Hi Rick.
We first want to thank you for inviting our feed back to your blog. We
apologize for how lengthy this is, but we felt short answers to specific
things wouldn't do.
We checked out TT and read the comments and concerns about our bars. The
most prominent concern, or point, was that carbon fiber can be brittle or
break especially if scratched. Well simply stated, they are correct.
Carbon fiber can be very brittle and scratch/gouge sensitive as we
discovered many times in the early stages of development. But just like a
pane of glass is brittle, when correctly engineered, you get bullet
resistant glass. Setting that thought aside, we never said our handlebars
were only carbon fiber. Instead they are composed of a group of materials
in very specific ways, of which carbon fiber is only a percentage. With
that in mind, ask yourself, how does a carbon fiber fishing rod (which is
strictly carbon fiber) bend so far? Or how can the tiny shaft of a carbon
golf club handle the impact stresses that it does? The answer again, is
in the engineering. As engineers, we have developed a way to use the best
of what this group of materials can offer.
For the techies: We have worked with one of our suppliers to develop a
nano-enhanced crack mitigation specific binder. Sorry, but the info
shared so far is the most we will ever say about how the bars are made.
Our composite bars have been in development for over 8 years and testing
for 5. They have been run in varying conditions and venues, from 100+
degrees F on street /dirt bikes and ATVs to -70F on snowmobiles. You
would think when we got to the point of our bars being equivalent in
toughness to an aluminum bar; we would have decided that was good enough.
Well…that wasn’t good enough for us. We wanted to far exceed what an
aluminum bar would handle. We have designed and redesigned countless times
to get where we are today. We have impact flexed our bars to 8”+ and had
them return to their original shape with no permanent damage. This very
same test left aluminum bars badly damaged. However, as was mentioned
before, we don’t claim they’re indestructible.
A couple quick stories about tough, if I may. We had a championship
winning hare-scramble rider get dumped on the start of a race, the
majority of the rest of his group piled on top. When he got up, he
thought the bars were damaged because they were VERY crooked. They didn’t
feel weak to him so he finished the race, and if memory serves, won.
After the race, he realized that what he actually bent were the two 12mm
lower bar clamp mounting bolts. That was over two years ago. Since, he
has won another championship, twisted subframes and rims , and damaged
countless other parts in crashes and is still running the same exact pair
of bars. That pair of handlebars, that he still runs, are so many
improvements ago they don’t even have the aluminum wear surfaces that are
found on our current product.
On the flip side of that, I personally witnessed a rider drop his bike (I
don’t know why) while sitting at the starting line of a recent race, and
snap a pair of aluminum bars clean off. I know, I couldn’t believe it
either, but it happened.
You cannot compare anything you know about composites to our product
simply because there is nothing else like it. Particularly, cheaply made
body parts that are in some cases not even carbon fiber even though they
are advertised to be. With that same thought you cannot compare any other
handlebar to ours, not even the other flex bars that are on the market.
Those flex in one direction only. If that particular direction is the way
you always need it, I don’t know where you’re riding but I guess they will
be fine for you. However, with the damage we have done to our shoulders,
wrists and upper bodies over the years, we like the bars to flex in all
directions. I personally suffer from two blown out shoulders and terrible
arm pump issues so bad that I can’t hold on to the handlebars (aluminum)
after a couple laps. I don’t have that problem with our bars, and that is
the reason we set out to make them. Not for their looks, not for their
weight savings over the other flex bars (which is significant by the way)
or to solve the somewhat (in my opinion) mushy feel the others have, but
instead for what they do for you, the rider.
We appreciate your thoughts and understand your skepticism and concerns.
Hell, some days we can't believe what we have come up with! But we also
know that once you try them, especially if you suffer from any of pains or
problems that were mentioned, you won’t want to run anything else.
Thank you again
Doug Cain
