Fear of carbon

[maxcherry]

I am looking at a 'Road bike' as I would like to do sportives and road races next year. I currently have a
From what I have found, all the bikes have carbon forks! I did have a Cube Peloton bike, but every time I rode it
all I could think was that any moment the forks would snap and I would kiss the tarmac.

I hear that carbon is supposed to be as good as steel, but I also hear that not all carbon is equal.

My current bike is a Single Speed Day one hence looking at a road bike.

Thank you


PS
Can disk brakes ne used in road races?

[jezer]

At the present time disc brakes can't be used in road races due to the risk of injury during a crash. I believe the UCI is looking at the issue, and I wouldn't be surprised if they are not made legal soon. For normal riding I think they will become the norm. I've recently ordered a Whyte RD7 with discs, and I look forward to using it in the winter on club rides. It seems an obvious choice with the crap roads we have to ride on these days

[[XAP]Bob]

Carbon won't generally shatter without warning.

However once it has been subject to a few knocks and scrapes in life the confidence decreases somewhat. The real issue isn't weakness, but warning. Carbon has a greater tendency to catastrophic failure - steel tends to give warning as it builds towards failure, allowing you to get off and not experience that final failure.

[maxcherry]

Thank you jezer regarding the UCI and thank you Bob for telling me about carbon (blooming frightening)

I'll stick to looking for a steel road bike, with steel forks.

[easyroller]

There are literally 1000's of riders out there covering 1000's of miles every day riding full carbon frames, forks, handlebars, stems, crank arms, wheels, etc. Their quality ranges from cheap to ludicrously expensive. How many incidents of carbon failure do you hear about?

[maxcherry]

Quiet a few according to Google and YouTube.

That's why I asked. The videos and pictures are scary!

[yakdiver]

Steel is real

[easyroller]

Quiet a few according to Google and YouTube.

That's why I asked. The videos and pictures are scary!

Well obviously if you type in carbon fibre failure... I've never seen catastrophic carbon failure in person or know anyone who has and some of the guys have been riding carbon fibre frames/forks for the best part of ten years.

It's strong. See this video: http://www.pinkbike.com/video/243228/

I will admit the way it fails without warning is a little scary, but 2000lbs is some force!

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Whats the garentee with a carbon anything
There's your answer..............................

[tim-b]

Hi

Carbon fibre (CF) bike frame tubes have been around for decades. Giant built their first CF bike in 1987, so they (amongst others) have some experience

Steel is real

I've seen this on the forum numerous times, but what does it mean?

Regards
tim-b

[Mark1978]

It rhymes that's the beginning and end of it.

There's no issue with carbon it's as strong and durable as any other frame or fork material.

[maxcherry]

Does carbon have a grade system like steel ?

The 1980s Carbon is not the same type (manufacture process) they have now.
How does a person know if they have a quality frame as most manufacturers just buy
Bulk and slap a label on.

Nit trying to start a war or argument, but just because something has been around for
a while, doesn't mean it's good. Most folks buy for the weight and the fact they can say
they have a 'carbon' bike.

There was a time when carbon handle bars were not advised due to safety, people still
opt for alu bars, so carbon can not be that safe (or maybe there is another reason)

Just asked to try and get over my 'Carbon Fear'

[Brian73]

[hamish]

Carbon frames don't really appeal to me. But I acknowledge that my attitude is borne of prejudice more than fact or experience. I have posted this before but Mike Hall says he used carbon because it is strong.

http://road.cc/content/news/59716-interview-round-world-record-holder-mike-hall-talks-round-world-record-kit

He puts the bike through a pretty hard test- although I know that many commuters will put a steel frame through worse conditions and more miles over a decade of use. The funny thing is that if you want a 'sporty' steel or aluminim frame you often end up with carbon forks anyway and it's the forks that get the hammering and the forks that you really don't want to fail!

[[XAP]Bob]

There is one reason to be wary of carbon.

- The failure mode isn't as gracious as that of steel (or other materials)

When steel fails it normally does so gradually, you can feel the failure building as a component tears. Well made CF in factory condition is much stronger, but it is also possible to damage it in a such a way that the damage is not obvious, but significantly weakens the structure. This can then lead to the CF failure mode - which is often abrupt, and that is what is scary about CF, not the overall strength (we've cracked that problem) but the failure mode, particularly from hidden damage.

Annoyance is also caused by the fragility of CF in the "non design" direction. The structure of CF means that it is weak in one direction and strong in another. Layers are built up to support each other, but the primary strength on a tube is probably "along" that tube. Drop a chainset onto one (as someone on the forum has done recently) and you can do unknown amounts of damage - because the force is not one that the frame was designed to take. Do it to steel and it's homogenous nature means that the damage is likely to be much less, and at least much more easily assessed (and therefore repaired)

Of course the damage doesn't have to be from a dropped chainset - a careless neighbour at a cycle stand, or a gust of wind knocking over a bike and a full bottle ripping the bidon out of the frame bolts and all. Maybe a stone kicked up by a passing car?

What's the gain? A few grammes here and there? If you're on the tour you probably care, else you have to make your own decision as to whether the tradeoff is a good one. Personally I could take a slightly smaller toolkit and save much more weight than that, but I'd rather be able to look after myself at the side of the road if at all possible - a steel frame is therefore where my decision brings me (and I like the look of older slim steel frames).