Switching to carbon riser bars ?

[percymon]

Thinking about switching the alloy bar on my Giant Fastroad E+ EX Pro for a carbon one - the current alloy one is 690mm width which i'm quite comfortable with for a touring/commuter bike. A bit extra rise might be an advantage, but the main reason is to see if a carbon bar will damper out some of the front wheel vibration from the solid fork.

Obvious swap is to fit a Giant SLR XC riser bar - its the same width, and shouldn't cause any issue with any future warranty claims on the bike. There's not much info on it though, what i've found suggests its very stiff, but very light (half that of the alloy bar). The weight aspect isn't really a reason to buy; the comments of its stiffness perhaps a reason to doubt the switch (stiffness doesn't necessarily mean it won't dampen better than the alloy version of course)

Via the forum search I found many discussions on the Baramind Trek/City bars which look interesting - same price as the Giant option but designed with flex for ride dampening/cushioning - they seem to get some good feedback here but their width is less (660/620mm from recollection) and that might be a bit narrow (especially as the Fastroad replaced a FS MTB with 720mm bars).

After those options the other risers i've found are from the usual trial/DH brands such as Renthal, RaceFace , Nukeproof (Horizon V2) etc - all somewhat wider and very much off road trail biased.

What's the opinion on the effectiveness of a carbon bar for damping vibration ?


PS I'm not looking for a suspension stem, or suspension seatpost (itself potentially difficult on the Fastroad due to the D shaped tube) at the moment, this is just a bar swap

 

[linklemming]

 

[percymon]

Thanks for that likelemming , I actually watched that video amongst others earlier. It’s does quite a good job explaining the difference in lateral stiffness and the bump absorption/comfort aspects. It’s very clear that some of the more downhill / extreme MTB bars like the Renthal are very stiff; what I’m struggling to get much info on is how that translates Into road use and road imperfections, as opposed to the off road riding

 

[percymon]

Thanks for those suggestions, more research to do but a stem swap is less involved than transferring all the controls from one bar to another.

 

[percymon]

Looks like the Tranz-X stems as an only be fitted one way with negative 7’ angle, cannot be reversed for a positive fit. That’s ruled that option out for me, shame as they were a third of the price of the redshift.

 

[geysir]

The Redshift ShockStop stem may offer the most shock absorption.
Carbon fiber bars transmit less shock than aluminum bars. I use the ProTaper 20/20 carbon bars on my hybrid bike. The bars have 20 degrees of rise and 20 degrees of back sweep. I believe the bars were 780 mm before I cut them down to 680 mm. My wrists and shoulders like a 20 degree back sweep. Many straight bars are too straight for me.
An option is drop tire pressure a small amount. Or switch to softer tires. That bike has wide tires that should eliminate shock issues on streets or rail trails.
Another option would be to raise the bars. That would reduce the weight on your hands and reduce the shock you feel. You could switch to a higher stem like a 120 mm 17 degree stem, add a riser stem, or switch to riser handlebars.