Well this is controversial

[wafter]

My reason for sticking with metals is that 'carbon' is a shorthand for carbon fibre reinforced plastic. In other words, once you're done with it, it's plastic crap like any other plastic crap. I don't want to be a consumer of yet another form of plastic crap. There's enough plastic crap in my life.

What I'd love to see is more premium aluminium frames, like Nicolai for example.

Yup... amuses me how it's been conveniently shortened to "carbon" - makes for so much better bragging rights than anything involving the word plastic. Same with "forged carbon" - sounds so much better than "chopped strand mat" as the fibreglass equivalent was always known.

Bill Hicks had the right idea..

 

[gbb]

So it reads "if you brought a CF bike, you made a mistake"

No I didn't. Will I ever extract all the advantages is gives...no, but I don't care.
I started on a cro mo framed roadbike, real budget and still enjoyed it. I've has 531, alloy and lastly a CF bike, all have felt progressively better to me personally, each with its advantages and disadvantages.

My money, my choice.

 

[Bristolian]

And submarines…

Submarines don't get dropped or crashed very often though.

 

[rogerzilla]

I had a CF bike for several years. Liked the light weight, didn't like the way it amplified noises or the dead feel over bumps. I think it's better than titanium for bikes, but good steel is still the best all-rounder unless you're a competitive racer.

 

[Cycleops]

Good point @rogerzilla I think the 'dead feel ' is it's worst characteristic but hey it's what the pros use.

 

[Paulus]

I've never bought a CF bike, but I have ridden a few. I didn't like the harsh feel of them and the vibration through the fork stem and bars. One was a older Trek and I have also ridden a Pinnerello and a Cervelo.
Not for me thank you, but everyone has an opinion.

 

[wafter]

I've never bought a CF bike, but I have ridden a few. I didn't like the harsh feel of them and the vibration through the fork stem and bars. One was a older Trek and I have also ridden a Pinnerello and a Cervelo.
Not for me thank you, but everyone has an opinion.

That's interesting as I've found mine to be both comfortable and very good at damping vibration; although of course this will be a function of the design as much as the material. From a ride perspective I can't fault it - what turns me off is the potential lack of longevity, lack of toughness, unpredictable failure mode of the material, difficulty of inspection and limited recycling potential...

 

[boydj]

I have a Focus Cayo in carbon, which must be well over 20 years old and still going strong. The reason I chose this at the time was that it had the same frame all the way up to the top of the range and was the Focus works team's climbing frame - complete with UCI approval sticker. I was doing triathlons at the time and wanted something racy, but practical. It's been through several rebuilds with the original 105 long gone. It's currently running vintage Campag Chorus, 10-speed, that came off an old carbon Wilier, bought on e-Bay that was a terribly harsh ride. The bike is a great fit, comfortable and smooth and the ride compares well with my titanium Kinesis.

Carbon Focus - great. Carbon Wilier - rough, but it's an out and out racing frame. It's not carbon per se, but the way the carbon is put together and I guess I struck lucky in picking the Focus.

 

[froze]

https://www.outsideonline.com/cultu...PF2SmU2CnmYJBu_HkbWwlvhTK16U7BiDD_C7ZBLtR9Uk8

Not to me it's not controversial.

And none have ever broken ever

And submarines…

And that worked out really well for a sub that went to see the Titanic.

 

[DogmaStu]

Not so much controversial than simply a piece written by someone who is ignorant.

CF comes in many grades, same as other materials. Different grades will yield different features depending upon design goals.

I’ve owned great steel, alu and CF bikes. My favourite to ride is without doubt CF. My current CF bikes are more comfortable than the 531p steel I’ve had. They are undeniably stronger.

I’ve cracked steel. Alu is too flexible. I’ve had 3 racing crashes on my 6kg CF road bike, one at over 50km/h. Not a scratch. Saddle scuffed, brake lever scuffed, pedal scuffed…frame and fork perfectly fine.
I race my CF MTB. Come off that on rocky terrain loads of times at speed. It’s seen 4 years of abuse most bikes never see. Perfectly fine.

Carbon wheels are stronger than steel. GCN did a test with CF road wheels, no tyres, on off-road over rocks and rough terrain. Didn’t even go out of true.

My CF gravel bike will match or beat any steel bike as a Touring option where comfort and low vibration is key and be lighter and stronger too.

I have been riding bikes since the early 1970’s. All types. All materials. Socially, Commuting, Touring, Racing. The Article is nonsense.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I have been riding bikes since the early 1970’s. All types. All materials. Socially, Commuting, Touring, Racing. The Article is nonsense.

Exactly.

Another of those "Do what I do or you're doing it wrong" pieces of garbage.

 

[rydabent]

But they make jet aircraft out of it so checkmate

But the carbon fiber tails have broken off at least 3 Airbus airplanes.

 

[Dogtrousers]

But the carbon fiber tails have broken off at least 3 Airbus airplanes.

Just curious which three incidents you're referring to? Ones where the "tail has broken off".

I'm no expert so I'm interested to learn about these three specific incidents of structural failure of either the vertical or horizontal stabilisers.

 

[ColinJ]

Blimey - plane maintenance crew were relying on a 'tap test'...

A standard test used to assess the safety of carbon-fibre composite airliners can be dangerously ineffective, according to air-safety investigators in Canada.

In a report published on 22 November, the Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB) says an aircraft can pass the “tap test”, even though its composites actually have small flaws.

Tap tests are part of routine servicing. A ground engineer listens for a change of pitch as they tap a composite surface like a tailplane or rudder. This is supposed to reveal gaps where layers of composite have come apart, but the TSB says small gaps can go undetected and later grow.

 

[srshultz]

I believe he makes many valid arguments. My bike is half carbon fiber and half aluminum. I know I’m not fast, but I might be half fast. 🤔