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Carbon Fibre - Outside Online Article

cantunamunch

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I've seen pre-OCR Cadex frames with intense corrosion at the drive-side chainstay. Allez Epics with unpainted Alu seem to get the grot right at the bottom bracket.

Know a good ultrasound specialist? There's several dozen million CF forks of a certain age out there.
 

Plai

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Thanks for the report. It's been a nagging question in the back of my mind. When I buy used (bikes), they're typically less than 5 years old. That giant in the article would have been on the cusp of my limit (2007 in 2013). Ouch. May have to adjust my habits.
 

AmyPJ

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Just want to point out that this is no longer true: Like other manufacturers, Trek maintains that its carbon-fiber components and bikes are safe. The company’s warranty, however, extends only to the primary user.

Trek's warranty now extends to a subsequent buyer of a used bike.
 

cantunamunch

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Aaaaah, yessss, Hambini and his Cervelo rants :roflmao: wonder how he gets on with Guru and Argon :D



IIRC, he's a big fan of Look's KG series. Bringing it back to the top, I wonder if some of the early KGs are as off as the early Giants and Speshes.
 

AlpedHuez

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Is it a factor of, to paraphrase Indiana Jones, not the age but the mileage? I have a 2013 Cannondale SuperSix Hi-Mod that I got in 2015, and haven't used it much since I relocated to London.
 
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scott43

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Aaaaah, yessss, Hambini and his Cervelo rants :roflmao: wonder how he gets on with Guru and Argon :D



IIRC, he's a big fan of Look's KG series. Bringing it back to the top, I wonder if some of the early KGs are as off as the early Giants and Speshes.
He doesn't hold back.. :ogbiggrin: I think some of that though is simply manufacturing reality. Race to the bottom of pricing.. I just looked at a Planet X carbon frame, $260GBP. The 853 steel frame is $470GBP. Makes you wonder...
 
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scott43

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Is it a factor of, to paraphrase Indiana Jones, not the age but the mileage? I have a 2013 Cannondale SuperSix Hi-Mod that I got in 2015, and haven't used it much since I relocated to London.
In my somewhat limited experience...anything where corrosion can be an issue is not necessarily mileage related. Anything crack related is more mileage and crashes/poor (ham-fisted) maintenance. I have more first-hand experience with the early CF frames with alu lugs and such. They were death traps in my opinion. OCLV made them much better in general. Now it's more about manufacturing quality in China. And the fatigue failure mode of CF versus steel..or even Alu.
 

Tony Storaro

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"Often, owner’s manuals offer little guidance on how to maintain the material"

I am sorry, but this is horse manure.
Virtually ALL carbon bikes I have seen have clearly indicated Nm to which you should tighten the screws.
Using torque wrenches is a MUST.
 
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scott43

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"Often, owner’s manuals offer little guidance on how to maintain the material"

I am sorry, but this is horse manure.
Virtually ALL carbon bikes I have seen have clearly indicated Nm to which you should tighten the screws.
Using torque wrenches is a MUST.
Yeah I would agree with you. There is usually some fairly clear verbiage on how to treat the material as far as scratches and different types of solvents etc. And for sure torque specs on fasteners. Whether the end-user actually reads any of that is open for debate. Most people I know don't even read the owner's manual for their car..
 

Tony Storaro

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Is it a factor of, to paraphrase Indiana Jones, not the age but the mileage?

It is. And is valid for all carbon made structures-be it bikes, fishing rods, paddles, bows....although on a second thought scratch the last one, even a brand new bow can explode quite spectacularly if you dry shoot it...
When subjected to frequent stress all the materials experience fatigue. With CF if even worse than the metals because with time the quality of the resins deteriorate and they simply age.
Quite slow, it needs to be pointed out.

But first and foremost it is the manufacturing quality that causes possible problems.
All the carbon fishing rods break. Scott rods break less often (some say they do not break at all). :ogbiggrin: :ogbiggrin:
 
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Erik Timmerman

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On top of all this, there is the very real issue of counterfeits. You have to wonder how often Ritchey has to defend itself against people who have broken counterfeit Ritchey product.
 
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scott43

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I'm looking at the EA70 CF fork and wondering if I'm going to be eating the pavement one day soon.....
 

Tony Storaro

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I'm looking at the EA70 CF fork and wondering if I'm going to be eating the pavement one day soon.....

I would not be too concerned.
Exploding forks are not that common at all. Even if it does break (which, again is not very common) usually it is not a clean snap so you have time to react and stop.
The feeling is like all of a sudden you got a front suspension :):)
 

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