well, i may be biased, but i think the answer to all renthal problems is to switch to pro tapers!! ;-)
as for tags, well, here's an inside story...but to keep the guilty parties safe, i'll try to keep it anonymous.
recently, a certain well respected and very fast pro rider recently joined a new team. his old team had a relationship with renthal, and this rider chose to continue using them even though his new team has a relationship with tag. this rider's new team also has another member that's been on the team a while. that rider as well as a rider who used to be on the team but who is now on a new one have always used pro tapers in spite of that same relationship with tag. confused yet? in other words, not all was as appeared on the surface - both riders on that team preferred pro tapers.
well, the unamed new rider took a header at a recent supercross and bent his renthals. now, that rider's new team is the beneficiary of technology from one of the o.e.m. racing departments, but is itself not a factory team. the o.e.m. factory team has had a long standing relationship with pro taper, and it was recently learned that said o.e.m. racing department called the owner of said satellite team and basically "suggested" that they run pro tapers from now on.
now, all credit where due - there are lots of good bars out there, but i think that was about as clear a message of confidence in the quality of pro taper as you could ask for.
and yes, i would swear in court as to the truth of this story.
wp.