I’m thinking that adding tape will give salt another place to hang out and get to know the bars.
My current preferred handlebar is a PRO Alloy Aero, and I love it. I’ve done this melt-down with the FSA bars that came with the bike; I’ve melted other bars in the past from Zipp, Cayon, Cannondale, Whisky…who knows.
I’ve tried painting with etching primer too and that failed. My next idea, which is impossible, is stripping the bars and doing a hard anodizing if I can even find anyone to do one unit. I would powder coat, but I worry about heating aluminum.
Obviously quite expensive, and IDK about timing to get one. But the investment might be worthwhile, given mix of (a) repeatedly replacing cheaper bars and (b) reducing risk a bar will fail catastrophically while you’re riding.
Yeah, I ditched the bar tape on the indoor training bike. That ended the corrosion issues. Also, if you really insist on bar tape, the cheap foam stuff is much better for not trapping moisture than the expensive faux leather / smooth grip tapes.
Are you torque’ing your shifter clamps, or just tightening them down with a strong hand? I ask because I don’t think I’ve never seen a shifter clamp bite into a bar like that.
Although I thought you could be overreacting a tad about ‘normal’ lever body/bar scrapes, etc, that damage is pretty epic. Some more info is really needed here. Start with what part of the world do you live? Where do you store the bike post-ride? What brand bar tape are you using?
I sweat a lot, too, but I’ve never ever seen such damage, either on my bike or others. Which is why I think there’s more to the story. You may also want to have a physical and share this with the doctor since high salt content in ones sweat could be an indicator of chronic dehydration or other issues.
i’m going to say the stupid thing here, are you using a towel on the bars when you train? I’ve never gt no-where near that and I sweat heavy and train indoors a lot.
I live in Texas, unfortunately. The bar tape is flushed if I’m very sweaty, I let the bike dry in the sun, and then it’s stored in my office or a bedroom. I never ride this bike on a trainer. My blood work came back normal. I usually drink two servings of First Endurance CH/electrolyte mix during a workout or ride.
I’ve had similar levels of pitting and corrosion on my aluminum bars a number of times (but certainly not at the rate you described - though I’m in California, and so I imagine TX weather would have been an accelerant?) Tightly wrapping the bar in electrical tape before doing bar tape (cork) seemed to help somewhat…and I also never used them without gloves.
(Carbon bars have also solved the problem somewhat)
I’d also have all kinds of other corrosion on other places on the bike. Upon seeing that, someone in a bike store mentioned that there used to be a term in old machine shops for people with particularly corrosive sweat (wish I could remember what it was)….and those people were not permitted to work with the more expensive machinery…
