Originally Posted by ljsense

That was an interesting video -- and it led me to watch "Carbon Fiber -- The Truth" by an Australian guy interviewing a carbon expert who came out of Boeing and now does bike repair. He had a lot of interesting things to say.

He's pretty critical of the bike industry's carbon fiber manufacturing processes in general, but rides carbon bikes himself. He says carbon clinchers are a design intended for aluminum, and he only rides carbon tubulars.

One of his main points: Compared to aerospace, carbon fiber in cycling is sloppier in the layup with far less quality control and inspection, allowing defects like air bubbles and wrinkles to go to market.

Also, carbon fiber repair has to be done with knowledge of the layup stiffnesses, orientations and carbon grades and match the original design of the bike.

He uses a specialized ultrasound system to see if carbon is solid. He says visual inspection doesn't cut the mustard, and you don't see him tapping any quarters on a frame. As much as he strips away a lot of marketing stuff, his diagnosis of potentially risky carbon could be maybe where he does a little voodoo of his own. It would have been great to see him show how ultrasound detects a layup problem and then have him tear into it and fix it. I'd have loved to see, for example, how a carbon steerer that is at risk of failure presents differently from a sound steerer.

He says that the compression plug is absolutely a structural element and keeps a steerer supported against the clamping force of a stem. He calibrates his torque wrenches.

Originally Posted by canklecat

If you drill down in the comments section, Lanterne Rouge confirms he got feedback from the rider or team and there was no previous crash with that bike. With a pro team it's unlikely to have been an issue with faulty adjustments or not using a torque wrench.

That pretty much leaves manufacturing defect. Another commenter claimed to have visited a famous marque's assembly plant that spot checked only one in 50 frames made by contractors elsewhere.

If I were with a pro team I'd expect every component to have been inspected before racing. That may not eliminate mishaps like this but it sure couldn't hurt.

And that guy's reflexes are amazing. He had the presence of mind to unclip his right foot for balance while his bike was assploding and he was looking directly at the video camera person. And apparently wasn't too seriously injured and plans to race again in a few days.

I can barely remember to unclip at stop signs.