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Carbon fiber and degradation over time (GCN)

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Carbon fiber and degradation over time (GCN)

Old 03-28-22, 12:53 PM
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ctak
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Carbon fiber and degradation over time (GCN)

Excellent video by GCN:

I've ridden my Roubaix quite hard and haven't noticed any issues around the Zertz insert areas, but I'll definitely monitor going forward...
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Old 03-28-22, 01:17 PM
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Interesting thought about interviewing a polymer chemist as well
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Old 03-28-22, 05:08 PM
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To summarize, what both experts in the video said regarding the long term integrity of CF frames (and by extension, other components, e.g., handlebar) was quite reassuring.
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Old 03-28-22, 05:30 PM
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Originally Posted by SoSmellyAir
To summarize, what both experts in the video said regarding the long term integrity of CF frames (and by extension, other components, e.g., handlebar) was quite reassuring.
Yeah. Mostly don't store in bright sunlight, and don't be Mark Cavendish, and you should be fine.
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Old 03-28-22, 05:44 PM
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Originally Posted by genejockey
Yeah. Mostly don't store in bright sunlight, ...
Just finished applying some sunscreen to my bare carbon frame.

Originally Posted by genejockey
... and don't be Mark Cavendish, and you should be fine.
No concerns here on that front.
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Old 03-28-22, 05:54 PM
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Originally Posted by SoSmellyAir
Just finished applying some sunscreen to my bare carbon frame.
You know you're supposed to apply that every couple hours, right?

No concerns here on that front.
If Cavendish can safely use a frame for a year, I can probably use one till the heat death of the Universe.
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Old 03-28-22, 06:01 PM
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Originally Posted by genejockey
You know you're supposed to apply that every couple hours, right?
The smell is too overwhelming if you do so. Besides, my rides generally only last a couple of hours.
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Old 03-28-22, 06:06 PM
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Originally Posted by SoSmellyAir
The smell is too overwhelming if you do so. Besides, my rides generally only last a couple of hours.
You need some of that coconut scented stuff. It may drive you nuts, but the riders you pass, or who pass you, will be briefly wafted away to more tropical climes...
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Old 03-28-22, 06:28 PM
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Originally Posted by genejockey
If Cavendish can safely use a frame for a year, I can probably use one till the heat death of the Universe.
LOL! Speaking of the Universe, the antenna masts on the Voyager spacecraft -- which are both still in operation after 45 years travelling well in excess of 30,000mph -- are made of carbon fiber. I'm pretty confident our CF bike frames aren't going to assplode even without watching that GCN video

...but I'll watch it anyway, what the hell.
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Old 03-28-22, 06:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Bob Ross
LOL! Speaking of the Universe, the antenna masts on the Voyager spacecraft -- which are both still in operation after 45 years travelling well in excess of 30,000mph -- are made of carbon fiber. I'm pretty confident our CF bike frames aren't going to assplode even without watching that GCN video

...but I'll watch it anyway, what the hell.
Well, there's no wind resistance in space, and it's not accelerating, and it's moving AWAY from the biggest UV source, but apart from that, you make a reasonable point.
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Old 03-28-22, 06:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Bob Ross
LOL! Speaking of the Universe, the antenna masts on the Voyager spacecraft -- which are both still in operation after 45 years travelling well in excess of 30,000mph -- are made of carbon fiber. I'm pretty confident our CF bike frames aren't going to assplode even without watching that GCN video

...but I'll watch it anyway, what the hell.
Let me try to save you the trouble with this summary thereof: unless one constantly subjects one's CF bike to (a) professional sprinter levels of cyclical mechanical loads or (b) UV ray bombardment, the bike is much more likely to fail due to a latent manufacturing defect than fatigue through normal use.
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Old 03-28-22, 06:47 PM
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Originally Posted by genejockey
Yeah. Mostly don't store in bright sunlight, and don't be Mark Cavendish, and you should be fine.
​​​​​​Sunlight is a hoax. ☹️
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Old 03-28-22, 06:51 PM
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
​​​​​​Sunlight is a hoax. ☹️
Yeah, there was a hiatus a couple of hours long in the big production required to perpetuate that elaborate hoax in southern California today, but as soon as I rolled my car out onto my driveway for a rinse under the rain, the hoax resumed.
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Old 03-28-22, 06:59 PM
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Doesn't seem that long ago that we were worried about the life span of an aluminum frame... Ha

