Carbon fibre its rubbish

Is it just me or does any one else think its crap.Out of my group of mates my motolite seat stays broke,ibis mojo rear triangle cracked,lapierre hard tail dropout cracked,scott ransome creakes like my grannies knees and not to forget the masses of 575 owners whos seat stays part company with the dropouts at regular intervals.Going back to good old aluminium and a bike whos suspension is inspired by a 1860’s beam engine(ellsworth).Thats my rant over for today,feel better now

yup. So, am I mad to get carbon bars for my SS. Probably tougher than me, but I’m a fatty and put a lot of leverage through the bars when straining up hills?

Right application it’s great, wrong its not. wouldn’t trust it on MTB rims or saddles, but anywhere else can’t get enough; never had a part fail on me yet 🙂

Yep – aluminium never fails.

No its not crap. Is that good enough?
Oh, you’d better not ever fly in a commercial jet again as on most of the modern ones the bits that stick out of the sides and hold the engines on are made of carbon fibre (unless its on a treadmill when its actually the wheels that make it fly).

Lost confidence in my 575 as my friends bikes crumbled around me. For all mountain I’ve gone back to aly. Even ditched my carbon bars. I never for one moment thought they would fail but they had to go for peace of mind.

not to forget the masses of 575 owners whos seat stays part company with the dropouts at regular intervals

Simply not true. Not even close. Yes, there have been failures, but name a bike that hasn’t……

I’ve broken 3 steel and one titanuim frame, and dented an alloy one.

Does that make them just as bad?

To be fair, carbon is pretty much the only material I’ve not seen broken in my circle of riding buddies, and there’s a fair few of them that I know of…..

PeterPoddy – Member
my circle of riding buddies, and there’s a fair few of them that I know of…..

Aye – but you should hear what they say about you behind your back!

Personally I had the 575 built up for light duties but now and then I’d throw on some 36’s and fat tyres and ride some silly stuff and for this I wasn’t confident that it would stay in one piece with the back end flexing all over the shop. Also it had very little mud clearance and the abrasion was starting to show on the inside of the stays. A material that you can slice with a Stanley knife, in mind isn’t tough enough for throwing down rocks. Torsionally rigid yes but as tough as alloys. No. IMHO of course.

A material that you can slice with a Stanley knife

are you talking about aluminium again? there was a lot of alu can cutting going on in that bivvy thread.

🙄

I’ve broken 3 steel and one titanuim frame, and dented an alloy one.

Is there a weight issue here?

Love me Yeti ASR C but too much on my mind every time I fall,every time it creaks.
Best bike I have ever ridden tho!

my VF2 is performing superbly, albeit a carbon rear end only.

sublime bike. and suprememly stiff at the rear too…

loving it 🙂

Oh, you’d better not ever fly in a commercial jet again as on most of the modern ones the bits that stick out of the sides and hold the engines on are made of carbon fibre (unless its on a treadmill when its actually the wheels that make it fly).

I’m not going to get directly involved in this debate, as the only carbon bike thing I have ever owned is the seat post on my Trek road bike.

Anyhoo, I once met a bunch of materials engineers on holiday, and they said that they had tested some CF bike frames and components, and their conclusion was that the quality of the CF was seriously poor, compared to aeronautical CF. As a result, none of them would go near CF on a bike.

Just sayin’….

I’m going back to string n glue for my new SS, but I won’t use carbon bars on the single speed, I maul them to death and they all get very creaky and flexy after about 6 months abuse.

Quite happy with carbons on the 5″ boingy bike though.

As with most things, use the correct material for the right application and there are minimal issues.

also worth bearing in mind that lots of bike bits used to be designed for typical rider weights of around 12st, whereas lots of british riders are seriously lardy boys who still think a 3 lb carbon hardtail will be fine with a 20stone rider 😯

I still have carbon bars and rigid forks on my winter hack 29er. Oops, mentioned 29er! I’m not totally against witchcraft but like me old trail pixie mate Taz says, certain materials for certain jobs init.

Often read posts on here about people breaking all manner of components whether it be carbon fibre, titanium or aluminium.
Do I think these materials are crap. No. I think the riders are crap and need to learn how to ride!

CF quality for bikes may be poor compaired to the Aerospace industry, but then was the last time you saw a bike fly like the Dreamliner?

lardy boys who still think a 3 lb carbon hardtail will be fine with a 20stone rider

Mine is
😈

No… (Carbon) best bike I have ridden and I have ridden quite a few nice ones 🙂 touch wood nothing broken!

I have no issue with CF as long as it cannot be hit by large rocks and leave it impossible for me to see whether/how it is damaged or not.
I would rather not have it on a MTB tbh but would not object to it on a road bike.

Mine is

for now 😉

Do I think these materials are crap. No. I think the riders are crap and need to learn how to ride!

I would rather not have it on a MTB tbh but would not object to it on a road bike.

😯

“I would rather not have it on a MTB tbh but would not object to it on a road bike.”

There is probably a lot more stress subjected to a road bike frame/forks on thin tyres and no suspension than your average MTB!

Is it only me that remembers exactly the same being said about aluminium, around 15years ago – poor quality, too weak and it’ll fail catastrophically, and probably kill you in the process..?

I’ve got lots of CF on my CF frame and I love it 🙂 . Oh, and I’ve snapped 2 aluminium frames…..

tazzy that might just be crash damage
coleman I said it was the effect of damge by rock strikes that worried me not how strong it was though I am nit sure you are correct re stress

I know junky, but it’s a funny picture 😀

Junkyard. OK. Fair comment.

But, hitting a pot hole at 50 mph downhill on Tarmac puts one hell of a jolt through the fuselage!

Indeed ..there is a website dedciated to failed CF iirc
I dont think it is pants or worse than anything else itis just rock strikes that worry me

http://www.bustedcarbon.com/

EDIT: is the bike forum always this civilised and polite 😯

You know you want one….

I had a 2008 yeti 575 which I used for mainly xc trail riding and the carbon swing arm snapped ! my mate would follow me and see my rear end flex so much it was scary ! I stick to alloy now as I have had a bad experience with carbon 🙁

Yep – aluminium never fails

Though i think the picture you show is down to an installation/design fail rather than material choice?

Pastcaring – no not trolling you Muppet! Stupid? well the jury’s still out on that one.
However, in over 25 years of riding offroad and road, I’ve not yet managed to break any major components whether they be carbon, titanium or aluminium! Although I have managed to break various bit of myself in the process! So feel suitably qualified to have an opinion.

Folding bike?

There’s carbon and there’s carbon. You can squeeze the rear end of a Yeti ASR5 without any bother (I’ve tried), but give it a go on a Santa Cruz Blur. Absolutely solid. There’s a reason good stuff costs a bit more.

Oh well. I’ll be riding the 3 Peaks on a 1200g full carbon frame. ** shrugs **

I have always stayed away from the plastic bikes but rode with a chap the other day who had built up one of the new On One 456 Carbon frames. Nice bike….he gave it a good hammering and it was very impressive-none of that usual hollow sounding noises from the frame but still really light but compliant. Still not sure as to logevity for people of my weight so I am going to hang on to see how they perform in the long term before I invest.
I must say that the bike that I have seen most broken is from Gary Fisher brand where the carbon rear swingarms have snapped.

Someone once said theres no such thing as a bad material just a bad application for it

On the other hand it does mystify me why people would deem that aerospace Quality defines a good product

Those Chinese bikes everyone seems to be cranking out for a third the price of a uk made frame surely can’t be that bad can they…..would people pay more for a product 3 times times the price for a uk made and designed frame.