Carbon Handle Bar and stem for my Trek Madone 5.2?, I recently purchased the bike (06 model) with the stock build (ultegra + alloy stem & handle bar) and wonder if upgrading to Carbon stem and handle bar is worth the money (aprox. $400 for Bontrager). Can somebody tell me if the difference will be noticeable?, how will I notice this? is it in ride comfort, etc…??
Trying to make up my mind of parting with this hard earned cash.
For me, it’s not worth it, especially the stem. Why would you want to upgrade the bar stem? Different size? Or just hoping for something more comfortable/lighter?
I guess it all depends on the person, but I have aluminum bars/stems on every bike I own.
People who are far more knowledgable about this than I am, including a majority of Pro road races seem to prefer alu bar and stem set ups. Not sure why this is, but it is what it is. The cost for a carbon bar and stem seems to be very steep relative to what gains that you may experience.
For the record, I use a Ritchey Alu bar( Bio Max II) and stem!
Unless you are looking to shed some grams witht a new stem/bar I don’t think that there is a real reason to change them out. I suppose that there coudl be some dampening in the CF bars, but I think that a little less pressure in the tire or a different tire would have more of an impact.
On the other hand if you have $400 burnign a hole in your pocket and you really like CF stems and bars, go for it!
I am not really worried in shaving a few grams of the weight, I was more under the impression that upgrading these components to carbon would benefit the ride quality. e.g less vibration and smoother feel, but from what I read so far it seems like the benefit is not really there, so money not well spent?
You won’t notice a difference. A thicker bar tape will dampen more vibration than switching to carbon.
Much like Ceramic Bearings this is a cost-benefit question. Are carbon bars more confortable than stock Aluminum ones? Yes, after trying absolutely.
Are they like holding pillows in your hands and you cannot feel the road noise? No, but they do take the high frequency vibration sting out of the road.
If you are looking at a cost saving idea, why not buy the Bontrager buzz-kill dampeners for the bar plug? That’ll do a lot for $25.
Bob