Thinking about getting a scott spark with the carbon main frame but just wondering how careful you have to be with a carbon bike. All my previous bikes have been pretty abused, with dents and scratches all over the top and down tubes. Would this sort of treatment be the kiss of death for a carbon frame??

All I’ve got to say, is that WorldClassAccident off here has had one for years now, and it’s still alive. And so is he, which is perhaps more surprising.

If he can’t break one, that’s good enough for me. 😀

They’re stronger than aluminium frames.

I hit a Scott Spark with a hammer, hard, and it just bounced off, was rather impressed.

why would you do that???

i wondered that as well, is the bike shit??

Ihave alu versions of the Scott snapped..
but not Carbon ones.

Warranty frame, broken (alu) shock mount, Scott told us just to destroy it.

So I hit it with a hammer, repeatedly, then cut it up. Sadly then lost my phone with the pictures, interesting how it’s put together.

Don’t do it, every time I look at mine the wrong way it visibly weakens, I wouldn’t dream of taking it to the trails and hammering it around, so it just sits here doing nothing. Fortunately the lifetime warranty does cover breakage through too much dust settling on it. 😉

Cover it in copter tape tape and forget its made of carbon. Hard to do as you will always be amazed at how quick and nimble a carbon framed bike can be.

Nice to look at but too fragile to be used as anything other than a wall ornament. Then there’s the problem of thorns, pass one too closely and it’ll catch the weave, resulting in the whole frame unravelling itself. I take my granny on all my rides so she can knit it back together for me.

Yes way too fragile to actually ride.

Been posted on here before, but….linky

MSC have knocked lightweight Carbon backwards a bit. They were trying too hard to produce super lightweight frames and had lots of warrenty claims. They’ve now pulled out of UK distribution (not necessarily because of all the warrenty claims). Everything else carbon is good I think.
On a positive note

MSC pullued out of Alu warranty claims too didnt they?

My Scott Genius is far too tough. When it’s had big lumps of rock thrown up onto the downtube it’s simply bounced them off straight onto my toes – ouch!

MSC pullued out of Alu warranty claims too didnt they?

I’m not sure, but they recently pulled out of uk Distribution. I get the impression, reading stuff on the internet, that was their ticket to washing their hands of all uk warranties, alu and/or carbon.

i destroyed a carbon frame over summer. got a shitty email from the boss telling me how much i cost the company this year….

i loaded a customers plastic bike into the trailer and during the journey something knocked against it and made a hole in the down tube. it cost the company 2500€.

boss says it’s my fault due to how i loaded the bikes. i say it’s the shitty design of the trailer. he now has to pay it because my insurance (that he organised) doesn’t cover transportation. maybe he’ll up the cover for next year? prob not.

I’ve been reliably informed that when carbon breaks – and it will – that tiny shards of CF will weedle their way into your bloodstream, make their way to your heart and brain, and KILL YOU!

/I ride a 100mm carbon full-sus on the MegaD****t and it can take more abuse than I can. Assuming it’s all screwed together tightly from the word go, that is.

Very fragile in my experience. Shan’t be bothering again thats for sure!

Never your fault eh alpn?

OP you are being wound up. Carbon is fine

My Yeti lasted 40miles, I won’t be in a hurry to try carbon again.

a friend of mine made a carbon FS frame in his living room, he’s a phenomenally fast rider, and he can’t break his ‘ghetto’ frame.

he thinks it’s over-built, but still lighter than his ally prototype.

the ‘tube’ walls are so thick that there’s plenty of dent resistance built in.

carbon fibre frames are fine, they really are.

‘Carbon’ is a new material, we’re still learning how to use it – either get one from a company that have been using it for a while, or from a company whose waranty claims you trust.

and, if you get a super-light xc race frame, treat it like a super-light xc race frame.

my buddy fell off his bike off some north shore onto a stick and put a hole in his carbon frame …. rode it for two weeks before noticing the hole when cleaning it and he rides hard ! hes claiming it off his house insurance purely because no one wants a hole in their frame !

also witnessed an old(7 years old and ridden HARD by a very very fast chap) genius carbon come clean off at the headtube last weekend at relentless , the guy rode into some big rocks very fast as if on downhill bike , cue lots of noise and then a huge crack sound , stopped and went back expecting broken bones found the headtube clean off !

