# Carbon Parts for Big Guy?



## mtb 4ever (Jun 14, 2008)

I am 240lbs. What is your opinion of me getting a carbon fiber seat post and handle bar? Am I asking for trouble? I ride a GF X-Caliber 29inch wheeled hard tail. 

Thanks for any thoughts on this topic.


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## donalson (Apr 13, 2004)

sure the proper answer is... depends on how you ride...


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## mtb 4ever (Jun 14, 2008)

XC singletrack. Will hammer rock gardens when they present themselves.No jumping more that 1 foot.


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## sandmangts (Feb 16, 2004)

Easton Monkeybar CNT's are excellent and very light. I am 210 and like to take an occasional jump or drop. They are actually stronger than most alloy bars. Seatposts on the other hand are not a good idea. Even the high quality easton ones break. Not worth it considering you can get a Thomson Masterpiece at close to the same weight and price and they are almost indestructable.


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## mtb 4ever (Jun 14, 2008)

Thanks for the input sandmangts. The reason I was considering a carbon seat post is that my GF X-Caliber frame cracked just below the quick realease at the top tube / seat tube junction. I made a post elsewhere and everyone wrote that I needed more flex on my seat post. They thought that the ridged alum. seat post beat the frame to death. I was just trying to replace the post so it does not happen again. But my whole theory could be wrong; I am assuming that carbon flexes. Does it? Or is it more stiff that aluminum?


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## Hadouken* (Nov 27, 2007)

If thats the case, you should look at getting a shock post. I know USE make a real good one (link - http://www.use1.com/products/shock_posts/xcr/index.php)


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## ImaKlyde (Sep 6, 2004)

I just (yesterday...) broke the Profile carbon seat post on my 'Cross bike while commutting. 

Easton carbon bars are strong as hell and IMHO bars (while they do break) are subject to less opportunities to break than seat posts.

Brock...


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## Joules (Oct 12, 2005)

I wouldn't put much stock in internet failure analysis. There are millions of hardtails with rigid seatposts that are still kicking. 

I wouldn't hesitate to recomend a carbon bar to anyone, as they are generally stronger than metal, but what are you wanting to get out of a carbon bar? The only real advantage is weight, does that matter to you?

post... I consider anything other than tomson a mistake. carbon can flex more or less, depends on what it was designed to do, but I'd be very surprised if fisher took your bike back, looked at it and told you that lack of post flex caused it to fail.


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

real life experiences......2 carbon fiber bar failures.....both now don't ride anymore because of the injuries and fear (other things too)....anyway for a few more grams I will ride aluminum.....if you over torque, get a scratch your carbon bar is done....carbon may be stronger but overall the aluminum bar will take more lickings


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## donalson (Apr 13, 2004)

anyone have thoughts on ti bars?... a bike i'm looking at buying has one... haven't read much... but logic tells me it would flex more then a similar steel bar (perhaps dampen vibes like carbon?) and still weigh similar to alu? 

thoughts?


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## mtb 4ever (Jun 14, 2008)

SHIVER ME TIMBERS said:


> real life experiences......2 carbon fiber bar failures.....both now don't ride anymore because of the injuries and fear (other things too)....anyway for a few more grams I will ride aluminum.....if you over torque, get a scratch your carbon bar is done....carbon may be stronger but overall the aluminum bar will take more lickings


When your carbon bars failed, what happened? Do they snap or just bend ect..? I don't want to do a face :eekster: plant on a rocky down hill some day because the bar gave out.


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## Munin2889 (Jun 24, 2006)

It flexes to the breaking point and then snaps.


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## steadite (Jan 13, 2007)

i'm about 220 and ride a "LP Composites" bar. they make stuff that's not silly-lite, but still has a weight advantage over Al. It doesn't feel flimsy at all. it has the good vibration damping of composite bars.

http://www.lpcomposites.com/

buy here:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=lp+composites&category0=


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## anthony.delorenzo (Aug 17, 2006)

Personally, at 6'6" 240 lbs. I have three rules: 

No carbon
Nothing that says "race"
Nothing that says "lite"
YMMV.

Also, I can't ever imagine not riding a Thomson seat post.


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## Kyoseki (Oct 26, 2004)

anthony.delorenzo said:


> Also, I can't ever imagine not riding a Thomson seat post.


I have a Thompson post, but have lately been running a Maverick Speedball without serious issue (it needs a service, but hey).

