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Reliability of carbon MTB frames?



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 14th 08, 12:12 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Dave
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Posts: 78
Default Reliability of carbon MTB frames?

Now that there are a large number of very lightweight carbon mountain
bikes on the market, anyone care to comment on how well they hold up
under real-world conditions? High end hardtail carbon frames are now
only slightly heavier than carbon road frames.

Can these bikes survive rock impacts, crashes, etc, as well as
aluminum bikes? Are those of you in the retail world seeing customers
come in with ruined bikes?
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  #2  
Old August 14th 08, 01:05 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Ted Mittelstaedt
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Posts: 69
Default Reliability of carbon MTB frames?


"Dave" wrote in message
...
Now that there are a large number of very lightweight carbon mountain
bikes on the market, anyone care to comment on how well they hold up
under real-world conditions? High end hardtail carbon frames are now
only slightly heavier than carbon road frames.

Can these bikes survive rock impacts, crashes, etc, as well as
aluminum bikes? Are those of you in the retail world seeing customers
come in with ruined bikes?


There is no reason that a correctly designed frame using a quality
composition
would not hold up as well as an aluminum frame. If anything, carbon
fiber would be superior for this since for the small bangs, it's going
to flex and absorb the impact, rather than denting.

The $64,000 question though is on the large strikes. Watch an F1
car crash during a race and pay attention to the front suspension arms.
Do you want your frame doing that under you when you go sailing off that
15 foot drop you didn't see ;-)

Hopefully any crash stories will come with the make and manufacturer
of the frame.

Ted


  #3  
Old August 14th 08, 02:31 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
jim beam
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Posts: 5,758
Default Reliability of carbon MTB frames?

Dave wrote:
Now that there are a large number of very lightweight carbon mountain
bikes on the market, anyone care to comment on how well they hold up
under real-world conditions? High end hardtail carbon frames are now
only slightly heavier than carbon road frames.

Can these bikes survive rock impacts, crashes, etc, as well as
aluminum bikes? Are those of you in the retail world seeing customers
come in with ruined bikes?



you come to r.b.t for feedback on a material the freds won't ride?
that's crazy talk.
  #4  
Old August 14th 08, 09:56 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
[email protected][_2_]
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Posts: 1,594
Default Reliability of carbon MTB frames?

On Aug 13, 5:12 pm, Dave wrote:
Now that there are a large number of very lightweight carbon mountain
bikes on the market, anyone care to comment on how well they hold up
under real-world conditions? High end hardtail carbon frames are now
only slightly heavier than carbon road frames.

Can these bikes survive rock impacts, crashes, etc, as well as
aluminum bikes? Are those of you in the retail world seeing customers
come in with ruined bikes?


While I don't ride CF, from what I've een from friends that ride CF
and from what I've read, there is no reason for CF not to do just
fine. You can get a very light CF frame too that will likely do great.

Depending on terrain, however, I think, again, from my own experience,
that the most important thing is good suspension. A well designed
frame with good suspension is more important to me than the material
if you are going to go through really rough stuff. Aluminum can be
almost as light as CF but a lot less expensive. So, for MTB frames I
would think that AL and suspension make the best combination of
efficiency and value. There are people that still ride hard tails.
However, they don't go where the full suspensions go and in rough
stuff they don't climb like full suspension bikes.
  #5  
Old August 15th 08, 08:08 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Dave
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Posts: 78
Default Reliability of carbon MTB frames?

On Aug 13, 5:05*pm, "Ted Mittelstaedt" wrote:
There is no reason that a correctly designed frame using a quality
composition would not hold up as well as an aluminum frame. *


I agree, the question, however, is "correctly designed". As an
observer of mountain bike fashions, I am now seeing carbon frames (esp
the 2009 model year) that are substantially lighter than years past.
Are these new very light carbon frames sacrificing durability?

I also wonder whether consumer perceptions about what constitutes
adequate durability have changed in the MTB market. Seems to me that
current consumer-level road frames are substantially more likely to be
destroyed in relatively minor crashes than 5-10 years ago, and road
bike buyers accept this tradeoff. Has the same thing happened for
MTBs?


  #6  
Old August 15th 08, 08:18 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
[email protected]
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Posts: 1,299
Default Reliability of carbon MTB frames?

On Aug 15, 3:08*pm, Dave wrote:
On Aug 13, 5:05*pm, "Ted Mittelstaedt" wrote:

There is no reason that a correctly designed frame using a quality
composition would not hold up as well as an aluminum frame. *


I agree, the question, however, is "correctly designed". *As an
observer of mountain bike fashions, I am now seeing carbon frames (esp
the 2009 model year) that are substantially lighter than years past.
Are these new very light carbon frames sacrificing durability?

I also wonder whether consumer perceptions about what constitutes
adequate durability have changed in the MTB market. *Seems to me that
current consumer-level road frames are substantially more likely to be
destroyed in relatively minor crashes than 5-10 years ago, and road
bike buyers accept this tradeoff. *Has the same thing happened for
MTBs?


I wonder this myself. I crash my MTB, sometimes hard and onto rocks.
My aluminum frame is beat beyond belief, with dings and gouges
galore. I have a hard time picturing carbon standing up to these
types of crashes. I assume they'll put up with riding fine - how well
they'll crash makes me nervous
 




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