Originally Posted by ewitz
I should have expected as much. People are always so defensive about negative comments to their chosen frame material. If carbon is so brittle why do I never hear about carbon fork failures or seatpost failure. Next time that you cut the steerer off of a carbon fork take some time to try and break the tube. Use a hammer!
The stuff is not brittle. Also. sitting on the top tube disperses the load over a large surface area. Of course it won't dent. Apply the same forces over a smaller area and it will.
I am not saying carbon is perfect, all I am saying is that lightweight thinwall aluminum has drawbacks and one of them is its suscepibilty to dings.
Uh, I ride a Ti bike. I used to have a CAAD7. Aluminum isn't my "chosen material".
I've never heard of alloy fork or seatpost failures either. So what?
Carbon is brittle. Do you know what makes carbon stiff? Resin. Resin is brittle. Carbon fiber itself is a cloth.
Uh yeah, what else do you do to a top tube that is going to dent it under normal use?? "easily denting" just isn't an issue. Sorry, it isn't. Sure it will dent easier than something thicker (maybe, depending on the circumstances) but how could you ever predict that? What sharp impact would you get on a regular basis or is controllable? If you crashed and dented a aluminum tube, who is to say the impact would not have dented a steel tube too?
Since taking a hammer to a top tube isn't a normal function of riding, WHO CARES.