Are Carbon Bars worth the extra price?

[Havre]

Cool bar.

Please take this as a compliment (it is), but odd that someone can privately make something that looks a lot better than most "professional" bars - if not all.

[watercamper]

Can someone post a link to the Harken pulleys used to make the bar? I can't find it.

[ruedorb]

Ruedorb, the whole center piece is made by Harken, right? And the carbon bar ends are mounted on top of that?

I designed and machined the center part myself around the Harken 415 pullie, which is the only off the shelf part in my assembly.

That's wheelie good! (I'll get my coat)
I am sure it will have all the associated sand /wear ssues, but what's it feel like having the ability for free sheeting with steering inputs especially large inputs? (I am imagining something along the lines of diving a kite and freely sheeting in without the bar binding etc.)
Very good, keep going.

That is true for those who contend with sandy beaches, that is why I chose a cheap, globally available part so it can be easily replaced. I also found a pretty simple way to keep sand out is to simply "stab" the bar into the sand while rigging on the beach. I have been building bars ever since I started kite foil racing in 2014 and always found that slotted bars would bind up during a down loop gybe when you are at max steering as well as trying to let the bar out. This idea is the direct result of trying to solve that specific problem! I was however pleasantly surprised how much smoother it felt even while sheeting normally, it made me realize that the center line is always rubbing one side of the slot with quite a lot of friction.

I also noticed in the thread people complaining about the danger of bar ends and TOTALLY agree. Many carbon bars use small diameter carbon tubes for winding/steering line attachment, my first bar also used this type of end. The problem is if they break in a bad crash, they will basically turn themselves into razor blades. After a few bad experiences, I switched to 3D printed rubber ends to make my race bars much safer!

[karolis]

Would you mind sharing what material you used for the center piece?

[Surfkiternew]

No

[ruedorb]

Would you mind sharing what material you used for the center piece?

Type 3 hard anodized 6061 Aluminium.

[Trent hink]

You'd think carbon would be cheaper than gold, which seems to closely match the current asking price for a modern bar....

I had carbon Flysurfer bars sometime around the very late 90's or early 2000's, and they were included with the kite.

Now I am mostly foiling, and my current favorite is the now obsolete Liquid Force mission control bar v2.

The funny thing is, according to the marketing, the damn thing is entirely made of cheap plastic.

The difference is probably not as big as you might think, and there are things more important than the stiffness of the bar, (not that it's a bad thing to have a stiff bar...).

[Nak]

Carbon bars feel so much better than heavy production bars!

For those interested in the carbon fiber bar center line wear dilema, I have built a solution that makes them feel even better! In addition to reduced wear, my bar also feels great when sheeting, and never binds when you are hard over simultaneously steering and sheeting. I call it the "Wheelie Bar". It uses replaceable off the shelf Harken pullies for supper smoothe bar action!

Very, very cool!

If I may make a suggestion? Would it be possible to print the bar end so that it not only inserted into the bar, but covered the outer bar as well? Say the last 2 cm of each end? This could help contain the bar if it were to crack and help prevent injury.

[Kiterpep]

Quite interesting, but wouldn't it be even better to place a low friction ring into the bar?

Still thinking how you would attach it to the carbon bar but might be best to leave the bar intact and just attach with a very tight rope with loops on both ends.

In this way you would avoid problems with pulleys not running after a while because of salt and sand, and also the ring allows more angles to the center line without issues.

[Breze]

This:


The bar is a 9Eu Alibaba bike handlebar