Carbon Vs Aluminum Bike Frames

Most bike frames will be made of either steel titanium aluminum or carbon fiber steel and titanium are the most popular options for custom and handmade bike building.

Carbon vs aluminum bike frames. While both materials can be made into responsive comfortable and lightweight frames they each have some strengths and weaknesses. In order to achieve a greater strength to weight ratio quality aluminium bike frames are butted. However in the higher levels of competitive and athletic bike riding some competitors have publicly claimed that these bikes can be a bit too strict when it comes to riding especially with ultra strict bike models. On a carbon bike the catastrophic failure point is much higher than an aluminum bike due to the flex qualities of the carbon material.

Most bamboo bikes are made by starting with strong bamboo poles then binding the joints together with fiber and resin. Carbon frames are typically lighter and can have a longer lifespan. In this section we ll compare carbon fiber and aluminum bike frames. It s generally accepted that aluminum frames have a five year fatigue life.

A carbon fibre frame will almost always be lighter than an aluminium equivalent and you ll only find carbon fibre bikes in the pro peloton in part because of the weight benefits. When it comes to bike frames aluminium is alloyed with another metal. Aluminum frames possess the shortest fatigue life of any material used to manufacture bicycle frames. These are kind of a novelty at this point.

Conversely carbon possesses the longest fatigue life. The typical aluminum frame possesses a life expectancy of five to 10 years. Most manufacturers provide a lifetime warranty on carbon frames. Just as one impact of this nature could break an aluminum frame and not a carbon frame repeated stresses in this manner would cause an aluminum frame to break sooner as well.

With a carbon bike you ll be able to achieve this far easier than if you were riding an aluminum bike. Unlike aluminum the production of carbon bikes is labor intensive and requires specialized molds and machinery. Carbon fiber bike frames are lighter than equivalent aluminum frames. Carbon bikes are more expensive than aluminum bikes.

Having said that bamboo is a legitimate bike frame material. On carbon frames you need to pay attention to tube junctions the bottom bracket area the top and bottom surfaces of the head tube and the chain stays and seat stays. Well like comfort aesthetics are quite subjective and in any case beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. The more butting the.

It s worth noting that not all carbon fibre is equal and it s possible that a low grade carbon frame could weigh more than a high end aluminum frame. Some manufacturers offer a lifetime warranty on. The vast majority of modern bikes however will be made from aluminum or carbon fiber.