Road Cycling - Carbon and Cold

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August Spies
06-27-04, 01:20 PM
I'm thinking of going carbon for my new bike, as I'm used to steel in anything other than my uber-loose-shocked mountain bike, and I'd like the comfort for longer rides, as well as the strength and lightness for shorter sprints. My question, due to the fact I live in Canada, is how well carbon holds up in the winter. I've heard rumors about frames shattering on high impacts in cold weather and don't want to destroy something that expensive because I took a bad bump (which I would probably do, I take my steel frame road bike on wooded trails, it'll out-preform my MTB at times, and I can't see a bike that weighs a third as much doing anything positive for the way I treat rough terrain).

Is there any truth to these rumors? What shold I avoid?

khuon
06-27-04, 01:53 PM
You don't have to worry. Consider that carbon fibre structures are used extensively in aircraft that regularly see temperatures well below -50F at 35,000 feet and these structures are constantly subjected to shock turbulence loads.
slvoid
06-27-04, 02:02 PM
You don't have to worry. Consider that carbon fibre structures are used extensively in aircraft that regularly see temperatures well below -50F at 35,000 feet and these structures are constantly subjected to shock turbulence loads.

I agree. I know someone who's a pilot and he says you can wheelie a 747 but as long as you don't endo the aircraft, the carbon composite structure holds up fine.