Are carbon bikes more or less durable than aluminum?
09-29-11, 07:40 AM
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Are carbon bikes more or less durable than aluminum?
What are the differences of how to maintain a carbon bike over an alu one?
Do you have to baby it more on the road/not hit as many pot holes etc?
Inspect it more often for damage?
I keep thinking about carbon bikes as being really fragile, but aren't they supposed to be stronger than aluminum? I keep seeing things on these forums about catastrophic failure.
Do you have to baby it more on the road/not hit as many pot holes etc?
Inspect it more often for damage?
I keep thinking about carbon bikes as being really fragile, but aren't they supposed to be stronger than aluminum? I keep seeing things on these forums about catastrophic failure.
09-29-11, 07:45 AM
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Carbon tends to be stronger than aluminium, especially in terms of fatigue, but the problem with carbon is that it doesn't give any forewarning that it's going to fail. Once you give the frame a big enough hit to go beyond its comfort zone, it generally fails catastrophically. Under the same circumstances metal tends to bend or crack, but is still vaguely rideable at least to get you home.
09-29-11, 08:02 AM
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I had a friend put over 50,000 miles on a 1996 carbon lemond before it developed a crack in the BB shell from galvanic corrosion. I don't see many aluminum frames lasting over 20,000 before they start getting stress cracks.
09-29-11, 08:09 AM
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Carbon tends to be stronger in every way in comparison to metal with the exception of a concentrated impact. The reason why it's mentioned that the fail is more catastrophic is because the material all works together, so when a portion fails, the adjacent areas tend to give way as well (but usually only those adjacent areas). That said, carbon is also repairable in many cases and no longer costs an arm and a leg to get it repaired.
As a testament to the strength of carbon, when a frame is warrantied, it has to be rendered unrideable. This is simple with a metal bike because you just saw out the bottom bracket, but ask a mechanic how much they loathe making a carbon bike unrideable (unless they are having a bad day and have anger issues). They put it in a vice and either get another guy to help them push it until it breaks in half (the table must be bolted to the floor) or they get a monster truck and run over it many, many times.
As a testament to the strength of carbon, when a frame is warrantied, it has to be rendered unrideable. This is simple with a metal bike because you just saw out the bottom bracket, but ask a mechanic how much they loathe making a carbon bike unrideable (unless they are having a bad day and have anger issues). They put it in a vice and either get another guy to help them push it until it breaks in half (the table must be bolted to the floor) or they get a monster truck and run over it many, many times.
Last edited by eippo1; 09-29-11 at 08:10 AM. Reason: edited for English
09-29-11, 08:11 AM
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09-29-11, 08:15 AM
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So how much stress does it usually take for a carbon bike to fail and break apart while you're riding? Is it hitting a big pot hole, hard crash, fall,...?
09-29-11, 08:17 AM
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I think most people replace the frame with something newer long before they "wear out".
09-29-11, 08:18 AM
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09-29-11, 08:20 AM
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As a testament to the strength of carbon, when a frame is warrantied, it has to be rendered unrideable. This is simple with a metal bike because you just saw out the bottom bracket, but ask a mechanic how much they loathe making a carbon bike unrideable (unless they are having a bad day and have anger issues). They put it in a vice and either get another guy to help them push it until it breaks in half (the table must be bolted to the floor) or they get a monster truck and run over it many, many times.
09-29-11, 08:22 AM
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Are you saying that if a crack develops and someone brings in their frame for a warranty replacement, the LBS will put it in a vice and further damage it before sending it back to the manufacturer??? That sounds a little far fetched to me. Maybe I read into your post wrong...
09-29-11, 08:37 AM
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09-29-11, 08:49 AM
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Back when everybody was running light weight aluminum frames in the late 90s, 4 years seemed to be about the average life span. Aluminum has a finite fatigue life. Every mile you ride is one mile closer to developing cracks. Newer aluminum frame may be better but not as many people ride them so its hard to say. There will always be outliers in both directions.
09-29-11, 08:54 AM
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09-29-11, 08:58 AM
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Back when everybody was running light weight aluminum frames in the late 90s, 4 years seemed to be about the average life span. Aluminum has a finite fatigue life. Every mile you ride is one mile closer to developing cracks. Newer aluminum frame may be better but not as many people ride them so its hard to say. There will always be outliers in both directions.
09-29-11, 09:20 AM
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09-29-11, 09:36 AM
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09-29-11, 09:58 AM
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09-29-11, 10:00 AM
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I don't really think he needs to search for everything. I mean, if you want to take it to the extreme, ANY question you have about cycling can probably found with a Google search. And considering how much other nonsense is discussed around here, I don't think another discussion about the merits/drawbacks of carbon is a bad thing.
09-29-11, 10:19 AM
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