Carbon Or Alloy Handlebar Is There Any Difference? | Blind Test Challenge
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- People are often ask us about which upgrades they should make to their bikes, and questioning if moving from an Aluminium to a carbon handlebar will improve their riding experience or make them faster. But is it possible to tell the difference based on feel alone? In this video, Anna Cipullo takes Blake Samson on a blind test to see if he can guess the bars he's riding.
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Do you run Alloy or Carbon handlebars? Do you think you could tell the difference?
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Yes please - more Blake trying Tech stuff, and best with Anna's 'supervision'...🤣
Definitely more Blake on the show! I think there can be a big difference in both carbon and alloy, but after seeing a couple of carbon bars break( from fellow riders) I will stay with a nice alloy...but a nice pair. Great test!
Yes more Blake on the Tech channel. He brings such good vibes wherever he goes. Loved him on the GCN channel today too. Way to represent the MTB world to roadies Blake!
This was one of your best videos in a while, GMBN. It was the perfect mix of fun and entertainment with useful, practical, actionable information. Well done! Two of my favorite presenters.
Blake’s a real-life princess & the pea!
Sticking with my Spank Vibrocore
Yes, we want more Blake in GMBN Tech 😎
Coming from a motorcycle world, there's been all sorts of technology developed in handlebars to get rid of engine vibration and suspension movements that lead to fatigue and arm pump from a motocross and enduro standpoint. If rough trails are your thing, I can imagine the same effects would eventually set in on bicycle bars, unless some damping is used.
I'd prefer alloy. I just don't savor the thought of spending a lot more money on a product that would induce fatigue and arm pump to gain some precision feel (and all the brutal vibration along with it).
Yes, More Blake on the tech!!!
These two are just great, always smiling!!
Would be interested to see this repeated with the same shape/size/manufacturer of bar to minimise variables, but with two more bars in both 31.8mm and 35mm clamp sizes - i.e. 4 bars total, carbon and alloy, both in the different clamp sizes. Renthal Fatbars might be the ticket? I'm convinced 35mm bars were a step backwards in comfort and going from a 35mm carbon bar to a 35mm alloy bar to a 31.8mm alloy bar recently has been eye-opening!
first impressions are that if the differences are so subtle that blake just barely recognizes them, then there is no way it's going to impact my riding and i'll stick with the cheaper ones
they should've tested hand pump over long descents
And definitely should have tested the OneUp bars. Other back to back videos have said they definitely feel better.
Have to disagree. The differences were not that subtle. He explained how he knew the differences. The only question he had was if his mind was playing tricks on him.
Carbon and Aluminum can both be built to have different ride feels and can vary significantly manufacturer to manufacturer. Raceface also tend to build a very rigid bar and something like a oneup will have more compliance. That doesn't even take into account 35 vs 31.8, rise and sweep differeneces.
Do full day testing and feel the difference.
My Scout came with Nukeproof Neutron bars and I switched to the Nukeproof Horizon V2 which are carbon and did notice a reduction is trail vibrations.
However my Marin Rift Zone has Marins alloy bars and I don’t have issues with vibrations like I did with the Scout (same grips on both bikes).
If buying bars again I would focus on things like rise and sweep before material
You're probably right (about looking for sweep and rise first) in general I noticed that more beefy aluminium bars are not that compliant but nothing compared to stiffer carbon, I ordered a set of chromag cutlass I've heard they are stiff but don't transmit lots of vibration but I've heard that before with the one up and it's not that accurate. We'll see 😂
Hi guys. I have been a follower of your channel since it began, and always enjoy your tech information and test. On my personal opinion, I prefer aluminum alloy handle bars for their stiffness, durability and trust them much more. I agree with Blake, by the way, great job bro. Thanks for the video and the fun I have gotten from the whole GMBN team. Best regards to you from this humble Venezuelan MTB rider. 👍🏽🚴🏽♂️❤️
We always want more Blake 💜
I'd have loved to have seen a few more bars tested over time to see if there's genuinely subtles that a veteran rider can pick up
Anna is simply the best for gear reviews
I have Spank Spike 35 vibrocore handlebars, 800mm wide. Decent vibration damping
I bought some carbon bars a couple years ago because the marketing said they were tuned to be more compliant up and down to aid vibration effects, but more stiff back and forth to aid steering precision. Sounded great but not totally sure I could really tell. HOWEVER, they are notably lighter! And it is high up lightness!! Mass can be good lowdown e.g. downhillers adding lead to their BB. But they don't add it to their handlebars do they...??
