What To Know About A Carbon Bike Frame And Its Build And Ride Quality Characteristics

A brief overview of carbon bike frame development reveals a direct descendant of US aerospace engineering activities that took place starting in the 1970s. Work on the space shuttle and the development of stealth fighter and bomber aircraft back then mainly powered this activity. Today, a carbon bike made from carbon fiber materials has a number of notable positive ride characteristics.

In the 1970s, NASA and other governmental agencies (especially the Department of Defense) as well as a number of civilian government contractors, were studying ways to make military aircraft less noticeable to radar. Radar is composed mainly of radio waves that bounce off of objects, especially metal. Carbon fiber is excellent at not sending back a radar signature because it isn't made of metal.

This gave engineers the idea to start substituting carbon fiber from metal in many different applications, most especially those involving aircraft. When it's properly laid up or molded, carbon fiber is able to be shaped into many different forms. Aerospace engineers and others looked at this with excitement, because certain shapes slip through radar easier than others.

In addition to the fact that radar doesn't tend to "see" carbon fiber-made objects as easily as it does those made of metal, it came to be realized that the material was also extremely strong and durable. In fact, it's probably stronger than almost any metal that serves an aerospace purpose. Because it's lighter, it made great sense for the space shuttle because light weight meant less fuel to be used.

These same aerospace engineers eventually migrated to entrepreneurial activities in many cases as well. This means that they struck out on their own, forming their own aerospace companies or other businesses that created goods made from carbon fiber. One of these was bike frames. Carbon proved to be durable, extremely light in weight and easily molded into such frames, with the right equipment.

Bicyclists, at least in the 70s and 80s, were a hidebound lot and many of the top names, such as Greg LeMond (who won the Tour de France three times) all resisted, at first, swapping their steel-framed bikes for new and somewhat exotic versions using other materials. These included aluminum, titanium and carbon fiber. But the light weight and durable nature of the material soon convinced them otherwise.

These days, there's almost no pro or elite-level bicyclist or triathlete who doesn't ride a bike made of carbon fiber to a large degree. One such cyclist is Lance Armstrong, who won the Tour de France eight times. His bicycle, of course, is specially-made and costs more than $15,000. But its essential characteristics can be found in many commonly-produced bikes far less expensive.

While they'll never be as inexpensive as bikes made from steel or even aluminum (titanium is at least as expensive), a bike made with a carbon bike frame is still within reach of many an average cyclist. That's because many such bikes are now made in factories in mainland China and Taiwan, which turn out high-quality bikes with relative ease. This is certainly a happy circumstance for any cyclist.