What are you not telling me

[schwinnmesa]

I've never had a carbon bike but I've always wondered about it's strength.

I heard that carbon fiber is 10 times stronger than steel. I was watching Modern Marvels one day on the History channel about it. It's amazing, really. It fools with the brain because of how light it is... I guess the problem is associating light things as being cheap -- not the case with carbon though. Carbon fiber, I mean. You and I aren't cheap, haha... Well, maybe. :mrgreen:

However, with bicycles and hearing about carbon fiber ones breaking and this and that, I doubt it's really 10 times stronger than steel. How can you say something is 10 times stronger than steel when a carbon fiber bike breaks knowing that a steel bicycle is 10 times worse? I don't think so!

Can anyone say Element #13 FTW? :mrgreen:

 

[outskirtscustoms]

I heard that carbon fiber is 10 times stronger than steel.

Yeah I find that hard to believe, maybe by weight it would be. But the Carbon bike is much lighter. I still say if it can be ruined by scratching it or nicking the finish I'll keep my steel bike. I had one bike fly out the back of my truck doing 50MPH and I just went and picked it up and only thing that was messed up was the seat and grips. The carbon bike would have been toast.

 

[Beau]

Ha!

...and how many websites are there for steel/aluminum failing? 8)

 

[Lonewolf]

The Y-bikes were TANKS though! :lol: They were super thick too.

Plus, the Unified Rear Triangle suspension was worthless out of the saddle.

The carbon Y bike I have is still one of the lightest bikes I own (I own High dollar racing BMX bikes).

Mountain bikes have gotten heavier. Even to this day, my Y22 is one of the lighter mountain bikes out there.

With today's multi linkage rear suspension, The Y seems a bit dated and rides a bit quirky, but when it was new, you never knew any better.

 

[Bendix]

one thing to keep in mind with the y bikes- only the 'y' was carbon. the most common problem on those was separation of the bonded aluminum shock mount.

most of the full carbon frame warranties i see now involve cracks developing at either the chainstay or bb area....

of course steel frames fail as well- we saw several trek built 853 lemonds with cracks near the rear brake bridge. too much heat for the tubeset i suppose...

aluminum is the champ as far as the sheer number of warranty frames- and the only material where i've personally seen absolutely catastrophic frame failures- but there are many more of these sold. i don't think there's any doubt carbon has the highest percentage- especially at the upper price points where the consumer least expects it.... i understand one shop in a well known cycling town sold 30+ units of a very high end mtb from a very well known company this year. every one cracked.....

 

[OUTLAW]

for not being on the trail and not much outside, it sure is dirty. i would of clean it before i posted. lol. hard to say if it's bad or not. lol

Outlaw

 

[chaunceysj]

I've never had a carbon bike but I've always wondered about it's strength.

I heard that carbon fiber is 10 times stronger than steel. I was watching Modern Marvels one day on the History channel about it. It's amazing, really. It fools with the brain because of how light it is... I guess the problem is associating light things as being cheap -- not the case with carbon though. Carbon fiber, I mean. You and I aren't cheap, haha... Well, maybe. :mrgreen:

However, with bicycles and hearing about carbon fiber ones breaking and this and that, I doubt it's really 10 times stronger than steel. How can you say something is 10 times stronger than steel when a carbon fiber bike breaks knowing that a steel bicycle is 10 times worse? I don't think so!

Can anyone say Element #13 FTW? :mrgreen:

its true carbon is very strong and in many ways superior to steel, but it all comes down to how it is being made. construction is key. the resin and quality of carbon fiber and weave all come into play. too much resin and the carbon is heavy but the excess resin makes the carbon actually weaker. too little resin and the carbon is very light but very thin and brittle. it takes skill to find the right ballance, as well as the right carbon fiber material to start with. on top of all this frames and parts come down to design more than anything. and as a final factor, there are dfferences in tensile strength and durability. while carbon is very strong, it is more prone to flex and snap than a steel bar (or so i understand) think of it as strong along the tubes but weaker at the sides if that makes sense? :?: not an expert but i have looked into alot of carbon stuff. i may be wrong

 

[deorman]

Scrape your steel bike on a wall or fence. Goodbye paint. Now the carbon fiber. Goodbye bike (or face, collarbone, the odd knee. :shock: :x )

 

[smokenshadow]

I think there are some simple truths about carbon fiber
1. it's like anything else ever produced- you can easily find lower cost crap, or high dollar miracles materials
2. lets say it's 10 times stronger than steel- what do you need that on a bike for? If you just need a bike to be lightweight and strong there are certainly plenty of decent aluminum designs you can go with.
3. no matter how big you are, no one "needs" to be riding carbon fiber.