I am building up a “comfort bike” by updating an old comfortable classic lugged steel frame with modern 9 sp STI. I’ll use my Cervelo for tris and my aluminium TCR for faster group rides/hill climbs but I want this steel bike for centuries and other longer rides.
So far I’ve picked up a carbon fork, carbon seat post and titanium quill stem and am wondering about carbon drop bars. They’re quite expensive and since regular aluminium drop bars are wrapped in tape any ways, I’m wondering if you would really notice any further road dampenning with carbon bars.
Has anyone had expeience with carbon drop bars on your road bike?
I have Kestrel EMS Pro SL bars and they are more comfortable (and stiffer) than aluminum. Nothing dramatic but the first long ride my hands thought the ride was shorter than the rest of me did. I was only expecting to notice when I really focused on it (and thought about what I spent on them) so it was a pleasant surprise. bikeman.com has them for $162.
I used to have on my bike the Easton Carbon bars. Sweet, really comfortable, and ergonomically very well thought out. Definitely dampens road vibration. The reason I don’t use them now is that I switched them out for my aerobars.
I bought the cheaper Kestrel EMS pro bar (that can be used with aerobars), and they rock. I would say that they’re just as stiff as aluminium, and they damp really well for my garage-built shorties I have built (look, ma! No armrests!!!). Mine weigh in the neighbourhood of 200 gr. I would not recommend the ones that are not for aerobars, but I like the security of a bar I can mount aerobars onto, even if I wre not to mount the shorties. That’s just me.
Another thing- they are much stiffer than the aluminium bars that are close to their weight (in my own experience- I have not tried the 31.8mm bars, however), and for a measly 30 grams less, the extra money for the lighter bars (the Pro SL) is not justifyable. You can sometimes get the regular EMS bars quite cheap (in comparison to MSRP).
I have the Easton carbon bars on one of my bikes. I like them, mainly because of the shape of the bars. I suspect they dampen the ride, who knows. The only problem is due to the unique shape of the bars, once you start to like them you find yourself wanting to have them on all your bikes with drop bars. I do find them stiff, however, I can’t tell if they are stiffer than an aluminum bar. It did take some time to get used to decending at 50+mph on “carbon” bars though, but that was a mental thing with me.
I have been hearing of people replacing them after a year as annaul maintenance, and if this is required, it would make them harder to justify financially for me.
You may as well get them otherwise you will always wish you did. They won’t make your bike any worse, might even make it better.