My HB-003 carbon handlebars have met with untimely demise…after a 17 mph tumble. Relatively straight forward spill, no drama, no injuries. But the Chinese bars did not fare well at all. I put it mostly down to a lack of QC and poor layup. Let’s hope my frame and fork are made a tad better…
Carbon Fiberous…Breakous!
I have gone ahead and made the switch to 6061-T aluminum bars for now and the foreseeable future. Thankfully, no other damage to the bike in the fall.
It was my first crash in 11 years of ridding on the road and I suppose it had to happen eventually. No amount of skill can cover when the luck runs out! The front tire caught a rut in the pavement and before I could clip out and try to save it, I was up and over and then on my ass.
The Road to Revelation 
Glad you’re okay…
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Thanks Jim
Geo
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You are nuts if you think brand name carbon bars are able to survive crashes at such speed any better. Falling 27km/h you should call yourself lucky not to have broken any bones.
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😀
Nah, come on buddy, 17 is not so fast and doesn’t really equate to a lot of velocity. But I won’t argue that luck plays a role as well.
I can recall 3 high-speed get offs back when I was racing. All of them between 70 and 100 mph. Granted, leathers kept me from removing all of my skin, but no broken bones no sprains. Just massive bruising. It probably depends on how you land.
I do agree that one can break a collarbone falling down from a standing still position, but I suppose it comes to down odds and body placement at the time of a crash.
Geo
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Yikes,
Isn’t 100 mph like 160km/h? I don’t think even the pros can hit speeds like that. I would think anything over 25km/h and it is down to luck. You might come off unscathed, but you never know. Sometimes speed even helps. Anyways it is much cheaper to replace chinese carbon handlebars than having to buy a new brand-name one even if it had survived a crash. In the end there is no trusting carbon fiber once it has been hit that hard.
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I forgot to add ‘motorbike’ before racing…
I spent 8 seasons roadracing prior to road cycling…
Geo
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Probably right about the carbon in general. Though that does not inspire so much confidence!
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On second thought…I rescind my previous statement! I had forgotten about my mountain bike crash in 2007. Broke my pinky/hand bone and cracked a rib. Not going that fast at all. You’re right, it’s mostly down to luck.
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