Carbon Durability Test #1

[@Grunge_Cycling]

Not applying the proper carbon paste and over-torquing the stem is definitely how most carbon bars fail.

[@floam11]

Nice video! Next time take some protective measures. You would have lost your hands, smashed your head or blinded yourself if any of those bars had snapped and the pulling gears came straight at you. Protective glasses, helmet and safe distance from destructive tests

[@markusseppala6547]

Or a safety tie like Colin

[@evangatehouse5650]

Except CF doesn't store a lot of energy because it's NOT elastic. The failure mode shown is very typical. Just "busted" with little movement. If you were using nylon rope to pull on it, (very stretchy), yes much more risk because it's a big rubber band.

[@brucelulu829]

Exactly!!

[@bsowhat]

I was worried that a snapped bar was going to impale you.

[@bsowhat]

Please don’t repeat this testing on frames. Your viewers do not want to see you get injured.

[@TheBassallyear100]

definitely gonna need the torque measurements on "super tight"! great video, thanks for the time you put into this.

[@JourdainColeman]

Glad you enjoyed 👍🏽

[@tasaman]

Bikes have come so far. I remember people breaking carbon bars and seatposts more than I liked. Being a Clydesdale I was not willing to die to try thaem. This gives me new intrigue and i might grab one to benefit from the vibration dampening.

[@cocoray1000]

I way underestimated the strength of carbon 🙃

[@MTBScotland]

over tightening clamps is what does the damage. That with crashes will cause failure make sure when you are doing the crane pull make sure the distance from the centre to the strap is the same.

[@mikedellar5653]

Brilliant production!

[@JourdainColeman]

Cheers

[@Riazor1370]

About the dropping test, when handlebars fall down it carry the weight of : - The HB itself - The force of the moving bike before it falls down. - The bikes

[@NathanMartin-nz8sy]

And dont forget the rider who is also holding the bars that may tip over or crash. The GF broke her carbon bars on a bad railroad crossing and went over on the bike and it cracked on the inside part past the shifters. Lot more force than being applied here.

[@sylvainmichaud2262]

Interesting to see that someone can think that sunglasses are required while riding for safety purposes but unnecessary when destroying carbon fiber parts under 400lbs of tension.

[@markusseppala6547]

Always read the instructions for your stem, some stems require to close the gap on the top. I ruined one carbon bar by torquing all the bolts and not closing the top gap.

[@sbccbc7471]

It's annoying when this is never mentioned anywhere on the stem itself, like with Canyon's stems. Luckily, I know how to determine without looking at a user manual (will still read one to double-confirm my analysis).

[@markusseppala6547]

@@sbccbc7471 How?

[@sbccbc7471]

@@markusseppala6547 Top-to-bottom faceplate asymmetry is what I look for. A hands-on method is to install the faceplate without the handlebars and see if the faceplate has two or four points of contact on the stem. If only the top or bottom of the faceplate touches the stem when the bolts are bottomed out, then it's a zero-gao stem faceplate assembly. Regular stem faceplates will always fully touch an empty stem when only one or two bolts are bottomed out to hold the faceplate, indicating zero asymmetry. The PRO PLT and FSA NS SMR stems are some examples of such a stem.

[@66mikkim]

With the alu bars you was closer to the stem when cranking up the crane. Thats why the held more force.

[@MyRestoration1]

Hi chap. That is a huge undertaking to bring this excellent experiment to your audience. Where do you find the time?! A few comments ( sorry i am commenting from my private channel) : The stress test you showed on both carb and alloy bars its important that the straps are in the same place for both. The alloy got a bit of freer ride on the non-drive-side so you would possibly see a lower weight to distortion ratio from the alloy. Also the carbon bars are a good bit thinner in wall thickness discounting the weight difference for that size object so there is that to factor in. The main point to make is that for this intended purpose, even as a carbon guy, alloy wins in my book. Why? simply because of the way alloy and carbon break under pressure. A pure carbon bar will always fracture after it over flexes and like a house of cards, you go along with it. In most cases the alloy deforms a fair bit before it comes apart giving you a chance to sit upright and stroke your brused ego. It is the same with stems and crown races in forks. So it is not about which is stronger it is about which one gives the rider the chance to not face plant. Alloy is plenty strong enough for this purpose as your tests show. There is a rule here at CarbonBikeRepair - If there is 1 of anything keeping the rider from a face plant it is better made of a material which can deform rather than fracture first. Of course the speed and weight of an impact is a rule unto itself but some cyclists perception that carbon is better, because it is structurally 'stronger,' only tells part of the story. There is still a lot of use for alloy in modern carbon bikes. We tend to watch the baby being thrown out with the bath water in so many modern bikes we see come through our doors. Then there is this obsession with weight.. come visit us some day and I'll explain to your audience! Take care mate. Great honest channel for us all.

[@IDYLBERRY]

Thanks for all your effort producing test results. I think it goes above and beyond normal riding impacts.

[@JourdainColeman]

Cheers for watching 👌🏼

[@rossfishy]

Dude you are a mad man. Love this.

[@JourdainColeman]

Glad you enjoyed

[@technovelodos]

Ratcheting test wasn’t equal WRT the position of the strap on the bars. The Alu bars had the strap closer to the stem. So the leverage effect is lessened and you need more force for the same real stress on the bars.

[@stevenleffanue]

Definitely deserves a comment! So much time and effort put into this vid. Not the most scientificly accurate tests but well entertaining. Onya Jordan 👍

[@JourdainColeman]

Glad you enjoyed

[@p1mr259]

Excellent video, very impressive the your skill, time and effort.

[@bonbonflippers4298]

Its not the fear of carbon handlebars breaking, its the fact that you cant see the cracks under the bar wraps as it forms over time. How often do you unwrapp the bars to check for crack? Almost never

[@brucelulu829]

Eye protect needed!!!!

