I got my HED bars today, but I’m not sure how to install the carbon extensions. I see they fit into the bracket, but which end goes into the bracket? Does anyone know? I’m assuming that the longish straight sectioned end goes into the bracket. Also, these are a bit on the longish side for my forearms, so I’d like to cut off one inch of each one. Any problem with that?
Since these are $423 bars, I don’t want to screw up the installation. Any other tips you guys can think of? The bars look really sweet by the way.
yes, the long carbon end goes into the bracket. The aluminum end is for the shifters. Go ahead and cut it, but make sure you wrap the part you cut with some duct or electrical tape before you cut it so that the tube doesn’t splinter.
Ok. Great tip. I have some duct tape handy for the job. I’ll cut them up tomorrow a.m. Hope everything goes well. I ride long on Sunday and LP is July 24. Oh, I have the all carbon extensions and mine don’t have any aluminum in either end. Are there inserts I should have for those?
Are you going to use bar-end shifters?? if so, those are the inserts… If not, I think the end caps that come with bar tape will work. I am not too sure. Try your LBS. I know vision tech bars come with cool plugs that work great.
Ok. I think, based upon a visual inspection, that the Shimano 10 speed bar end shifters will simply insert into the carbon ends. I’ll give that a try tomorrow. May have to ride the Computrainer indoors on Sunday if that doesn’t work. LOL, I’ve become mr home mech.
Hmmmm…and looking at these carbon extensions I’d say they don’t have the same quality of finish as the rest of the kit. Kind of sloppy, with loose carbon inside and imperfect diameters at the connecting end. They must be in a hurry to get these out.
well, when they make carbon, it’s just glass fiber weave material soaked in resin, then it is formed and baked in an oven… it’s not really complicated. What worries me is when there are bubbles in the resin. Those are potential breaking points. I had the same issue with the clip lite arm rests. I broke mine in 2 months. And I am only 140lbs. I ended up getting the Profile F-19 arm-rests. I would recommend that change. They should bolt right on. At least with the clip lite bars. They are 100% more comfortable than the flimsy CF/mouse pad arm rests they include. However, they raise you a .5-1cm because of the padding.
your extensions should have a black anodized aluminum insert bonded to the end with the double upturn. If you have S-bends maybe they’ve changed it but I’m pretty sure you should still have an aluminum insert. Unless you are talking about the cliplites, don’t think my cliplites had the aluminum insert, only my integrated one-piece bars. Be careful putting the bar-end into the carbon extension if there isn’t an insert, overtightening the expander bolt that holds the bar end in might split the carbon, not sure at all on this but I’d err on the safe side.
When cutting, try not to breathe the dust as much as possible and use as fine a blade as you can find. Remember to measure twice before cutting. You have about 1/4 inch of play once you cut them so you’ll be fine.
That’s what I thought about the aluminum end. If they changed it, it must be for lowering the cost of making the extensions. If they are indeed pure carbon, I would be very careful when you tighten the expander bolt. If you tape over the section you cut, that should hold a lot of the carbon dust in.
Ok. I think I’d better email HED first thing in the a.m. because these extensions do not have aluminum inserts. Also, I’m not Mr. Tiny. (I’m not huge anymore either now that I’ve quit powerlifting.) I’m 6’, 162 lbs right now, so I wouldn’t want these suckers to break on the long downhill at Lake Placid going 50 mph! Good grief. Now you have me worried.
I just double checked the box and all the packing. No aluminum inserts.
All of the extensions should be universal. They are not packed with the Integrated kits or the Clip-Lite kits. They do this so you can opt for alum, carb, straight, or S-bends. Just give Hed a call tomorrow, or try emailing them. I doubt they are their right now though. As far as which end to put in. I would put the “longer” end in first.
I have the clip-lites, and as I said, the extensions are meant for either kit. I have the all-aluminum s-bend extensions.
I think I will call them. That is a better idea than email. They are pretty good to deal with as I recall. I’d better get this straight before I install them. I hope the fellow above didn’t mis-install his.
If you have the S-bend extensions…there is NO…I REPEAT…NO aluminum inserts.
The originals had an aluminum end on the upturn where your shifters insert, and there were some loose aluminum stiffeners that went into the end that inserted into the base bar…this was supposedly insurance against the extensions breaking at the base bar insertion point. They MAY have changed this since I got mine when they first came out.
And those stiffeners ARE NOT NEEDED for the s-bends.
YES, the S-BEND extensions are not of the same quality finish as the base bar…NO MATTER…they are fine, and work well.
Any other questions about the Hed bars, I can probably help.
One thing…If you are riding IM types of distance on these, you’ll probably find that the original armrest pads are not adequate…no big deal…order a set of Profile Venturi pads (NOT the F-19 pads)…the Venturi pads are round, and come with both sides of the velcro so you can remove them when needed…much nicer pads, and MUCH, MUCH more comfortable.
