guy1138

This had to be a warranty or defective frame. Bike shops are supposed to smash them before they go into the dumpster, though.

That said, I have a similar 2010 Fuji Pro-SL1. Great ride quality, but very heavy carbon fiber lay-up.

bikemig 

if you’re saying that aliens will prefer steel over carbon, I can’t argue with that.

nlerner

But will the alien hipsters prefer fixies?

bikemig 

That likely depends on how many appendages they have. Maybe they can't handle shifters . . . .

branko_76 

apparently, they prefer commuters,

robertorolfo

In terms of materials, I can't say. But in terms of style? I'd say no, as that is a particularly unattractive example of modern CF.

They claim to be printing "continuous carbon fiber," whatever that means. Everything I know about CF (which, admittedly, isn't too much) makes me think that "printing" it is nearly impossible, unless it is some highly simplified and inferior version. To that end, the characteristics and quality of this frame are probably equivalent to bottom of the barrel stuff, so I don't see much appeal.

sheddle

Any chance it's thermoplastic? I remember that being experimented with a bit in the 90s.

capt_velo

So in your future, 3D printers aren't ubiquitous?

3alarmer 

...I do find it difficult to envision a 3D printer that produces a reliable bearing, but that's probably just a lack of imagination on my part.

bikemig 

Quality old steel frames were hand made. To my mind that gives them a cachet that robot made bikes lack.

3alarmer 

...if you found that many of those proprietary derailleurs for sale, doesn't that demonstrate that nobody thought highly enough of the bikes they came on to preserve them ?

Chombi1 

Same here.......
Grand Daddy of Grafteks......

Built in 1972....

RiddleOfSteel

Top-end carbon bikes are hand-made (or rather, hand-laid) using several hundred individual pieces each, with each frame size employing specific pieces. That is not light work, and I only state this for the sake of argument--carbon frames do not take two seconds to make via robot.

I know an all-black on black on matte black, big, bad, bike corporation Trek is an easy punching bag for some/many here, but how about something a little more dear? I bet this complete, plastic, garbage bike--that should have never been thought of by anyone with any registering level of IQ--will only last 3 months after it's first ride by some too-rich, carbon-worshiping owner. And to think (the horror!), that this shares the hallowed name of legendary (if not divine) steel frames before it! Treasonous, I tell you! It should be banished to the pits of Hell where it will surely succumb to heat and further derision, melting into a puddle of molten vanity, never to be seen, remembered, or spoken of again! A fitting end to such a spiteful endeavor. Woe to progress! Woe to innovation! Woe to creativity and beauty!

Am I doing this right, guys?

iab

Fixed that for you.

Wildwood 

Why won't they survive in the same percentages that steel bikes do?

A carbon fibre bike can live as long as a steel one, IMHO.

I'm even betting on it.

Calfee TetraPro

repechage

in the marine industry, infrared damage assessment has proven worthwhile.
also, electrolysis is a problem, (this has shown up already in the bicycle industry) in the marine industry fabrication with an E glass isolating area at hardware mount points is pretty common on boats that are designed to "survive".
The epoxy resin can boil and blister.
looking forward, better chance that the cost to "restore" will be higher than the cost to recreate. replicas.
Porsche is now 3D printing pistons on some high output engines.

things will be different.

ctak

Question for the speculators: what is the likelihood that our children's children will actually be pedaling, or peddling, Grandpappy's inflation-adjusted vintage noodles?

3alarmer 

.




...I''m sorry, but I just have a hard time getting past the dropped top tube, dog pooping profile design. I know it's me, and it's a personal failing on my part, but there it is.

RiddleOfSteel

Some, er, a number of modern frames are really bad like that. I don't like it when it's done poorly. It's either the dog pooping profile, or, in super tall (64cm or so) sizes, it looks like the entire bike is "surprised" and recoiling back onto its rear wheel. It's a weak and weird look. We've also seen enough of the dropped seat stay archetype to get a good feel for them. More aero? Sure. Combined with the new era of "integrated aero stems" (that look like really ungainly versions of quill stems), and the line from rear axle to bars looks like a weird jagged graph. Aesthetically, it lacks a grace in continuous gesture or flow. So design-wise, it won't stand the test of time, IMO, as it wasn't really pretty to begin with. The pretty ones will always be adored, and rightly so.

Trakhak

Eye of the beholder. It takes a goodly amount of paint and filing of lugs to disguise the gas-pipe, Model T-era origins of steel bikes. I love the way they look, too, but I recognize that it's an acquired taste, like the Pompidou Centre.

Mad Honk 

I'm back again to discuss CF and design process.
I guess that 3-D printing will not yield CF because it is now only made of strands of drawn carbon. The properties of the strand are fairly strong, but become stronger when woven together. The tubes are constructed in two ways either filament wound or layer plies of CF sheets.
The filament wound tubes are identified by the diamond shaped patterns you can see when the tubes are clear coated. The tubes are wound with thousands of strands of CF that have been coated with a matrix. The matrix is a plastic based adhesive that melts and bonds to carbon fiber into a single tube. The strands of fiber are all wound around a mandrel and each tube like the ones in the early Alans and Treks that had aluminium lugs, are fairly thick to compensate for the elasticity an strength needed for the tube. These tubes are heated in an oven for about three hours to get the CF to bond together. That also means that they will de-laminate or de-bond with heat as well so at about 375* they start to break down and are rendered useless.
The second method is to use plies of carbon fiber sheets layered together over mandrels and then heated to get to the same finished tube. The sheets are layered together and depending on the way the sheets are layered, they will have different strength properties. The sheets are called pre-preg and come from a number of suppliers. Mitsubushi is the major player in this field supplying nearly 90% of the market. And strength of the sheets can vary widely and the weight as well. Mitsubishi also makes the sheets of pre-preg that are thermo composite as well. These are not carbon fiber completely but a mix of CF and thermo plastic based strands. The sheets of pre-preg are also what the Indy cars and CF bikes are made of. The one thing that is not explained about the making of CF is that it takes pressure to keep all of the sheets together while cooking in the oven to cure the CF. Usually it is with a saran wrap type of wrapping around the CF.
All methods of CF construction come out of the ovens in a rough finish and must be sanded to a smooth finish and painted or clear coated. The sanding or cutting of CF leaves a significant amount of Carbon particles in the air and are a microscopic size. This stuff is like the precursor to black lung disease, and needs to filtered out of the air to prevent the workers who are creating CF frames from this deadly problem. If you watch the you tube vids about the making of Look frames you should see the workers with airflow mask on for this very reason. I hope this helps a bit in the understanding of CF production. It doesn't explain how long these frames will last though, I am betting on not as long as steel frames. Smiles, MH

3alarmer 

.
...if I've given anyone the impression I don't appreciate these plastic carbon fiber reinforced wonder machines, I'd like to correct that impression.Half the high end steel bikes in my garage are there because some guy bought a lighter, faster, more speeds bicycle (now with disc brakes !!). He sold me his Cinelli/Colnago/Pinarello/SBDU Raleigh/Merckx/etc. because it was just gathering dust over in one corner of the garage. Also, he was nice enough to sell it for much less than he paid for it, often because it needed some work.

Without all the $5000 CF machines floating around, I'd probably be still be riding my Raleigh Sports. nttawwt

montclairbobbyb 

​​​​​​Well-ridden steel bikes.. old diners and hardware stores... Some things just make me smile... just because...

montclairbobbyb 

​​​​​​Well-ridden steel bikes.. old diners and hardware stores... Some things just make me smile... just because...

merziac

You could be right, hope you are in this case.

He may be the only one to get it right, in a class by himself.