... but yeah, I don't trust carbon parts because of their mode of failure, at least metal gives you some warning it's about to let go (usually).

For the sake of a couple hundred grams in weight I really don't see that the rewards outweigh the risks.


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## sikocycles (Oct 10, 2005)

anthony.delorenzo said:


> Personally, at 6'6" 240 lbs. I have three rules:
> 
> No carbon
> Nothing that says "race"
> ...


Ditto to that.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## Samhain (Jul 22, 2008)

For handlebars get the Easton Monkeylite, stem get Thomson, and seatpost get Thomson. i have been riding that setup for years and never had i problem. My weight has ranged from 250 to now 235 .


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## zarr (Feb 14, 2008)

Samhain said:


> For handlebars get the Easton Monkeylite, stem get Thomson, and seatpost get Thomson. i have been riding that setup for years and never had i problem. My weight has ranged from 250 to now 235 .


Is that the Monkeylite Carbon handlebar you're talking about? I saw them on sale recently for about $79 recently I think.


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## Samhain (Jul 22, 2008)

zarr said:


> Is that the Monkeylite Carbon handlebar you're talking about? I saw them on sale recently for about $79 recently I think.


Yeah, Easton Monkeylite XC are the full name.


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

mtb 4ever said:


> When your carbon bars failed, what happened? Do they snap or just bend ect..? I don't want to do a face :eekster: plant on a rocky down hill some day because the bar gave out.


they never bend,....they just break ........guy ended up breaking his foot on a easy 2 feet drop


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## spaztwelve (Apr 14, 2006)

I broke Easton carbon bars and smacked my face off the neck. If you are a big guy riding hard, just stop worrying about the weight of your bike so much. I'm 6'2" and 240-50.


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## thedudeabides (Jun 18, 2008)

your jewish walter?


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## tech_dog (Aug 25, 2008)

The specialized website specifically says that anyone approaching 250lbs should not use their carbon componants. They then define "approaching 250lbs" as being over 240lbs.


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## zarr (Feb 14, 2008)

spaztwelve said:


> I broke Easton carbon bars and smacked my face off the neck. If you are a big guy riding hard, just stop worrying about the weight of your bike so much. I'm 6'2" and 240-50.


I hear ya. The only thing light on my bikes is the headlight, and the tail light.


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## mtb 4ever (Jun 14, 2008)

tech_dog said:


> The specialized website specifically says that anyone approaching 250lbs should not use their carbon componants. They then define "approaching 250lbs" as being over 240lbs.


Thanks for that info. I just wanted a "okay to go" or a "No" and it looks like I will heed the NO.


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## RudeSechsVibe (Aug 24, 2008)

Aluminum is tougher, but not stronger. Carbon bars won't do as well taking rock hits though. I feel that damage is more than cosmetic with carbon.

I have both an Easton EC70 flat and an EA70 low-rise. I weight about 230 loaded up and I have no problem with either bar.

I have a Thomson Elite seatpost and Elite X4 stem. Simply awesome.


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## speed metal (Aug 22, 2004)

2 carbon seatpost on a Fisher Cobia= 2 broke carbon seatpost on Fisher Cobia. Aluminum seatposts no failure I hit around 195-205 pounds.


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## mtb 4ever (Jun 14, 2008)

Yikes$*&^%(*^(&


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## Big Willie Style (Sep 13, 2008)

This is a great read since I'm looking at getting a new bike. What about carbon frames for big guys? I'm about 6' and 210lbs. I've ridden cromoly, aluminum, and someone mentioned the Giant Alliance to me. Any thoughts on Carbon frames? Thanks
J.


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## speed metal (Aug 22, 2004)

I say:thumbsup: on the carbon frame. A long slender peices of carbon fiber (seatpost) not as strong as carbon fiber tubes bonded together at different angles.:idea: IMO?


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## haaki (Sep 15, 2008)

*hmmmmm*

two places I would hate to catastophically fail while negotiating some nasties

my bars

my post

just saying

take note: CF bars have a better chance on a suspended bike as fork takes majority of vertical loads. on a rigid, no f'in way

take note 2: CF gets chips while alloy or ti dents. Chips can have micro cracks that can lead to instant failure. I've seen it, it ain't pretty


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## BikeShopBoy (Sep 22, 2008)

mtb 4ever said:


> my GF X-Caliber frame cracked just below the quick realease at the top tube / seat tube junction.


gary fisher and trek gaurantee their frames for life, those are the bikes we sell and work on in the shop. i would suggest getting a new frame, after all it should be free. since its under warranty


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## Richard A (Sep 22, 2008)

Oh boy...

