Originally Posted by
lopek77
Ok...As I see it, we are both right in our own ways. Also, I think that both "tests" are extreme. But nobody can argue that carbon fiber can fail in an explosive way, and you have to be way more careful with it than with any other material.
I also have to remind you that I posted above that I'm around 275lbs. Just that is above what bike manufacturers suggest as a maximum recommended weight. Add all the gear and it's not only too much for most frames or wheels, but also for most carbon fiber forks.
I'm not against carbon fiber, but I just don't think it's a good bicycle material. When I was riding on steel frames, I never even looked if bike is ok after crash. I'm older now and I don't crash, but when my bike falls or hits something - I check the frame quickly for any damage before riding again. I feel I would be spending way too much time checking carbon fiber frame after each little mishap.
I'm glad there are many folks who enjoy carbon fiber forks and bikes. I wish you all safe riding, and please post pictures of damage frames and forks when it happen ;-)
Yes, it is worth noting that I am 125 lbs, even a couple pounds less when I am in peak racing trim, so I can afford to hammer on things a bit more. That said: I have ridden carbon forks on all kinds of surfaces with no problem, and seen full carbon bikes ridden by people much heavier than me subjected to the same treatment. No problems. And I've had my share of damage to poorer-quality parts. Just for example, even at my weight, I've had poor experiences with the durability of Velocity rims. I just don't think the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) is really warranted. Remember, most of the broken carbon you've seen is lightly built to begin with, since most of it is aimed at competitive or sporting-focused riders where weight is a major priority in design. A carbon fork designed specifically for touring would probably be built a bit more heavily and wouldn't cause me to lose any sleep at all.
It is true that carbon is more likely to break when subjected to traumatic stresses like a heavy impact. From everything I've seen, this almost always happens as a result of a wreck, rather than causing one. Of course other failures happen, but I've also seen failures in metal parts that led to accidents. From my perspective, the fact that carbon might be more likely to break in a big crash is more of a financial concern than a safety issue. Once you're wrecking hard enough to break a carbon bike, you've got bigger problems. And I would really recommend that you check over ANY bike that you crash on, whatever it is made out of. Even steel can break under hard enough impacts. It's even more likely with cheaper frames and forks that might have flaws in the welds or brazing, or with high-end thin-walled steels.
Originally Posted by
Doug64
In my experience this has not been the case. My touring bikes take much more abuse than my competition bikes ever did.
Well I don't think it's surprising that different people would have different experiences. I put a lot more miles into training and racing than I ever did into touring - we're talking an order of magnitude here, maybe more. The message I'm trying to send is that carbon fiber is perfectly capable of taking the abuse that most any rider can throw at it. I say this as a guy who rides and races on steel frames with carbon forks.
That doesn't mean I'm saying you all should go replace your steel touring bikes with carbon fiber. But I think a carbon touring fork is probably just fine.