Absolutely more Blake !!!! Anna and Blake are great in this one !!. I have ridden both , personally I prefer alloy , especially on my hard tail . My 52 year old body enjoys a little more forgiveness any place I can take it .
Love this content.
Even if you don’t feel anything in a single run there’s a significant weight difference. By chopping weight and not sacrificing performance this can add up to a significant performance difference.
Crazy episode. I don’t know why but my OneUp carbon bars feel better than my aluminum ones
Always Aluminium bars thanks. Having decent comfortable grips helps a lot more I reckon. Since I changed to a thicker softer grip my fingers and wrists don't hurt and it seems to take longer before I get arm pump.
enjoyed every bit of this
I got carbon bars on my new bike and didn't like them, so I went and bought Burgtec High Rise 38s. When swapping them out, I was quite shocked to feel that there was so little weight difference! I think the only way to tell the difference in a blind test would be by the feel of them. They never get cold, lol. But seriously, the vibration through my carbon bars was so irritating and weird. It always left my hands shaking like the blood was flowing rapidly! It's too weird for me, but again, it's a personal preference. One ups bars on my mates bike are worse! And their ment to be all this comfort oval carbon they bend at the end's feel like way snap no confidence
Anyone preferring carbon bars is either:
a) XC rider
b) Slow trail/enduro/DH rider
c) Rides smooth trails
If you are a trail/enduro/DH rider and ride at a faster pace, and you are not sponsored to push the carbon product, there is no way you will prefer carbon bars over alloy strictly due to the excessive vibration they propagate onto your hands, regardless whether they are stiffer, lighter, or whatever. You'll hate your bike.
I have always had alloy bars and I really like alloy so I think I am like blake and I like that little bit of flex from alloy bar
It would be interesting to test/ compare the different bars on a hardtail mtbike which would highlight the characteristics even more.
It all depends on how the bar is made. I’ve had alloy bars that were bad for vibration and got swapped for a different brand which made a difference. I do agree with the lighter front end feeling and one of the best carbon bars I’ve had was actually Canyon’s in house bars that felt great. Atm though I have a Nukeproof alloy bar and love how they handle. I do love a Renthal bar though in carbon and the alloy.
I‘d say, it is hard to compare! Some Alu-bars feel great, some feel horrible! Same goes for the carbon bars… The worst thing that industry brought us, was the switch from 31.8 to 35mm handlebars!!! A 31.8 will ALWAYS feel so much better - and than you can search for some more comfort in the bar itself… maybe carbon or maybe alu can be the best choice then!
We shouldn't jump to the comparison of Blake and a crash-test dummy, but blind testing is sorely lacking on this channel.
This has confused me more than EVER.
I've been thinking for a while of getting the OneUp Carbon bars as many reviews say they give great dampening in the vertical plain, but stiffness in the horizontal plain for more precise steering feel compared to alloy bars.
Yet here, Alloy bars seem to be described (IN GERERAL) as the more damping and carbon the much more rigid?
I just ride rocky, bumpy trails not bike parks or paved paths so want as much damping as possible 😁
"Carbon" and "carbon" can mean very different things. The composite nature of it gives the designers way more opportunity to fine-tune compliance in different directions than is possible with metal. Carbon bars can be stiffer than any aluminium bars of sensible weight, but OTOH you can also make carbon bars that are _bendier_ than any aluminium bars, because carbon has better fatigue characteristics - if you make aluminium bars too flexible, they'll just spontaneously and unpredictably snap after some years of normal riding. Meanwhile, you can make carbon handlebars or seatposts with a _huge_ amount of compliance - only, this is more useful for e.g. gravel bikes. On mountain bikes the suspension already takes most of the compliance job, and it makes more sense to optimise the bars for steering precision and crash durability, so that's probably why most available carbon bars are stiffer than their aluminium pendants.
