HELP: Titanium Handlebars?

Jayem said:

Aluminum will not just "snap" if it fails either. If carbon fails due to overload, it will usually be a massive failure making a loud bang. Either of these (overload of metal or overload of CF) will absorb a ton of energy and most likely, but not always, save you from some serious injury. There's a misconception that aluminum will "crack" suddenly. Titanium is actually more brittle than Aluminum or Steel. If you have a metal overload failure, the metal essentially "tears apart" or "folds", whether it's steel, aluminum, titanium, etc. You get compression and tension lines, 45° sheer pucks, etc. These are over-load failures, where the material fails due to force being applied beyond the designed limits.

The reason metal cracks is due to stress fractures, flaws, damage, corrosion pits, etc. Stress fractures are usually rare, as the components are generally designed to outlast most applications by a significant margin. These types of general failures create a small overload in the micro-scale (as in a very localized/small spot) and then with every further cycle the crack progresses further, until one day the structure can no longer support the load and you get a catastrophic failure. Again, doesn't matter if it's steel, CF or titanium. This usually manifests in a "polished" look to the metal in the crack. In fact, CF is probably better in this sense, because it will probably start showing more obvious signs of delamination, including cracking noise, visual discoloration, bursting/torn fibers, etc. These are under-load failures, where the part should not have failed, due to being below the designed load limit, except in the case of stress fractures if you had reached/exceeded the number of cycles.

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Taroroot said:

If you got known brand carbon bars designed for trail/enduro I wouldn't worry about it. We did non scientific destructive testing on friends retired carbon bars, took ridiculous punishment to break. In all my years of riding, I've seen more aluminum bars snap. Aluminum eventually fatigues. Steel and carbon (and I'm pretty sure Ti) will tolerate a certain degree of flex pretty much forever. Its when you exceed it that you either get failure or fatigue.

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2021Mach6 said:

Need some help cause I can't find much recent info on titanium bars. Currently have carbon bars that came w my bike and looking into replacing w alloy (Renthal Fatbar). I ride bike parks maybe 10x a year, not riding pro lines or launching 10 ft drops, but the threat of my bars snapping has me somewhat concerned. I get carbon bars are A LOT safer than 5-10 years ago and the threat minimal, so it's just peace of mind.

I came across Why Cycles titanium bars on Revel's website, but can't find current reviews on them or titanium bars in general. Anyone know the benefits titanium bars offer that carbon/alloy don't?

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2021Mach6 said:

Update (3/11/23): I came across this on a different Google search so thought I'd give an update. My fears came true and I did snap my bars at Killington Bike Park. Bad crash, snapped in half and just missed stabbing my leg. Got an alloy Renthal Fatbar and love it. Feels more stable and inspires a lot more confidence… I'll never ride carbon bars again!

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