what do you guys make of these black dots on my carbon bars? seeems roughly the same location on both sides. there is one on each side have to look closely

Are you riding races and put you your race number on your handlebar?

Looks like there was some tape put there and when it was removed, it took the clear coat with it

there is some tape residue there. but this dot is well below the clearcoat which is in great shape. I had tape there to protect it from my race plate

I see it now. Is it just a dot that's in the epoxy / clearcoat? If it doesn't appear to be a hole in the fibers (the fibers don't weave around it), then I wouldn't worry about it. Definitely odd though.

yeah it looks like a blob of ink under the clear coat. the fibres do not appear to go around it. and its extra weird because there is one on each side. I am wondering if they added a little extra reinforcement of some kind at that point? because of failures in this type of handle bar that seem to quite often from what I can tell occur there at the bend