One up make an alloy bar as well.
Save your money and stick with alloy. They'll always be the more comfortable bars if you ride fast on aggressive terrain. If you're XC rider with slower descents, then you may get away with carbon bars. But carbon bars should not be used on trail, endure, and downhill bikes.
@@teamdoa Thank you!...sincerely appreciate your reply :)
@@leftaroundabout Fantastic explanation buddy!, thank you so much! - Made things Much clearer..and saved me money! 😊❣
"I did something right, in tech" 😅😅😅
He nailed it 😅
Great job, Blake, on correctly identifying each bar material.
Every time I see a review or comparison between carbon and alloy bars, the carbon bars are always the more uncomfortable component. Surprise, surprise! No matter how much the marketing talks about compliance, more material here, less material there, the carbon bars always miss their mark on compliance and end up being the less comfortable bars. Hence, all that talk is just marketing nonsense. Will the carbon bars manufacturers ever release a truly compliant bars??? Well, they had so many chances already for the last what... two decades? So I doubt any carbon bars will ever surpass the alloy bars in comfort. I'm happy with my $50 alloy bars over any $150-$200 carbons.... Can't wait for the next comparison to come out, concluding the same thing as before.
HUGE difference....my hands immedietly go numb on aluminum or steel... throw on some carbons and some REVgrips and you got the GOLDEN setup until there's better tech.
Blake on tech yes 🙌
I got the one up carbon bar because everyone said they had compliance, I had Easton old school carbon bars in the past but it was the first newish ones I tried.
Well if you think the one up carbon bars have compliance just try the aluminium version, I'm back on alloy baby 😂
*Blake made his own friggin frame from hardware store tubing with relative success, me thinks he's plenty qualified for GMBN tech c'mon 😂
For me alloy bars never ever, it is zero compliance and flex.
The alloy OneUp bars are more compliant than the carbon version?
'IM GOOD AT TEC" -GoPro is still recording 😂 I vote more Blake!!
Both legends proper credit to GMBN
Great video as always just wanted to know what saddle is Blake using
Yeah, it’s a real mystery. It’d be nice if they branded bike stuff more clearly.
It’s definitely Ergon, but I think it’s Ergon’s Enduro Team.
Used to run aluminum then swapped for Envy carbon bars. Sold that to buy Race Face. So far I’m very happy with the stiffness and rise. The weight seems negligible.
I had RF first for carbon then got envy and they both felt better than my alloy renthals.
The weight diff is silly but the price hurts
@@Saml3227 I know, right 😆 But they look great!
Carbon is a product i personally would bypass when it comes to bikes.. I was truly worried about saving some weight id just go titanium.. Id personally never trust a set of carbon handlebars or frorks.. A mate of mine bought a very expensive set of carbon forks from germany, and they cracked on week 1, when he tried to ride up a kirb.. Bike shop said were not touching that, manufacturer said sure we will replace it, but it will cost you 500 quid..
My laufey had alloy bar when I got it. I have changed to carbon bars. I did do the change awhile ago. So I can't really remember the difference. Pinkeye had carbon bars when I bought it. I haven't changed the bars. As my longest recorded jump is just under 5 metres. I am not putting the bars through that much stress.
#askgmbntech #askgmbn #askgcn #askembn MORE BLAKE EVERYWHERE !!!
As a xc/Gravel rider Carbon bars all the way
Blake's got a Subaru Legacy. 🎉❤
MORE OF BLAKE PLEASE
silly test without throwing in some OneUp and/or PNW Loambar...
