Originally Posted by
waynesulak
I would love to see a side by side test with a popular light weight aluminum rim with the same tire inflated at the same pressure. It would be nice to have a frame of reference and compare failure modes.
Another way to look at the reliability of materials is what cycling teams are using in a race with a lot of impact, like the infamous Paris-Roubaix. The teams have the expertise, the equipment, and the motivation to choose what is optimal. Carbon forks have long been used, and it doesn't appear anyone switches out anymore to aluminum forks. Lately it has been carbon rims as well.
Originally Posted by VeloNews
The tires, wheels and pressures of Paris-Roubaix
COMPIEGNE, France (VN) — Every year, pro teams lining up for the most brutal road race of the calendar, Paris-Roubaix, search for ways to decrease the likelihood of punctures without limiting performance. It turns out there are a lot of ways to skin a cat. Wheel and tire selection, tire pressure, and the use of sealant are all hotly debated amongst riders, mechanics and manufacturer staff. Some approaches to selecting Roubaix equipment are pure science, others are based on tradition and experience. The most successful teams appear to mix the two methods.
Wheels
The era of the carbon wheel at Paris-Roubaix has arrived. Fewer and fewer riders are relying on tradition when deciding on a set of wheels for the “Hell of the North.” Instead, teams visit the pavé secteurs to perform tests using accelerometer telemetry and power meters. And while the carbon wheels used for Roubaix are vertically stiffer than box-section aluminum rims, the use of larger tires and bicycle frames and forks tuned for the cobbles allows riders to cover the cobbled sections with less effort.
The most famous fork failure in professional racing was George Hincapie, at Roubaix 2006. The
aluminum steerer failed.