Originally Posted by hypersnazz
Steel, once plasticised, never again returns to its original strength. You bend steel parts, bend 'em back, they WILL bend again. This isn't any better or more acceptible to me than having it shatter or crack...jacked is jacked.
The trouble is that carbon has a bad reputation that hangs around despite many of its key shortcomings having been solved years ago. The stuff performs *very* well in a wider variety of applications than ever before, in many cases *much* better than its steel or aluminum counterparts. And composite technology continues to evolve *much* faster than metallurgy...if it can't be done with plastic today, wait a few years, or sometimes just months.
CF's shock absorption properties depend largely on the composite matrix. The weave itself has only tensile strength (and oh boy does it have tensile strength...much better than steel or aluminum); most of what rounds out the finished product's other qualities depend on both layup and the plastics used to make it something other than limp cloth.
Carbon isn't perfect. But it certainly *deserves* a better reputation than it has. Can it be used to make BMX products that outperform the current crop in terms of strength, reliability AND weight? Absolutely. Does it need to? Probably not. Would I put money down for it? Again, probably not, but not because carbon *can't* do the job.
carbon fiber has been getting better in leaps and bounds, lighter, stronger, and more durable. but it still cannot take the abuse like steel can. drop a regular bmx bike on the coping of a ramp a couple times it will be fine. do the same to a carbon frame and it will damage the frame. and like i said before damaged carbon is useless, just like bent steel. but it is harder to bend steel that damage carbon.
you seem like a very knowledgeable person, most likely alot more than me. but i am pretty sure on this subject.