Good review but they didn't compare his original aluminium to the carbon or alloy. What the basic pros and potential cons for all 3 handlebars, with perhaps a quick spreadsheet with those general differences. Yes they said they were differences but didn't really elaborate, more just repeated what the manufacturers say. Just some friendly feedback from a novice who wants to change handlebars but it hasn't helped me much.
This is like asking the length of a string. I have over a dozen carbon bars and they're all different. Some flex noticeably, some could jack up a car. But more often than not, there's nothing in it compared to aluminum, just a 100g drop in weight.
I used both alloy and carbon I prefer the feel of my carbon bars
Ive tried both, and theres not much difference....But the alloy bars can be powdercoated / anodized and the different colors can trigger the comfort centers in the brain, making the alloy bars more comfortable from a psychological standpoint....And, the psychological part far outweighs any actual real world difference, in my opinion.....
I like carbon wheels and alloy handlebar.
More Blake the tech guineapig
6:15 the print on the bars suggest you mixed up the numbers. Honest mistake but should be caught in editing.
It happens! Sorry 😔
Well lets see... I've been playing hockey for over 30 years and have only ever slightly bent, dented my old Easton aluminum sticks(old tech). Heck, I have one going strong from the 90s that I still use for street. I've owed many high tech carbon composite sticks priced up to $250 and I've broken several over the years. The longest one has ever lasted was almost two years. That being said, I will never trust carbon fiber on my bikes when it comes to weight bearing contact points.
I’ll stick to alloy because I don’t want to ruin $200 bars by tightening a bolt too much
I can feel difference between alu and carbon handlebars even with blinded eyes, carbon bars are slightly flexible when i press (push) to bars with my hands, i can feel on ends it flex maybe 2-3mm, but alu is like hard steel its zero flexible and no compliance at all.
I’ve had the complete opposite experience with Sonder ally vs carbon. The carbon was way worse for vibration.
What stiff alloy bars are you referring to, something beefy from 20-30 years ago? There is no way modern alloy bars, such as Raceface Aeffect bars are less compliant than any carbon bars.
@@MarioV73 No any modern alloy bars, had few bikes in past yrs each have alu bars all of them same no flex like steel pipe, 1month ago on trek top fuel 8 780mm alu bars and its like steel, no flex at all, for me alu bars is shit.
@@danielstormy3660 What alloy bars are you riding on? I use Raceface Aeffect on all my Santa Cruz bikes, and none of my bikes have excessive vibrations transferred to my hands. (Some of my bikes have alloy frames, while others have carbon. None of my bikes have carbon wheels.) One of the carbon bikes I bought came with Santa Cruz's inhouse carbon bar. Although the bike was fine on smooth trails, at high speed descents on rougher trails, the bike's bars vibrated so much, I had to swap them for alloy bars to stop hating that bike. But all that being said, your experience with alloy bars is in the minority, as most riders, including Blake here, prefer alloy bars for comfort. Even pros use alloy bars if their frame is carbon to limit vibrations.
I don't understand why a few tenths of a millimeter flex would help much compared to your fork taking up 100mm. I also don't understand and believe that handlebars can have two angles; mathematically impossible.
She said she doesn’t like stiff. Never.
Value for money you can't beat an aluminum bar.
0:55 "Aluminium bars are pretty one-dimentional" I see two-dimantional represetation of those bars in the video and my aluminium bars are definitely at least 3D. You probably ment that aluminium bars tunabilty is pretty 1D, but I immediately went to thinking about how to attach 2 brake levers, shifting controls, dropper control and grips to SINGLE POINT 🤦♂ 😂
I think the shape of the handlebars is more important than material. Getting the good rise and sweep angles that fit you on your bike makes bigger changes than just swapping bars material.
And about the weight, there are cheaper places on the bike to shave grams (wheels, tires, cranks, cassette...) before spending 3 figures prices on a carbon stick...
People keep saying this.
But last I checked a carbon wheel was about $300 more for a 150g weight saving, $600 for 300g on a wheelset, comparing wheels intended for same purposes.
