Difference between Cadex 980C and 'regular' CFR carbon?
 

Hey All,

I currently have a Cadex CFR 2 that i've built up with a 105 group. I was planning for a respray, but was not quite sure if the 'weaving pattern' also continues under the paint. This thread really served as an inspiration for me:
http://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...tweight-3.html

Yesterday however i found another cadex for sale, that i think looks a bit more attractive, especailly the Carbon weaving attracts me. The one for sale is a 980C however.

What i was wondering; besides the looks, are there any other differences between the CFR models and the 980c's?

Just two pictures as an example:
980C
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=432912
Model that i now have:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=432913

Kind regards,
Richard

All I can say is your original CFR fork can be frightening for heavy riders. I rode one when they were new and could feel the flex when cornering at speed, shudder. The alloy fork looks much more comforting and overall, the bike resembles an Alan or Vitus.
I don't think these Giant models will ever make it to a classic status. (hope you didn't drill the top tube! :eek:) But if you like the newer bike, inspect carefully, ride it first and buy it.

In my experience, the forks were the same as described by clubman, flexible enough to be concerning at times.

Also, in my experience, the CFR's were much better bikes, and the Team CFR's were excellent for the time period and now.

I am not expert, but I think these will become collectible. Giant is a pioneer of bicycle carbon fiber, they are one of the few companies that wove their own and you can be sure that most bicycles (specialized and trek for example) that were made with carbon tubes in the 1990s were made by giant or their tubes were sourced from them. I am not saying that is a fact but it is a fact that giant is a large supplier of bikes and was a large carbon supplier to other companies.

The last layer of carbon, from my understanding is an aesthetic layer. I believe they did that on purpose to expose the carbon structure. Underneath that outer layer the resin would obscure the clean woven look of the fibers. So I would say there is no guarantee that your opaque painted Cadex will have the same top layer as the clear coated one. Is this a real difference? Probably not. and I might be completely wrong as it doesn't make a lot of sense to produce different tube finishings for aesthetic reasons.

I would guess that Giant was developing their carbon fiber technology on a yearly basis, remember Giant bought the tooling from Germany to make tubes when they thought it might be a good material for bikes. They were leading the industry. The raw spools of carbon were sourced from Japan. I would guess there is no difference for models in the same year, but I would say that it would not be unlikely for them to be changing up the weaving, diameters and thickness, and even resin composition on a yearly basis in order to improve the product.