I just got my first FSR mountain bike, a Trek top Fuel 9E. It comes with Carbon seat post and I upgraded to XXX Lite bars. Both by Bontrager. I weigh in at 250lbs. 

I am asking for trouble?


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## mtmtbkr (Jul 16, 2008)

If you don't swap them out, yes, I would say that you are asking for trouble.


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## Barkleyfan (Jul 26, 2008)

You can run them, but you need to remain conscious of your technique. A squishy isn't generally the bike you wanna pend all your ride unseated, but that's how I ride my rigid so I don't feel like I'm holding a jacjackhammer all day. I built this rigid 10 years ago, and through the benefits of whey protien and creatine, I bulked up to 249. I've trued the rear wheel once, I've replaced tires and grips. That's it since 1998.


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## bog (Jun 3, 2004)

I'm sitting at 6'5" 230 right now and have been as heavy as 245 in recent years.

Yes to carbon handlebars. I've been running Easton EC70's for a long time without a problem and now I'm on a fantastic Race Face Next SL low rise bar and love it.

No to carbon seatposts. We put way too much weight on such a skinny stick. I've cracked a couple and now use nothing but Thomson posts. 

Yes to carbon frames - so far. I'm on a GF Superfly and hoping that it'll last. I'm using it strictly for XC trails since I have a Trance X and Nomad if I want to push my bike and abilities any harder. The Trance has an EC70 Monkeylite XC carbon bar on the Nomad has a Race Face Atlas aluminum bar. I think you get the idea now.


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## haaki (Sep 15, 2008)

*you can get away with decent*

CF bars because the majority of the vertical loading is being absorbed by the fork (suspended)
on a fully suspened bike the seatpost again is protected by the rear, but bigger MTBs have longer seatposts which puts rider (weight) further from the fulcrum (seatpot binder/clamp)
It wouldn't be the vertical loads but the micro left/right - fore/aft movements that would stress the post

again folks do probability calculus and part weight to body weight assesments

if saving 2-5 ounces (compared to a 250 lb rider) is worth risking your health you need to re-evaluate your thought process'

ALL of us have POUNDS we could reduce off our bodies for much cheaper and far more safe (and overall better for our health) which will make far greater of a difference


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## Floggus (Feb 11, 2006)

anthony.delorenzo said:


> Personally, at 6'6" 240 lbs. I have three rules:
> 
> No carbon
> Nothing that says "race"
> ...


I think this should be the header for the Clydesdale forum.


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## haaki (Sep 15, 2008)

*amen*



Floggus said:


> I think this should be the header for the Clydesdale forum.


I had a pair of the old syncros hollow cranks ' Strong, Light"
snapped at the weld of the crank arm to the threads for the pedal spindle
crank spun backwards making torn metal meet calf
cut a nice Nike swoosh into my drive side calf
had to pedal 14 miles one footed leaving a trail of blood


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## Richard A (Sep 22, 2008)

I think I will start getting replacements for them. I will still keep the CF, but use it for another day, hopefully when I shed weight. 

The only reason why I went with CF is, honestly, they looked cool. I couldn't really tell the difference in weight, when I put my body on the bike, it already begins praying.


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## moosehead (Jun 5, 2008)

*+1 to the no carbon or lite stuff*

especially on a post pointing up my big arse, or a set of bars holding up my cromagnon skull. same for a mtb carbon frame or rear triangle when there's so many other tremendously strong and light alu options

ditto - shaving grams on mtb safety components, paticularly for us clydes, is like shoveling snow in a blizzard. i know plenty of liteweight rabbits who also keep the no carbon rule. dental work is expensive and painful.

the "getting away with" commentary sounds like going to prison and not getting violated. just stay outta prison man

ur also asking the question cause you've heard about catasrophic failure or have lingering nightmares about one

just sayin


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## haaki (Sep 15, 2008)

*there are few slams worse than*

breaking a handlebar
breaking a chain/pedal spindle/crank arm/BB spindle

while hammering

it is going from riding to faceplanting in .03 seconds

be large, live large
ride heavy


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## davez26 (Dec 2, 2004)

*Where does Clysedale End...*

I have a Bontrager carbon seatpost, and weigh in @ 237ish, at what point can I swap it on with no fear?
I might be able to get a Bontrager race lite carbon seatpost with the aluminum insert, what are the thoughts on that?