BUT this pales in insignigicance to the ammount of good quality ally and ti frames ive seen snapped , cracked , dented. I have a carbon frame and its still in tact after 18 months of hard riding now , written off a rear wheel and a set of sids in that same time when racing! – it got down the kilbo path no bother though. Id have no qualms in buying another carbon frame but if FS i would test it first as i seem to be a bit heavier than most XC whippets and certain frames are not designed for more than a whippet 😉 (im 12 stone @ 6ft3)

Those MSCs were like wet noodles , another mate of mine was asked to ride for them last year and we went to a demo day , i swear that the carbon FS he was given would have snapped under me climbing was swinging left and right wildly under seated climbing- decended well though – planted

It seems to me that carbon frames are perfectly fine for riding. It tends to be when you’re not riding them that the problems occur. I once saw a frame that had been cracked by being lent a bit heavily against a pillar in a bike shop for instance, and a Spesh sponsored friend was told by them that his frame should be written off when he was knocked off by a car, even though it was unmarked.

For me, the bottom line is would I be happy buying (or selling to that matter) a three year old carbon frame? I wouldn’t ask myself the same question with steel or ti. That may be completely irrational of course.

“treat it like a super-light xc race frame”

Thats the point really as I was not intending to, but want something that will not be a real chore uphill.

re the MSCs I met a trainer for the Spanish XC team last year in Granada and he slagged them off big style for being snappy.

“treat it like a super-light xc race frame”

Thats the point really as I was not intending to, but want something that will not be a real chore uphill

then don’t get a super-light xc frame.

wheel/tyre choice/tyre pressure will have a much bigger impact on climbing performance than saving 600 grams on your frame.

Ibis Mojo ridden hard for over a year and is fine. Plenty of big rock strikes to the down tube (hard enough to feel through the frame and then bloody my shins as they ricochet upwards) and though I have some holes/impact marks in the helicopter tape the frame is fine :o).

I met a roadie on this morning’s ride who claimed his carbon frame was 15% faster than his aluminium frame. Is that really possible?

but will all this carbon stuff last 50 years or more like my steel frames will?

will an alloy frame last 50years? What are you trying to say?

Anyone on here ride one of those cheapo carbon mtb frames off ebay (from China) ? I know njee had one for a while but anyone else ?

luked2 – Member

I met a roadie on this morning’s ride who claimed his carbon frame was 15% faster than his aluminium frame. Is that really possible?

no. not if he’s honestly comparing like with like.

Edric 64 – Member

but will all this carbon stuff last 50 years or more like my steel frames will?

not all of it, no. if today’s top end race stuff lasts 50 years then the designer got it wrong.

But some of it will, yes. i know of 20 year old carbon frames that still get ridden. they’re crap, but that’s because they’re stuck with rigid forks and disc brakes. ‘progress’ is just as effective at killing frames as any structural failure…

Obviously they won’t last 50 years. They carboxidise after 2 or 3 years.

For me, the bottom line is would I be happy buying (or selling to that matter) a three year old carbon frame? I wouldn’t ask myself the same question with steel or ti. That may be completely irrational of course.

Not completely irrational. As a carbon supporter I’m happy to admit that it’s possible to damage a carbon frame in a way that’s not visible, something you can’t really do with metal. IMHO the likelihood of managing that is pretty slim though, and of the same likelihood as not spotting a cracked weld (the chances of having a poorly made weld which you can’t see are higher).

but will all this carbon stuff last 50 years or more like my steel frames will?

If made properly yes, no reason why not. A lightweight steel frame (which is a fairer comparison – not that you’ll get one down to the weight of carbon) won’t though.

Ive owned a Spark for 3 years, i weigh almost 15 stones and i am notoriously hard on my bikes amongst my mates, having broken 3 frames previously…and AFAIK i am still the only person to bend an OnOne 456 riding uphill! The Spark is a very strong bike, and anyone who says Carbon isnt strong is talking out of their Chocolate Starfish. Theres a reason its used in Formula 1.

Something that i think is relevant is would you buy a s/h one? I’ve spend the weekend at most of the local toy bike shops looking for either a carbon frameset or a complete bike. Couple of offers of s/h ones and there’s a virtually new Blur LTC on here (wrong size for me) but in the back of my mind is the has it been dropped question. Bearing that in mind anything you do buy has to be right as the s/h value must be affected by that perception.

It’s not going to stop me buying one (although the price increases might 😯 ). Made the “mistake” of riding one a few weeks back and realised it’s not all marketing hype…..