Weight doesn’t matter at all and I wouldn’t mind if they were heavier. When I test rode the tarmac with their carbon bars it just made the handlebars feel very smooth (I was searching out cracks on the road to test for comfort) so felt a bit better then my current bike. (My current bike has ShockStop Suspension Stem for Gravel, Road and Mountain Bikes – Redshift Sports installed on it) Its purely about comfort. Ok a bit of the aerodymic advantage, but only to justify $300 for the handlebars from specialized when regular handlebars are so much cheaper.
I take it your bike has fallen on its side and no issues at all from that? Thats the durability I’m worried about, not riding as that is nor the normal use case. I assume Specialized tests the normal use case enough that they wouldn’t use handlebars that would fail in that way (Also not as heavy as some with specialized not having a weight limit and don’t pull on them as much as other riders)
Anyone work in a bike shop? How often do you see carbon bars needing to be replaced?