Plastic clamps on braced bars???

[Cheeseybeaner]

Forgive me but don't plastic clamps on a handle bar brace rather remove any benefit to the brace being there?!
Got a set of renthal style bars from ebay which seem fine otherwise but have plastic clamps for the brace, surely would lack the strength to make the brace any use at all?
A little dismayed, makes the bars look as if they're decorative.

[DrDonnyBrago]

[yen_powell]

I had steel braced bars on my DR350 and over the course of a year they changed shape several times with all the offroad falls I had. The (genuine) Renthals that replaced them shrugged off any such nonsense with ease.
____________________
Blackmail is a nasty word........but not as nasty as phlegm!
XT1200Z and a DR350 in bits

[Nixon]

Buy shit off ebay ... get shit off ebay and your surprised when it's shit?

[Slacker24seve...]

[G]

It depends the reason for the brace, etc; in some cases you do want some flex, so it's possible the plastic could account for this (when landing big jumps in motocross or attacking rock gardens etc in enduro).

Probably just cheap, though .

[Cheeseybeaner]

To be honest the bars look pretty sturdy, they're thicker than the ones I took off the bike, didn't really fancy forking out £30 on a set of renthals so bought these as were in the right colour (black) and the dimensions seemed about right for what I wanted so £17 seemed about right.
Just seems a little whimsical to brace a handlebar then use plastic clamps to support the brace! Maybe I'll see about getting some metal clamps if I can find some.

[Shaft]

[yen_powell]

One of my sets of genuine Renthal bars on this bike. They also have plastic joints.
https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b165/yen_powell/april07-5.jpg
____________________
Blackmail is a nasty word........but not as nasty as phlegm!
XT1200Z and a DR350 in bits

[Cheeseybeaner]

So the Renthals also have plastic joints? I'm surprised at this. Maybe there's a reason for them using plastic which isn't just a sign of cheapness.

[G]

The quality of the metal may be significantly different.

However having a quick google, it seems that Renthals for instance are definitely 'tuned' for different amounts of flex.
With the stiffest ones being strongest, but transmitting the most vibration to the hands, which can cause arm pump etc (only an issue off-road really.)

The other thing to consider is that it may be better to have a bar that bends in a crash - as it's relatively cheap rather than having a strong bar bending your suspension components etc.

Of course presumably part of the trick is to get a bar that bends - but bounces back so you can carry on riding after a crash.

[Cheeseybeaner]

Thanks.
I'm not intending to do any serious off-roading, I just wanted to try a wider more forward set of bars on the bike. I've tried them out and if anything you feel as if you're sitting with chest a little lower and there's more of a forward stretch instead of feeling a bit cramped with bars that curve backwards.
I had a similar set on a cb750 and just liked the 'in control' feel of the bike with them fitted, the only thing which was awkward was the ease with which they'd grab car mirrors filtering, probably less of an issue on an enduro style bike as they're taller.