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## bog (Jun 3, 2004)

davez26 said:


> I have a Bontrager carbon seatpost, and weigh in @ 237ish, at what point can I swap it on with no fear?
> I might be able to get a Bontrager race lite carbon seatpost with the aluminum insert, what are the thoughts on that?


To be honest with you 180-190 lbs seems to be the top end for most of my buddies who've successfully used carbon posts in 27.2mm. If you're on a bigger diameter post like 30.9mm I'd think you can get away with it at 220lbs but that's only speculation. Use carbon assembly paste to stop the post from slipping because you won't want to tighten the post clamp too tight. 
I ran the 27.2mm Bonty ACC (aluminum/carbon) post for a while on my Superfly and I'm @ 230 lbs right now. I really liked the compliance of the post but really didn't feel comfortable with it and just swapped to a Thomson.


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## derek1387 (Oct 13, 2008)

great... i just bought an Origin 8 carbon riser bar...

im 6'4" 280. i am pretty light on the front end tho...

so we will see how it goes.

anyone wanna swap bars? Its been on ONE ride.


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## haaki (Sep 15, 2008)

*it isn't as much of an issue*

as the majority of vertical loads are being absorbed by the fork
if your bike was rigid
or if you were frequently bottoming out
it would be a concern


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## nitrousjunky (May 12, 2006)

Ha Ha, so I guess I need to swap out the Bonty Carbon Bars on my Rigid Redline MonoCog I just picked up. I ride very rooty and rocky sections. I'm 210-220lbs depending on time of the year.


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## haaki (Sep 15, 2008)

*well you can keep them*



nitrousjunky said:


> Ha Ha, so I guess I need to swap out the Bonty Carbon Bars on my Rigid Redline MonoCog I just picked up. I ride very rooty and rocky sections. I'm 210-220lbs depending on time of the year.


just keep us in the loop on the results


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## nitrousjunky (May 12, 2006)

haaki said:


> just keep us in the loop on the results


Since I'm the only source of income for the family. I don't think I'm going to try it. I thought I had read this topic before, so after refreshing my memory, I'll get another set of bars before I ride it!!


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## haaki (Sep 15, 2008)

*wise choice*

besides getting teeth replaced is costly
a couple months back on rBr a clydesdale sized tri guy has talking about how his LBS discouraged him from buying super light stuff
he didn't listen and did a face plant when his pedal spindle snapped
broke his face, ruined his bike. broke a bunch of super light and expensive parts

some folks learn the hard way


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## Barkleyfan (Jul 26, 2008)

I've had a stem and cranks fail on me. The stem was chro-mo, and it just cracked. I was able to limp the bike home. the cranks were old LX cranks from Shimano. Thankfully, they rounded before they broke, so I was abnle to limp home that time as well. Carbon is great, so long as it's not load-bearing.


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## sir_crackien (Feb 3, 2008)

i'm going to have to disagree with most of the posters on here on this thread.

to quality myself: i'm 6'5" and weight 260 lbs. also i have been riding over 10 years and have been riding carbon parts for over 7 of those.

i really think i has alot more to due with how you maintain your bike and if you install the parts correctly!

i have ridden carbon_____

bars
seatpost
frames

i have never had a failure of a carbon part. you need to inspect your parts from time to time (this goes for every part on the bike) and replace them as needed. i have had to replace one of my handle bar due to a leaking MC on my brake. this started to degrade the epoxy on the bar.

also some facts:

well designed carbon is much stronger than its alum. or steel counter part.
not all carbon is created equal. there are some horrible carbon parts out there
carbon is very light. DUH!
carbon parts need to well taken care of <-- the most over looked part

most every failure of carbon that i have seen is due to major visible damage. most of the time the damage would have all ready caused an alum. part to fail.

one thing i will say is that "crap happens that you cannot avoid."


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## beanfink (Nov 22, 2006)

I like parts that I don't have to think about.

I don't have any carbon parts, 
a.) they are expensive
b.) I will think about them


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## Barkleyfan (Jul 26, 2008)

sir_crackien said:


> i'm going to have to disagree with most of the posters on here on this thread.
> 
> to quality myself: i'm 6'5" and weight 260 lbs. also i have been riding over 10 years and have been riding carbon parts for over 7 of those.
> 
> ...