I can understand the use of a short lived frame, or even a one time use frame, at the professional bicycling level. Truly professional level bicycle racing has its own spectrum longevity...
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Old 03-28-22, 07:34 PM
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Seeing how many car and M/C race parts are made of carbon fiber I am not too worried about my bike frame.
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Old 03-28-22, 08:30 PM
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I haven't watched it yet, but I really hope it means I can safely buy a set of Spinergy Rev-X's. Because I really want a pair.
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Old 03-28-22, 09:07 PM
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Originally Posted by krakhaus
I haven't watched it yet, but I really hope it means I can safely buy a set of Spinergy Rev-X's. Because I really want a pair.
They weren't safe when new, age hasn't helped. Really wish they had a slightly better design since I loved mine till they cracked, they will always be cool looking, but the blades were designed to flex like a spoke and should have been built more rigid.
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Old 03-28-22, 09:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Russ Roth
They weren't safe when new, age hasn't helped. Really wish they had a slightly better design since I loved mine till they cracked, they will always be cool looking, but the blades were designed to flex like a spoke and should have been built more rigid.
That's the rumor, but I've never met anyone who had them fail catastrophically. I had a pair in the 90's and they held up to many years of Seattle bike messengering. I even T-boned a car and tacoed my frame, but the spinergy survived unscathed. I had to retire them when the brake surface wore through. I hear some versions were better than others.
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Old 03-28-22, 09:35 PM
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Originally Posted by krakhaus
That's the rumor, but I've never met anyone who had them fail catastrophically. I had a pair in the 90's and they held up to many years of Seattle bike messengering. I even T-boned a car and tacoed my frame, but the spinergy survived unscathed. I had to retire them when the brake surface wore through. I hear some versions were better than others.
The colors later on denoted the strength from what I remember, blue was regular, red was heavy duty and the yellow was a lighter weight. There is video out there as a couple collapsed under pro riders which is probably what did them in. Mine did crack and I wouldn't trust them, I did use them for several year in cross races and they really took the bounce out of the course.
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Old 03-28-22, 09:48 PM
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What ever happen to Mad Fibers?
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Old 03-28-22, 09:48 PM
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How come bike makers never figured out gel coats? For boats and turbines and sailplanes and RV's it's de rigueur. Basically anything composite that lives outside.
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Old 03-28-22, 09:50 PM
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
​​​​​​Sunlight is a hoax. ☹️
Hoaxes are a hoax, by definition.

Ok it’s not by definition, but by MY definition.

Steel Carbon is the real deal”
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Old 03-29-22, 03:31 AM
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Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
How come bike makers never figured out gel coats? For boats and turbines and sailplanes and RV's it's de rigueur. Basically anything composite that lives outside.
if products of low value are made of high quality, the profit margin decreases & the market saturation slowly increases. Designed & planned obsolesces are real.
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Old 03-29-22, 05:50 AM
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Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
How come bike makers never figured out gel coats? For boats and turbines and sailplanes and RV's it's de rigueur. Basically anything composite that lives outside.
Gel coat is a thick, brittle material. If used on bikes, the flex and constant impacts would cause it to crack. It's heavy also.
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Old 03-29-22, 06:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
How come bike makers never figured out gel coats? For boats and turbines and sailplanes and RV's it's de rigueur. Basically anything composite that lives outside.
have you done any repair work on gel coat? its pretty great to work with. I did repairs on RVs and boats for a few years I enjoyed the gel coat work. not the fiberglass work that sucked. lol..
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