Going carbon - practical advice wanted
Hi,
New year will see a new carbon edition to the garage - not sure what make / model, but all the usual suspects are in the picture (Specialized, Cannondale etc) plus the Felt Z35 when it gets to the UK.
My current bikes are steel, so with regard to maintenance, storing, carrying on the car etc is there anything different I need to worry about on a carbon bike. I'm going to get torque wrenches (I've read too many crushed steerer stories), but do I need to exercise additional car when putting the bike on the car (rear carrier) or when working on it in the workshop stand etc? Any other practical advice (other than just get out and ride, of course!).
Ta,
JJ.
New year will see a new carbon edition to the garage - not sure what make / model, but all the usual suspects are in the picture (Specialized, Cannondale etc) plus the Felt Z35 when it gets to the UK.
My current bikes are steel, so with regard to maintenance, storing, carrying on the car etc is there anything different I need to worry about on a carbon bike. I'm going to get torque wrenches (I've read too many crushed steerer stories), but do I need to exercise additional car when putting the bike on the car (rear carrier) or when working on it in the workshop stand etc? Any other practical advice (other than just get out and ride, of course!).
Ta,
JJ.
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Comments
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When I had a carbon fork fitted a little while ago I posed similar questions to the guy doing the job. We took the bit of the (carbon) steerer tube he cut off and attacked it with a hammer, files and so-on. Suffice to say that it is incredibly hard and difficult indeed to break. I was amazed that I could beat it with a hammer so hard.
I believe (but have no evidence) that carbon should be treated with a little more care in workstands than, say steel, just in case. And it is said that temperature cycling (on top of the car in winter then brought indoors and the like) will weaken the material (different expansion rates between fibres and resin may cause premature delamination) but this stuff is used in aerospace applications where it can go from very warm to very cold quite quickly - clearly then this must be not much of an issue.
As usual, the warnings are all about the potential for sudden, catastrophic failure, but (again from anecdotal evidence) this is apparently more due to failures at glued joints than in the tube/lug materials.
If you treat it as you treat any light frame, I believe there will be no problems. The thing I like best about mine is that I don't worry about corrosion, so it has become the defacto winter bike.0 -
My latest road bike (A Giant TCR C2) has a composite seatpost as well as frame, so I got a Park PRS-20 workstand rather than subject it to a clamp. This supports the bottom bracket in a rubber-covered cradle and clamps either dropout - normally the front.
You can buy clamping posts to replace the seatpost if you want to clamp a carbon frame in a conventional repair stand but it struck me as too much faff. The PRS-20 is also great for washing bikes, and posing in the car park at Nant yr Arian, etc etc.0 -
Thanks for the comments so far- interesting stuff.
Rob, I'd rather not go down the route of getting a second workstand (I've convinced the missus that I need another bike, but I don't think another stand will wash!!) - any other thoughts about using an existing stand. I've got a "Union" brand stand, cheepish but good, clamps around top-tube or down tube etc, could probably get it to clamp around the seatpost if necessary (but then again, what if that's carbon...). Was wondering whether a short length of pipe lagging in the clamp would work to protect the carbon a bit - should keep teh bike held firm but not too tight.
I try and do all my own maintenance and enjoy furtling with the bikes almost as much as riding them, so I'm keen to be able to carry on when the new bike gets here.
Ta again,
JJ.0 -
Taking care with carbon - well first off i am a hacker when it comes to respecting fames and parts I give my carbon bikes no more respect than Al or steel frames and never had a problem. I did break a set of carbon forks clean through during the summer but only because some dropped a 400cc motorbike on them before setting off motor pacing!! plus i have had 3 or 4 crashes (weigh 12.5 stone) and taken it on flights and literally chuck it into my car and not a problem!! So I would do everything the exact same and it should be fine. If carbon does throw up a problem due to damage it may not be visible but you will feel it in the ride - it will be really loose so have no fear about microscopic damage or non visible stuff (carbon damaged is like Al gone bad x100!) - i had an issue in a carbon steerer that when bad a few years ago. Now all steerers are an extra 1/4" thick so dont hear of any issues. Only thing that can go quickly is an AL-carbon bond - that is a concern and should inspect forks etc if AL steerer.
Oh - keep an eye out for cables that rub against the frame -in particular Shimano gear cables rubbing the head tube before reaching the eyes. i picked up some ware on the carbon before I got some BB stickers to to take the friction! Need to replace the stickers as they ware but beats sawing into my frame!0 -
JJDLD wrote:I try and do all my own maintenance and enjoy furtling with the bikes almost as much as riding them, so I'm keen to be able to carry on when the new bike gets here.
I'm thinking 'fettling' instead. I hope!
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=furtling0
