Brian Johnson
Hey Devin,
One of the primary reasons that I avoid composite materials for off-
road use is that it is vulnerable to surface scratches. Imagine
crashing hard on your cross bike-- something that might put a nice
scratch in your paint. On a metal bike this would have you cursing a
blue streak, but on a composite bike that scratch creates a "stress
riser"-- an area that stresses concentrate. This can leas to a
catastrophic failure. Go read the composite care FAQ for any frame or
part by any manufacturer and they'll tell you that any scratch that
can catch your fingernail must be monitored-- it's kinds like getting
a crack in your car's windshield.
Sure-- there are plenty of guys that race years on composite
materials and never have a problem. Personally I'm not made of money
and I like my stuff to last a looooong time. For instance my 1989
Stumpjumper is now my SS MTB. It's still going strong. I don't think
that there are any composite frames that old that are still in active
use.
Plus metals can be recycled at end-of-life. Composite parts become
long-lasting land-fill.
Cheers!
Brian J.
On Jan 1, 2010, at 12:00 PM, obra-request@list.obra.org wrote:
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:25:45 -0800 (PST)
> From: Devin Flynn
> To: obra
> Subject: [OBRA Chat] To those that have raced Carbon frames for
> cyclocross...
> Message-ID: <257829.24925.qm@web33807.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I am looking for reasons why this would be a bad idea.? I have a
> very nice steel frame geared cross bike that has made it a few
> season but several friends are bad influences and have me thinking
> about a carbon fiber cyclocross frame for next year.? I love steel,
> and my steel frame weigh about 3.6 lbs so it isn't that heavy.? I
> have a few frames I can get for a great deal so....give me horror
> stories please to help me stay with my current ride.?
> ?
> Thanks
>
> Devin Flynn
> Cycling Blog: http://www.rcmt.blogspot.com
>
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