick" Belleri handlebars I saw break, from
back-in-the-day. Even an occasional 3TTT and Cinelli tanker. Not worth the
risk. You can buy tough-as-nails road bars for not much money these days. A
pair of bars every 10 years isn't going to break the bank, but a failed bar
could quite likely break your back.

I don't disagree that you saw a lot of failures, especially in the
first bars mentioned. In fact, there was a big bunch of bad bars
from france, some were AVA, others might be Belleri. Its altogether
possible that they were made under contract at the same factory.

The problem with the french bars was not publically diagnosed but they
were known to warn their users by sprouting hairline cracks a few
weeks or months before they broke, near the stem area. Thanx for your
Belleri warning I'll check my trek 500 later today.

It probably also matters how you use the bars. I don't do track
sprinting and I seldom use the drops. I use narrow bars (38) so the
moment arm at the stem is less. I don't overstretch myself with a
long stem. I put probably less load on my bars than most road bike
users.

It also matters how you mount the bars. There were many vintage
sizes, including 25.4, 25.8, 26.0, 26.4, etc. Using the wrong stem or
overtightening or over-scratching during installation can harm
handlebars.

Polishing un-anodized bars can actually help to prolong their life.
stress cracks can only grow where there are surface faults to begin
with. This is why scratches during installation are bad. By
polishing out cracks before they grow very much, you can sometimes fix
a problem before there are consequences.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

dvt said:

I pulled the tape off my handlebars tonight and found that the
handlebars were covered in white aluminum oxide. I've only seen this
much oxidation in untreated aluminum parts that spent too much time
underwater. The oxide was a few mm thick in spots, and the handlebar
was lumpy. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed the lumps before.

The oxidation only occured where the handlebar tape contacted the
bars. The rest was clean. I suppose the handlebar tape trapped water
and sweat next to the bars, giving it plenty of time to catalyze the
oxidation. The same theory was posted to an hpv list here:

http://www.ihpva.org/mailing_lists/hpv/archive/1997q3/v04.n1150

Now for the questions... how do I remove the oxide? I buffed it a bit
with fine sandpaper, and that seems to remove the powder. But I'm sure
it just exposes more aluminum to oxidize.

How do I prevent this in the future? The local company that hard
anodizes has a minimum order, and that was $75 at last check. Better
to get a new handlebar, I think.

Do I continue to use the handlebars? I know you can't really answer
this without seeing them, so that's really just a rhetorical
question. I think they'll be OK since the high stress area near the
stem is just fine. But if you have experience to tha contrary, I'm
willing to listen.
Equipment details: cheap unmarked faux cork handlebar tape,
Performance Ergo SL handlebars of unknown vintage (probably mid-90's).

Thanks for the help.

An aside, but somewhat relevant: I've never seen corroded black handlebars.
Maybe that's because they've never gotten old enough since they've started
making black hbars, or maybe the paint prevents sweat from getting through.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Don states: "Don't mess with carbon !! "

What's wrong with carbon handlebars? Its my understanding if you
*never* crash or scratch the bars, that carbon is "as strong" if not
stronger than aluminum. Further, most carbon bars today are the
oversized 31+mm size and are pretty heavy duty.

The major disadvantage I see with carbon bars today is cost. These same
oversized carbon things cost in the $100, 150 and up range. Way to much
for me. Of course, chinese-made bars are now flooding the market so
prices should come down alot....

dvt said:

I pulled the tape off my handlebars tonight and found that the
handlebars were covered in white aluminum oxide. I've only seen this
much oxidation in untreated aluminum parts that spent too much time
underwater. The oxide was a few mm thick in spots, and the handlebar was
lumpy. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed the lumps before.

The oxidation only occured where the handlebar tape contacted the bars.
The rest was clean. I suppose the handlebar tape trapped water and sweat
next to the bars, giving it plenty of time to catalyze the oxidation.
The same theory was posted to an hpv list here:

http://www.ihpva.org/mailing_lists/hpv/archive/1997q3/v04.n1150

Now for the questions... how do I remove the oxide? I buffed it a bit
with fine sandpaper, and that seems to remove the powder. But I'm sure
it just exposes more aluminum to oxidize.

How do I prevent this in the future? The local company that hard
anodizes has a minimum order, and that was $75 at last check. Better to
get a new handlebar, I think.

Do I continue to use the handlebars? I know you can't really answer this
without seeing them, so that's really just a rhetorical question. I
think they'll be OK since the high stress area near the stem is just
fine. But if you have experience to tha contrary, I'm willing to listen.

Equipment details: cheap unmarked faux cork handlebar tape, Performance
Ergo SL handlebars of unknown vintage (probably mid-90's).

Thanks for the help.

replace them. the pitting caused by corrosion will be a stress riser
fatigue risk.

Do you have any idea what its like to crash because of carbon
handlebar failure ?? Have you ever seen somebody take even a minor
spill because their handlebars simply cracked?

There is stupid-light,

and then there is "way stupid light".

I have a friend described to me a novice rider and his injuries from
his SECOND crash due to CARBON HANDLEBAR FAILURE. In my book, that
puts carbon handlebars in the "way stupid light" category.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Thanks. I have never seen carbon bars fail. In fact, I have several
friends with carbon bars and it looks pretty sturdy. Then again, they
haven't crashed on their bar or dropped their bike that could cause
them to fail.

Now I have seen aluminum bars fail and man its ugly. So, I don't know
if this is share paranoid based on ONE INCIDENT or if this is
consistent for ALL carbon bars.

Personally, I ride aluminum bars. But my frameset is all carbon (Calfee
tetra-custom/kestrel ems fork). Its been crashed several times,
including personal injury to me, but the carbon has never ever failed.
Carbon bars, I think I will wait and see if that was an isolated
incident or if it becomes common.