Originally Posted by RacerX
...which is why there are no bikes, aeroplanes, vehicle structures made of pure titanium. Hence, 6/4 Ti, 3/2.5 ti. Introduction of other components make ti frames the best material to make bicycles out of.
Just like there are no pure aluminum frames or pure raw steel- both are soft as hell too right?
Even carbon fiber requires resin as the stiffening agent. Pure carbon (powder) is just a cloth in "raw" form for bicycles.
I thought pure carbon as a powder would be something like coal. The cloth itself is made of many fibers of carbon of which each are woven from filaments of carbon of which each are molecular strands. A lot of metals are alloyed or treated to a specific crystalline arrangement to achieve their miraculous strengths and hardnesses.