Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

Weird finish on Monkeylite XC Carbon Handlebar...

3K views 29 replies 18 participants last post by  Schultz29 
#1 ·
Before I send the following pics to Easton, thought I would poll the community here as Monkeylites are a pretty common carbon mtb handlebar and no doubt quite a few here have these bars.

These are brand new and just installed on my 29er...purchased from Jensenusa.com. The finish is very inconsistent and wonder if it is typical or an odd aesthetic that Easton is going for and normal?





Thanks for any advice from those that know these bars. Please let me know if the finish is flawed or normal.
 
See less See more
2
#28 ·
what you are seeing with that line is the material overlap and parting line of the mold that is used to make the part.

When making parts like handlebars in a closed tool and bladder molding they have to try to close the tool and overlap the material without wrinkling or distorting it. This can be tricky with unidirectional material and sometimes it comes out looking nice with the material staying straight and sometimes it gets bunched up and what you are seeing is some out of that.

This does affect the strength of the finished part for sure but that being said they are probably still definitely strong enough. I am sure Easton has tested bars that look like this and feel that they still perform well enough to sell.
 
#29 ·
gk02 said:
what you are seeing with that line is the material overlap and parting line of the mold that is used to make the part.

When making parts like handlebars in a closed tool and bladder molding they have to try to close the tool and overlap the material without wrinkling or distorting it. This can be tricky with unidirectional material and sometimes it comes out looking nice with the material staying straight and sometimes it gets bunched up and what you are seeing is some out of that.

This does affect the strength of the finished part for sure but that being said they are probably still definitely strong enough. I am sure Easton has tested bars that look like this and feel that they still perform well enough to sell.
Thanks for your technical explanation. I am an engineer with a background in injection molding and your comments makes some sense. With typical plastics, the parting line is discernible...a line that is slightly raised due to mold mismatch where the molds separate. I have no experience with carbon fiber molds however and there is clearly no discernible line you can feel in particular....only the discontinuity in color you see.
Thanks for the education. I suppose it stands to reason why many if not most of all carbon fiber parts have the uniform weave placed in the mold cavity..as mtnbiker72 stated...because it represents a more uniform outer skin...which maybe for pure aesthetics but sacrifice strength 'fractionally' for the same cross section. I presume also this is really about aesthetics versus part cost...adds cost for the homogenous outer layer and Easton figures that most mtb'ers can live the appearance of these bars...which we can. :)
Since carbon bars offer an improvement to vibration dampening off road, I likely won't ride an Al bar again if I can help it to preserve my aging hands.
Thanks again.
 
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top