The Truth Behind Carbon Fibre Have you ever wondered what the difference is between the low cost Carbon frames that are currently cropping up everywhere and the higher costing Carbon frames by manufacturers such as Dolan, Fuji and Koga? Just like Aluminium, Carbon Fibre is a composite material, made up of a mixture of other materials and moulded to the desired shape. As a raw material Carbon Fibre is expensive, however the percentage of Carbon Fibre in the mixture can be controlled in order to reduce the cost of production and in return the cost of the frame. Just like with Aluminium, Track Frame designers have total control over the thickness of each section of the frame, however a huge advantage of Carbon Fibre is that it is a lot easier to mould into any design. This means that Track Bike designers can now use sophisticated Computer Aided Design technology to create an ideal design for the frame, and then use CNC technology to create a mould for the Carbon Fibre based on this technology. This is the reason that, before the UCI stepped in to change the Design Laws, Carbon Fibre super bikes such as Chris Boardman’s Lotus were manufactured, because designers were no longer restricted by materials in their quest to make the best possible frame for the chosen discipline. The new technology meant that bikes were moving further and further away from the traditional shape of a bike and spectators would find it harder to identify with the sport when the bike gathering dust in their garage didn’t even look remotely similar to those they saw on Television winning Olympic medals and Tour de France Time-Trials. Consequently the UCI stepped in and imposed restrictions on Bike design which basically meant bikes had to look like bikes again. Designers then set back to work on making the best possible bike according to the new laws but it was still quite a few years until Carbon-Fibre Track frames were made readily available at an affordable price to the general public.  Chris Boardman's 1992 Olympic Winning Lotus was the First Carbon Super Bike Whilst being forced to adapt to the new rulings, the type of modulus used in Carbon-Fibre frames was also perfected. Normally the higher the modulus of Carbon-Fibre the better as it means the frame is stronger, however a high modulus also means the material becomes more brittle. Consequentially designers experimented with a composite of the two different types that consisted of a ratio of High-Modulus to Intermediate-Modulus and discovered this gave a longer fatigue life and greater strength. The most popular method of Carbon Fibre Track Frame design is using a Monocoque construction which allows a designer to completely construct a frame to their desired shape that provides optimal aerodynamic efficency without sacrificing on strength and comfort. Whilst every Carbon Fibre frame produced will have different aerodynamic properties the strength of a carbon fibre track frame can be seriously affected by the amount of carbon fibre that is positioned at the various ‘stress points’ in the frame. For example on a Track Bike an incredible amount of power is propelled through the Bottom Bracket and Chainstays during common Track activities such as a Standing Start or Flying 200m TT effort etc. The weave of the Carbon Fibre and the amount of layers around these areas has to be greater in order to prevent frames cracking under the tension and ending in disaster for the rider. In order to keep the final product cost down for the Frames the low-cost Carbon frames with countless different logos plastered over that are currently flooding the market do not strengthen their frames in critical stress areas such as the Bottom Bracket making them extremely flexible. They lower the cost by reducing the amount of expensive carbon fibre layers, however this also makes the frames dangerously subceptable to cracking. The constant G-Forces involved when riding a track make these low-cost frames flex more and more until they eventually can not sustain the pressure on the stress points and suffer fatigue failure, giving way and cracking which will most probably cause a rider to crash. Neglecting to add extra layers of carbon-fibre also causes these ‘low-cost’ carbon fibre frames to have a low strength factor and a much lower impact resistance and consequently are prone to damage if mishandled.  12K Carbon Fibre Weave Pattern Obviously all Carbon-Fibre products are more prone to damage than say an Aluminium product if crashed, but in the products that do not have the reinforced carbon layering and have a low strength and low impact resistance they are prone to damage even if a tool such as a spanner or allen key is dropped onto the frame. On the plus side, there is one advantage of these low-cost frames, they tend to be lighter than the high-end performance carbon-fibre due to less carbon being used, however whether you’d want to risk the aforementioned fatigue failures and stress point fracturing at the expense of weight is another issue. This is also apparent in low-cost disc wheels, five spokes and deep sections etc that are available to purchase. The cost of such products is reduced by minimising the amount of carbon fibre layering, however they also lack the inner foam layer (usually polyurethane) used to strengthen the wheels. On high-end wheels such as Mavic, Zipp and AMClassic the amount of Carbon Fibre layering sometimes means that the foam layer is not required, however on lower cost wheels the lack of carbon fibre layering and a foam layer means that the strength and impact resistance is even lower than on the frames making them scarily prone to fractures. It is a little known fact the low cost carbon products are unable to be used by riders of over 90kg due to them being unable to cope with the weight.  1K Carbon Fibre Weave Pattern When you consider the fact that most track sprinters at around 6ft are at least this weight then that seriously cuts down the amount of riders able to use these products. What most people do not realise is that even a rider who is 75kg will in affect weigh more than 90kg once they get to around 60kph on a standard 250m velodrome. This would make the products unstable and if you have not experienced a fractured frame or other carbon product such as a wheel, already then it will eventually happen as the carbon fatigues with further use. Higher costing Carbon Fibre frames include reinforcement layers for exactly these reasons and sacrificing on this to lower cost and weight at the expense of safety is ridiculous. Not only do higher cost Carbon-Fibre frames such as those from manufacturers such as BT, Koga, Look and Dolan include additional layers they go steps further by adding larger diameter tubes to their designs to provide a stiffer frame in the areas prone to fatigue such as the Bottom Bracket and Chainstays . As you may have noticed the very eye-catching plain Carbon-Fibre frame designs vary in the size of squares from frame to frame. The larger squares are what is called 12k weave where 12,000 fibres are woven into the fabric with various weave patterns. The larger weave is readily available due to it’s low cost, hence the popularity of the 12k weave with low cost brands such as Planet X, Massi and the various versions of the below frames. As with removing the foam inner layer to reduce cost and weight, using a larger weave lowers the cost of production but in return sacrifices on strength. Lower weave patterns such as 1K and 3K are much more expensive due to them being incredibly hard to work with because of the tiny weaves which increase the strength of the design. The cost of 1K and 3K weaves is also much higher because it is very popular in Aerospace Engineering for the Military which affects the availability of these products. These weaves are used in frames by manufacturers such as Look, Koga, BT, Dolan and the British Cycling Team’s EIS Bikes hence the higher cost of their products.  3K Carbon Fibre Weave Pattern To summarise lower cost Carbon Fibre products are low cost for a reason, even though they are Carbon Fibre, Aerodynamic and Light they lack the strength, durability and build quality of higher costing Track Frames. When considering purchasing such products you need to seriously weigh up the advantages of a low impact on your bank balance and the high risks of carbon fracture and fatigue failure having a serious affect on your safety. Other than via the price, such Carbon Fibre products can be easily identified with the following few checks - Feel Lightly squeeze the tubing on a carbon fibre frame and if it ‘gives’ or feels ‘flexible/bouncy’ it is one of the said products. On disc wheels if the disc section of the wheel can be easily dented by pushing it with your fingers it’s one of the said products. - Sound Tap or flick the tubing with your finger, the higher the pitch of the hollow sounding echo the less layers of Carbon-Fibre make up the product - International Scene Browse photos of UCI Track Cycling World Championships and you will find that the low cost brands are not on show at these events for a reason. You’ll see them at events where amateur riders compete such as World Masters and National Championships etc however in professional events like the UCI Track Cycling World Championships riders it is extremely rare to see them using these products. 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