How can a handlebar be triple butted?

[SergeL]

For example, Czar Street highriser is claimed to be triple butted: 1.8mm/2.6mm/1.8mm (official info).

But Reynolds website says:
1. On double-butted tubes the thickness of the tubes at both ends is thicker than in the centre.
2. A triple-butted tube means it has three different wall thicknesses along its length e.g. 0.9mm/0.5mm/0.7mm.

So, either Czar is double butted, or maybe there is an extra taper...

• How about 1.8mm/2.6+x mm/2.6mm for bended zones. Additional strength - maybe, but such extra taper doesn't correspond with weight advantage, which is claimed for triple butted tubes.
• Varying thickness in negative direction like 1.8mm/1.8-x mm/2.6mm makes no sense as bended zones are more stressed than grip area.
• Ok, imagine thickness reduction of the stem clamp area: 2.6mm/2.6-x mm/2.6mm. But this area is so small like 40mm and can't save enough weight. 

[PeterH]

Its part of a special non engineering related process called "marketing"

 

Also, so what? I could be double or triple or straight gauge or carbon or whatever. For a bar what matters the geo and the overall weight, I wouldn't get too worked up about the butting.

[aener]

Not to be contrarian, but I disagree. Say a set of bars weighs, for example, 350g. If all that matters is the weight and 250g of it is right at the ends underneath the grip, you've got a bar that will have your perfect geometry and a sensible weight that will snap as soon as you stand on the bike.
Obviously no real bars would be that extreme, but weight distribution, and thus thickness, will inform the strength. Allowing flex at certain parts will remove stress from higher strain areas, improving life at the cost of feeling flexy. I'm not an engineer enough to know what is optimal, but where and how thick the butting is in a set of bars DOES play a role.

 

As for the original question, I would suggest it's most likely a question of terminology that has gotten a little confused in translation. Maybe they are triple butted, but I think it very likely they're double, and mistakenly called triple. There are three measurements involved after all, so if you're writing an advert in a second language... It seems easily done.

[PeterH]

In the interest of picking an internet fight I will be contrarian.

But I'll start out with your theoretical example is correct and so if you read my initial response and don't consider reality in there you make a solid point. That said please tell me how you would make such a bar. With the largest diameter at the center the butting naturally happens on the outer, drawn down portions, unless you want to start with the larger diameter and get some pretty fancy lathe work or some other way (perhaps chem milling with creative masking...). But it the world of making cheap trials parts I don't think anyone is going to do that. And I don't think a bar that failed right away would exist for long, even in our super low production niche. You are correct, the butting could be done in certain ways to make a bar more flexy or stiff at the same weight, but I would wager no one on this forum could tell a triple butted from a double butted bar by feel alone.

And I'm not really trying to pick a fight, just bitter at myself for not being that thorough in my response to a question I judged at not having a ton of value and that's on me.