Any question answered...

I’ve been thinking the same. Surely they’d have been under tape at this point.

At first I was afraid, I was petrified but then I thought to myself that many alloy bars are drilled for cables anyway so now I’m not sure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBR2G-iI3-I

I’m glad someone got it :)

The question I'm asking myself is, "how the fuck did they get into that state?"

Looks more like corrosion pitting than foreign object impact. Tape is pretty good at keeping bars in a state of permanent dampness if parked outside every day.

And there was us mortals thinking aluminium was safe from corrosion

Should I be asking for my money back

Take them back to the seller and ask for a refund.
Go. Walk out the door. Don't turn around now, they're not worth it any more. I think they'll crumble, I think you'll fall down and die.

And there was us mortals thinking aluminium was safe from corrosion

Pure aluminium is actually quite resistant to corrosion. It's also about as strong as cheese. The alloying elements which go into aluminium alloys to make them strong enough to use as handlebars also tend to make them much more susceptible to corrosion, particularly stress corrosion cracking, and particularly when there are chloride ions present (as in sweat and salted roads).

There is a kind of material called Alclad which is used in aerospace structures specifically to address this, using a high strength alloy core clad in high purity aluminium.

Seems a decent hypothesis, I did think it looked more like corrosion rather than crash damage, but have never seen bars corrode like that before (mainly because I don't keep anything parked outside all day, every day).

have never seen bars corrode like that before

Maybe you have a different alloy. 6000 series (typically 6061 for bars) is pretty good, but 2000 series (usually 2014 or 2024 for bars), while stronger, is very susceptible to corrosion due to the copper content. 7000 series (e.g. 7075) falls somewhere between the two.

7050 apparently. Could be from sweaty palms I guess

Could be worse...

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Did the seller not literally mention and photograph the corrosion in the sale thread? I thought s/he did?

Possibly I completely overlooked it. It’s since been edited so I can’t tell

I think they did, because I immediately knew which ones you were on about having seen the thread. I also wondered what they meant by corrosion exactly. I maybe assumed drips of head sweat?

No you’re right. I reread and have just found it. Fucks sake. Looks like I’m out of pocket, lesson learnt

Might use them anyway then....

But this has got me slightly worried about my Syncros pursuit bars that the previous owner drilled two additional cack-handed cable holes into...

Is there an indoor training/zwift thread? I could have sworn there was but I cant find it now

Is there an indoor training/zwift thread? I could have sworn there was but I cant find it now

Get some cross lever things and ride on the tops the whole time? Cut the ends off, flip them and turn them into bullhorns?

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/270470/?offset=75

Or the EC1 thread.

Haha you mad? This ain’t 2007 and I ain’t riding no fixie

No. Guide and full-size hacksaw with 32tpi blade essential. Take care not breathe in the dust!

Modern mtb wheel in an old frame. Can I remove this washer to make rear spacing a better match or will that mess things up?

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You could remove it, or replace it with thinner spacers.
You may well need to re-dish the wheel, and cut down the rear axle (if it's QR).
Or you could re-space the frame.