Carbon...

[Milkfloat]

That was a moment for me.

I guess more accurate would be ‘glued soot with bits in’.

 

[DCBassman]

I guess more accurate would be ‘glued soot with bits in’.

Yup, but it's not so...snappy!

 

[ColinJ]

What is it, really?
Moulded carbon-fibre reinforced plastic. A similar, but much tougher thing to GRP, or glass-fibre reinforced plastic.

Amazing what you sit and think about on the throne in the morning!

I have most of my thought provoking moments their too..

I think that you two should spend less time contemplating the wonders of carbon fibre and more time thinking about how you can get more vegetable fibre into your diet!

I would get as far as "I wonder what the best material is for bicycle fram..." and then have to put the question aside until next visit!

 

[Alan O]

Glued soot.

Special long, thin soot, though.

 

[Illaveago]

Set light to it , and what do you get ?

 

[graham bowers]

I've just lost an hour reading about the different structures of carbon at the atomic level. I love the internet.

 

[irw]

Set light to it , and what do you get ?

It’s OK, you can put it out by pouring water on it...oh, hang on a second...!

 

[Grant Fondo]

Can anyone beat my 2001 Sidi shoes with the aforementioned carbon soles? Will get a pic up of these techno marvels... What's tel no. of V&A?

 

[Racing roadkill]

The ‘lay up’ is all important. The layers of resin impregnated Carbon fibre mats are arranged in various ways, in order to maximise resilience in certain directions. Different frame manufacturers have developed different ways of arranging the layers to maximise the resilience of the frame. There are basically two different types of frame, ‘open mold’ where the design, material and lay up are generic, and used for several different frames, from several different bike suppliers, and proprietary, where a particular bike manufacturer has spent big bucks developing the materials / molds and lay ups to achieve the marketeers claims. The difference shows in the price of the frame / bike.

 

[Ajax Bay]

The layers of resin impregnated Carbon fibre mats are arranged in various ways, in order to maximise resilience in certain directions. Different frame manufacturers have developed different ways of arranging the layers to maximise the resilience of the frame.

How does "resilience in certain directions" present itself (to the rider)? What is the "resilience of the frame"? Is "maxim[um] resilience" good?
Stiffer than a stiff thing?
"laterally stiff yet vertically compliant"
Try avoiding to laugh at/with this article : bikesnob-2008-dream-bike-shootout,
"this [carbon - so 'on topic'] bike climbs like a monkey in a set of crampons, descends like a monkey in a set of crampons being dropped from a helicopter, handles corners like a prostitute, and accelerates like a particle in a particle accelerator that itself is just a tiny particle in a giant particle accelerator."