I don't think anyone contests the strength and rigidity of carbon. The issue is that failure is both sudden and catastrophic. Carbon plastics don't bend, they shatter. For us bigger fellas, that's more likely to occur. For competition, I might chance it, but for recreational use, a few grams is a worthwhile trade for peace of mind.


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## Lil Tate (Nov 18, 2008)

I snapped Easton Monkeylites jumping. Didn;t smash my face, but it was close.
No more Carbon for me thank you


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## big29er (Nov 19, 2008)

spaztwelve said:


> I broke Easton carbon bars and smacked my face off the neck. If you are a big guy riding hard, just stop worrying about the weight of your bike so much. I'm 6'2" and 240-50.


Exactly...considering we are all over 200 lbs..what's 1 or two pounds going to do for us all. Until we drop down to the weight weenie category a pound or two is not going to make much difference. Only carbon I have is my roady, both my MTB's are alum and I'm about to trade one off for a steel frame in a few months.


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## Barkleyfan (Jul 26, 2008)

big29er said:


> Exactly...considering we are all over 200 lbs..what's 1 or two pounds going to do for us all. Until we drop down to the weight weenie category a pound or two is not going to make much difference. Only carbon I have is my roady, both my MTB's are alum and I'm about to trade one off for a steel frame in a few months.


I think you'll like the steel alot. For us heavier fellas, the compliance of steel gets more noticeable.


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## goforbroke (Nov 11, 2008)

Why are you guys even trying to save a few grams of weight off your bike? Even if you could save a whopping pound two on your bike I highly doubt your even going to notice it. It's a waste of money go spend it on healthy clean food at the grocery store. Big guys like us should not be weight weenies. Yeah carbon is cool, but I like the added security.

Like already mentioned when it fails its catastrophic.:yikes:


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## orangedog (Aug 30, 2008)

derek1387 said:


> great... i just bought an Origin 8 carbon riser bar...
> 
> im 6'4" 280. i am pretty light on the front end tho...
> 
> ...


I'll swap you straight across assuming sizing is the same - I've got an Easton with under 300 miles. Either EA50 or EA70, will have to check. :thumbsup:


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## Datalogger (Jul 5, 2008)

I've been running an Easton Monkey Lite SL CNT carbon bar all summer on my Durance. It has endured 10-20 4'+ drops to flat, hundreds of bunnyhops, and a weekend of downhill riding & jumping at a ski-resort with no complaints. The Durance has 5'+ travel in the rear and 6" in the front, so that has helped soften the blow.

I weigh around 260 with gear.

I also have a Ritchey WCS Carbon bar that is going on the ML8 I'm building. I'm curious to see if it will hold up as well as the Easton has.


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## kharper (Dec 9, 2008)

I am 6ft tall and weigh 235lbs. I ride a Scott Spark 20 (all carbon) and am running carbon bars, seat post and Sid corbon fork. I have been on this rig for a year and I ride very hard. Raced (cross country) the entire series on it and not a single hitch. I say go for it and dont worry about it.


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## Bikin' Bric (Sep 7, 2003)

I've been running a TruVativ carbon riserbar this year and have had no issues at all, just had to be sure of my torque specs. I've been thinking about going to a carbon seatpost next year but I'll have to see about that. I'm 230lbs and ride some gnarly XC stuff, no drops, maybe the occasional natural trail jump.


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## mtb 4ever (Jun 14, 2008)

goforbroke said:


> Why are you guys even trying to save a few grams of weight off your bike? Even if you could save a whopping pound two on your bike I highly doubt your even going to notice it. It's a waste of money go spend it on healthy clean food at the grocery store. Big guys like us should not be weight weenies. Yeah carbon is cool, but I like the added security.
> 
> Like already mentioned when it fails its catastrophic.:yikes:


Well said.:thumbsup:


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## azdrawdy (Jul 22, 2004)

*Cast Iron!*



mtb 4ever said:


> Well said.:thumbsup:


Yeah! I think that all clydes should ride cast iron. Nothing but! I watched a non-clyde snap a light aluminum handlebar in a race. Surely he should have known better. If he broke it, how dare any clyde should consider anything less than cast iron. If he is feeling spiffy, maybe some straight gauge Tange tubing. Nothing less.

WTFE. I am 6'4" and 240 lbs. Been riding since '88. Could not begin to list the number of broken parts/pieces, aluminum or steel. Have yet to bust any number of carbon parts in the past five or seven years.

MD


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