[@sgrouts]

Great video! Carbon deep rim wheels next please!

[@JourdainColeman]

Noted! 👍🏽

[@DaaamnGina]

Entertaining and I appreciate the effort. Things to improve is safety. Glad nothing happened, but I cringed at 15:19. I see you put on safety glasses for the sledgehammer.

[@jetthepanda]

Love the DIY jigs, great content! Keep it coming 💖🔥Hope to see you on the roads one day 😄

[@JourdainColeman]

Cheers man... will do! 👌🏼

[@schrodingerthecat]

Love these test videos!

[@grengren2]

Good-ish, but the distance from the stem to the pull point varies. Little point going past 150Kg. Measuring deformation at each load would be more useful. This is especially true if you plan doing frames/wheels etc.

[@sanjayskaria9467]

Great video 🤝👍🏼

[@JourdainColeman]

Thank you 👍

[@stuartdryer1352]

The testing manufacturers do in order to be able to sell them in Europe are even more stringent. Just don't over-torque any bolts.

[@Propeler3D]

Awesome! I'm not afraid carbon bars any more! :)

[@darringrey4329]

Old mate with the carbon sub could of used you as a consultant

[@scottmccann4509]

The pain/enjoyment of watching perfectly good parts being destroyed 😬😱🤣. Think you need a spreadsheet at the end, with all the test/results summary (which you can add too in the future)

[@engnelsito]

The strap test seems slightly unfair for the integrated carbon bar/stem, as at 15:50, the bar seems to be resting in the sharp corner of the wood beam of the gig, This is creating a stress point that probably help the bar breaking when and where it did. The aluminium bar was resting into the stem, so no additional stress point was created, apart from the interface between the bar and stem that was designed exactly for that purpose. In summary, in a completely fair test the integrated bar/stem would probably withstand a slightly higher load and the difference to the aluminium would be smaller.

[@peterch4978]

I was also surprised how much beating can take cheap old alu handlebar, heavy hammering was not enough to start a crack

[@stickmenkissarmy6907]

Aluminum and steel bikes will always be stronger than your carbon. But the video was very fun to watch

[@kihunpark8669]

I could imaging that in praxis, my fingers would be smashed first before my handlebar collide with a car or something😢

[@AndyRides]

The first test rig. It doesn't bear thinking about what would have happend if the bars had snapped. Coming down hard on the stem/top of the tube would have been eye watering.

[@JourdainColeman]

It would have been a very different video 😂

[@SamuelBlackMetalRider]

Genius content

[@JourdainColeman]

Cheers

[@ellerybice3787]

Which pair of bars would be your choice for challenging a Bighorn ram to mating rights? 🤔

[@JourdainColeman]

Aluminium!

[@laneromel5667]

Carbon generally fails with repeated compressive loading, causing delamination.

[@coliander4180]

Source?

[@ssenssel]

@@coliander4180 The Titan submersible

[@laneromel5667]

@@coliander4180 There are literally thousands of published papers on this subject, here is one "Effect of embedded delamination on the compression performance of carbon fiber reinforced composites"

[@Ravachol71]

Who won the Contest from the Last Video?

[@王雄貞]

I practice English listening comprehension here. Comfortable and gorgeous british accent? ^^

[@FirmanAditya13]

Next cheep carbon dropbar or crank

[@thomasschragen4446]

Lexon carbon crankset 🎉

[@chrisdelaplante5515]

Nice man but be carefull please !!! Protect yourself, your eyes ! I was afraid for you all along !

[@bertusbob]

👍👍👍

[@lolipuni1]

Mjolnir!

[@ericpmoss]

OMG you positioned your chest and your crotch above a 1" post with your whole weight on the bars. That's nuts.

[@andreemurray7039]

Sadly in a crash my carbon bars snapped in 2 so gone back to alloy

[@Mike-oz4cv]

The same can happen with any material. You can get aluminium handlebars which barely weigh more than 200g and they are probably weaker than many carbon handlebars.

[@Iskander-ve4bg]

please do it with frames!!!

[@barryliu3473]

10/10

[@JourdainColeman]

👍🏽

[@phillevin6651]

No video in over a month. You kk?

[@martinhotan8946]

where are your gloives and glases

[@Gryffes]

Fun video but please wear a helmet and safety glasses.

[@scherzo0o]

Stop pointless cruelty against carbon handlebars!

[@speedy1490]

New Teeth are far more expensive then replacing youre carbon cockpit, keep that in mind. Yes most Carbon Bars can take a beating. But i wouldnt trust them anymore after one good hit. You cant always see the delamination.

[@MattRogersdesigns]

I think this shows that it takes a huge amount of effort and force to actually make a modern (even no-name) carbon bar completely fail. Your bars may crack, but it then takes lots and lots of repeated force to make it snap off. I had a separate carbon bar develop a crack at the steerer from overtightening and a defect so I did a strength test like this video. It developed a crack at same place as in this test, but I was unable to break the bar after seeing the crack. I would have been able to ride the bar home, and while I would not have wanted to do a 1000w sprint on the bar, It really was nearly impossible with my weight and strength to make it snap off.

[@raddiraddistki5824]

you could have redone the first test after the impact tests to see if the bars would then break. There can always be non visible cracks within the carbon layers after impacts. Other than that, thanks for your tests.

[@JourdainColeman]

Great suggestion!

[@Mike-oz4cv]

Pretty pointless test with a sample size of one and so many variables and bad repeatability. I guess it does show that handlebars (at least the 3 in the test) are quite strong and unlikely to break before your wrists.

[@GVGVIT]

3:10 - one man one carbon handlebar

[@JourdainColeman]

👀