Leaving the weight issue out of it…are carbon bars more susceptible to damage?
Like the bike falling over with nobody on it?
How about going down on the road and you are on it?
Would aluminum be a better choice for these scenarios?
It is my understanding that because carbon doesn’t dent, damage to carbon is an all or nothing scenario. It is either cracked and unusable or it is undamaged. The problem lies in the fact that some cracks are very small sort of hairline fractures that might be overlooked when inspected. Aluminum bars on the other hand are susceptible to denting which can decrease their strength.
I have ridden on both carbon and aluminum aerobars, both integrated setups such as Oval Concepts as well as Clip-ons from many different manufacturers. I have never had a problem with carbon bars.
I’ll second that opinion. I’ve ridden the following bars:
Aluminum:
Profile Century (w/drops)
Scott DH
Scott RCO (w/drops)
Syntace C2 (w/bullhorn)
Syntace Streamliner (w/bullhorn)
Profile Jammer (w/drops)
Profile Jammer GT (w/drops)
Vision Tech Aeromax
Carbon bars…
Profile Carbon X
Hed Aerobar with both original and now s-bend extensions
In all of that, I’ve wrecked with the Scott RCOs, Vision Tech AeroMax, and the Profile Carbon X…the Vision Techs were the only pair that came out unusable, and that wreck was far less damaging to body and bike than the other two big wrecks. It was simply the way the bike landed that did in the bars…I think any would have done the same. I’ve also had several of the “falling bike” potential dings on all of them…I’ve never had that cause damage to the bars, even with the Heds when my 3 year old decided to help me “clean” my bike by taking it out of the stand.
To make a long story short…I think its a non-issue…except that IF it does happen…carbon is a heck of a lot more expensive to replace.