- Carbon fibre has been used to produce mountain bike frames
since the late '80s,
and since then, its use has broadened significantly.
Producing these sort of frames is
a very labor-intensive process,
as you can see here in the Scott footage
from their carbon fibre production facility.
Firstly, it can be used to make very lightweight frames,
certainly with a higher strength to weight ratio
than using aluminium.
Secondly, it can be used to form very complex shapes,
and these shapes can be very light and neat,
certainly moreso than using other materials.
Finally, it can be used to actually tune
the ride attributes of the ride,
so you can have a bike that's very stiff,
yet also dampens trail shock.
But still, there's a lot of mystery
about this amazing material,
so here are seven things you might not know
about carbon fibre.
What is a carbon fibre?
A carbon fibre is a long strand of material
made from carbon atoms.
And it's a fraction of the size of a human hair.
Thousands of these are spun together to form a yarn,
and it's these yarns that are used
in the prepreg sheets along with resin.
Carbon used in manufacturing comes in two forms,
prefabricated tubes
or the prepregnated sheets,
and it's these sheets that are commonly used these days.
What is the layup?
The layup is simply the manufacturing process
for making a frame.
They lay prepreg sheets into a mould,
often around a bladder.
When they're fully wrapped around,
they seal the mould, pressurise the bladder,
and then cure the whole lot in an oven.
Other than some bespoke exceptions,
most major carbon fibre bikes
all hail from the Far East
and come from a handful state of the art factories.
These factories have dedicated themselves
to carbon manufacturing, have been doing this for decades.
They also produce most of the bike brands
that you will be familiar with.
But that's not to suggest that these frames
all have similarities.
Carbon fibre manufacturing is all about the engineering
and the layup,
whereas you may see some visual similarities,
in reality the ride differences will be very different.
The sheets themselves have a unidirectional weave,
and it's this that helps create the ride characteristics
of the frame.
The fine art of producing the carbon frame
is it has to be stiff where it needs to be,
light and dampen shock,
so getting the layup right is every bit as important
as the frame design in the first place.
You might think that making a full suspension frame
as stiff as possible is the best way to do it,
but even a suspension frame
needs to have an element of damping to it.
Stiff is brilliant for control,
but ultimately, it's gonna transmit vibrations,
which are tiring to the rider.
The physical act of producing a carbon fibre frame
is very expensive.
And this is because the layup is entirely done by hand.
Now, mountain bike frames especially
take a long time to produce.
Some parts of the frame,
due to the complexity of them,
like the bottom bracket area,
can actually take as long to make
as an entire road frame.
But how strong is it?
Well, the truth is, very strong.
If you crash and there are no major signs of damage,
if it's cosmetic damage,
there's really nothing to worry about.
Carbon is a lot stronger than we give it credit for.
Something else that's really beneficial with carbon
is it an actually be repaired,
and repairing a carbon frame is a lot easier
than it is to replay an alloy frame.
If you're repairing an alloy frame,
sometimes it can be more effort than it's worth.
If you have to take a tube out,
you're gonna have to realign the frame,
re-heat treat it, re-anodize, or repaint it.
We get it, carbon bikes are very expensive,
and you can get some very good value for money frames
that look just like your favourites out there.
They've gotta be a bargain, right?
Well, as with most things in life,
if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
You might be able to get a cheap frame
that looks just like your ideal bike,
but it almost certainly won't have had
the same engineering or layup
that's gone into producing the bike,
let alone the ride attributes you're looking for,
or more importantly, the safety aspect
that comes with the big manufacturers.
Most counterfeit frames
will have been made using a replica mould,
but almost certainly inferior manufacturing techniques.
The truth is, if you wanna save a bit of cash,
stick with alloy, or save up and do the real deal.
It's the best way to do it.
One thing's for sure,
carbon fibre in the mountain bike world
is definitely here to stay.
Most manufacturers are offering carbon models
across the board now,
and if you look carefully
you'll notice it's encroaching on
aluminium bikes significantly.
And this is a great thing,
because carbon itself is such a lovely material to ride,
very stiff, very light, and very comfortable.
As far as the high end part of the market goes,
the high modulus fibres themselves
are still being refined and developed in different ways.
Now, this is also the same with the manufacturers
and their techniques.
Working with so many different engineers
across the board from different bike brands
means they all kind of collaborate,
and they start making individual components better
and more efficiently.
This is great for the consumer,
as your bikes are gonna get better, stronger,
lighter, and ultimately more affordable.
Hopefully, this video will have
enlightened you into carbon fibre.
If you still wanna learn more about lightweight bike stuff,
find out how to make a bike lighter just down here,
and if you're curious about whether it makes a difference
if your bike's light or if you are, click down here.
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