Originally Posted by
Bob Dopolina
The properties of carbon are well know and it is a mature material. It hasn't been adopted by the airline/aerospace industry, it came from there.
The issue I'd wether those using the material to make bicycle parts understand the material and use it properly. Most do but some don't. The downside of this is that it is nearly impossible for and end user to tell with the naked eye unlike, say, steel or alloy where at least the welds are visible and can be a good indicator of the quality if the product.
As to the images you see of busted carbon, there could also be a website devoted to other failed materials. It all breaks under the right conditions.
Well enough anecdotes do make data and I repeat, the carbon fiber failures keep returning to the bike shop whilst memory of such experiences with steel is nil.
I have had 40 years of experience of riding steel with not a single failure and yet on my first cf bike the bolts attaching the bottle cage to the down tube has wrenched free of the carbon twice, in 4 years of use. That speaks volumes to me.