Hmmm carbon frames

Cross section of LTc. Found this while looking for some info on the Blur LT. Just can’t get over how thin the head tube and head tube joins are. No doubt it’ll take way more abuse than I could ever throw at it, but still amazed at just how little material there appears to be. How can something that thin have sufficient strength, all in the layering?

Have you ever seen a cross-section through a steel or aluminium frame. I’ve seen chain-stays no thicker than a coke can.

Thin? That head tube is thick as **** for carbon. Take a close look, thats – what, a good 5mm? F1 cars are something like 1.5 to 2mm max per skin.

The joint strength is not mostly in what you see there in X-section, its in the ones that run vertically down each side and wrap around a bit, load of strength there.

I know what you mean but the bond is along the entire junction of the head tube, top tube & down tube. Once that is in place, the bit of tube at the back isn’t doing an awful lot, apart from being a tube.

It thickens up round the front quite a bit.
It looks like a carefully chosen section to show how thin it is.

Nice pic.

My 456 doesn’t even have a “head tube”
It’s just a curved front end with a big empty space behind it.

Have you ever seen a cross-section through a steel or aluminium frame. I’ve seen chain-stays no thicker than a coke can.

I’m probably better off not knowing :o)

The thin piece of carbon down between the back of the headtube and the top/down tubes on there is not required for structural reasons at all and is only put in by Santa Cruz to allow the easy use of rocket tools to remove headset cups.

Very sensible design indeed in my eyes