I was sceptical about carbon too Hora so decided to put it to the test about 18 months ago. I built a carbon Enduro with as much carbon as you could throw at it and spent the last 18 months trying to break it. Spec include havoc carbon bars, sixc carbon crank, easton carbon wheels.....only thing I managed to break was the front haven when I took it for a blast down Aston hill. Other than that its been perfect and hasnt skipped a beat. Compared to the Aluminium Enduro I had previous to that for a short while, the carbon is a stiffer frame which I find helps hold lines when on the ragged edge. The fact is a few hundred grammes lighter wasnt much of an issue TBH. Certainly no trouble trusting carbon in my mind now.
Here's the wheel which failed safely and continued to hold air (tubeless)
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and the bike...looking a bit tatty now but still in one piece (this is with the havoc wheels I used whils the havens were away being replaced under warranty)
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In relation to the grit comment (and the rock strikes), surlely aluminium frames are far more suceptible to this? Aluminium is soft so wears quickly and you only have to look at most well ridden bikes downtubes to see the rock damage.
And if you're prepared to accept aluminium over steel (which is generaly harder and more resistant to impacts), why not carbon over aluminium?
I've been running an Undead for the past few weeks. The build quality is pretty damn good (shit all lines up) , I'm usually a big hater of everything fancy and new. The undead pedals, Like a trail bike and has so much pop , carries so much speed its nuts. It feels 15-20% faster out of corners than the revolt .. can brake so much later and is so easy to flick around. This in my opinion is the fastest DH bike to date..
If and when this trail bike turns up .. its going to be pretty damn amazing, if the pedaling on the Undead is anything to gauge it by.