Not as good a deal as $100 for 100g off the handlebar.
I think getting the shape right is important but that doesn't change the fact that different materials give noticeably different handling/feel characteristics and weight differences. I also cant think of any wheelset and crankset upgrade that is cheaper than a handlebar upgrade?? I changed my $140 alu bars for $200 carbon bars and dropped 100g and improved the feel of my bike immensely (for my needs). No way I could do that with wheels or cranks. Tires? Definitely, that's a very good shout.
100%.... Carbon is a bling product, if you buy into it, youve got more cash than sense unfortunately..
More of the BOTH of you!
Blake is cool. Good test.
Blake for tech channel !
I bought a carbon bar for my hard tail, its ok, feels a bit more flexier, id like to think its more gentle on my old man joints 😂
I noticed a major reduction in vibrations with a carbon bar. Felt like I could track the front wheel better. Not sure if it was real or not but it felt real to me, and that's worth something.
Blake is awesome! His garage build series was awesome! Let’s see more of him on tech!
Your videos have taught me so much, and have been one of my greatest sources of entertainment............. but COME ON....... this is the stupidest "experiments" pretty much ever in the history of published bike videos. He has a 1 in 2 chance of guessing correctly. The fact that this ends with a conclusion and he affirms himself that there's a difference is an insult to anyone with the slightest hint of statistical knowledge. You might as well say God Exists if I flip a coin and it lands head because He willed it so.
You can do better GMBN. Especially given all the comments saying this was a good experiment. Your duty is to help your 480k subscribers, not to get them to make bad purchasing decisions.
You can start by measuring the deflection of these bars under load. You might be surprised at what you find
I would love no flex as not need any, I don't grip bars enough to need it for comfort
I think you got the backsweep and upsweep mixed around
If carbon feels stiffer, i see no point in using it at all.
More Blake! Party On!
I Paid 60$ For My New CF Bars .... The Feel Is Perfect
"Hello you beautiful people!"
what do we conclude??😅😅
More Blakey....!
I've only ever noticed handlebar differences on bigger hard days, I used to super from arm pump until I changed handlebars back to alloy. Haven't tried any of the newer "compliance" carbon bars but it's not really worth it when the alloys are the came weight.
I love Blake and Anna’s good energy! More videos with you two please!
7075 aluminum riser bars over carbon; Thomson Titanium riser bars over both🤘🤘 "YEAH❗️"
I ❤ Your propain Blake raw aluminium looks amazing ❤
Bamboo handlebar is where it's at. #Passchier
I don’t see the point of carbon bars for freeride, DH etc… arm pump IMO doesn’t really factor on a stage or sessioning.
‘Good old aluminium handlebars’ -wow
The amount of fun I have is not impacted by the handlebar material..
Very good test and review actually, keep em coming!
Blake and Anna together always makes a good video.
Yes pls more Blake!!!
Always more Blake!
Ns carbon bars are mint
More Blake please :)
🚴🏼🚴🏼🚴🏼🫡
Thought carbon was no no for jumping
cahhbon is stiffahh
For me quite opposite, alu is total stiff crap without any flex.
@@danielstormy3660 was referring to the accent only sorry I have no idea what's stiffahh
for the disabled market - people with hand and arm injuries the dampening qualities of carbon are essential
But not for the remaining market?
🤷♂️😢
They seem to dampen vibration if they are forks on a hard-nose street bicycle, but handlebars?
Also I'm not sure how great that works, since other technologies such as _Future Shock_ has been employed on say, a Specialized Roubaix.
Recently switched from carbon Deity Skywire bars to a OneUp Carbon bar and my wrists are happier for it. The Deity bars are brutally unforgiving. For the next blind test, have the OneUp bars vs. Alloy bars. Would be curious of the findings.
Have a set of one up carbon bars and stem … man for me it was a game changer… if it’s all in my head I’ll still take it haha
kenvitatoe TH-cam E bike