And I would also add that more advanced techniques start to be applied to titanium, if you don’t like the tubular look that traditionally goes with Ti Frames. Example of Robert Frameworks, with hydroformed tubes titaniumbikestore.com/boutique/allroad/robert-frameworks-ra1
@Michael Pretty cool! Here he's adding the honeycomb that acts as standoff
Interesting aspect here: It is actually quite possible to do one-offs with CF
3D printed molds make this easy but they don't have very high precision. For professional use molds are machined from some special plastic at high precision and then manually polished until perfectly smooth, which is super expensive, and their exact shape is secret (GCN wasn't allowed to show those on their infamous CF production video)
Handling the CF mats without gloves, apparently not wearing breathing protection when handling the resin... Yeah well let's hope he can continue the channel 👀👀👀
The resin can spontaneously self-combust and is highly toxic. You can develop a very strong allergy to it very quickly (fumes). The carbon fibers sometimes break into small parts that you can easily breathe in (as they're extremely light) which will then puncture your lungs, causing cancer (like asbestos). They can also easily puncture skin.
One should wear a gas mask (for gas, not particles) and gloves when handling the resin. A mask with particulate filter and gloves for handling the fibers. Continuously clean the area using a strong vacuum cleaner (never a broom). Handle the resin extremely carefully, avoid shock, let it cool down after opening. Keep fire extinguishers nearby. What the poor people manufacturing our cheap CF frames do: Wear a surgical mask (as shown on the GCN vid)
At least the finished product is safe, but the raw materials absolutely aren't
Luckily CF rims can be made using an entirely different process, by weaving the individual fibers onto a mold (instead of using mats). This can be automated by using robots, so using CF rims isn't as bad
(though when it comes to doing harmful stuff outside I always have to think about the fact that now all the harmful particles or toxins are spreading right through the air or soil or water)
Tbf it does look good but I suspect achieving a perfectly clean look would have been more expensive. That overly technical look of the checkerboard pattern wouldn't really fit the flowing organic shape
@Michael You can check the design with all meterials using simulation and destructive tests, which is done for production bicycles/vehicles. Of course that doesn't mean all actually made products are as good. QC is indeed a disadvantage of CF; it can be done but it's expensive.
They bolt the BB hole, droupout, headtube into a rig and apply a "pedaling" force to the BB. The force is a multiple of what a world champion can achieve, the entire frame bends a LOT. They use a high frequency to speed up the process and simulate aging. If the frame survives this for X days the design is good. I guess oscillations aren't an issue as the pedaling frequency is very low and resonance frequencies of the frame would be much higher
Absolutely not, but it's part of the mandatory standardized(!) product tests by the EU which are thoroughly designed and applied. If those tests were insufficient you'd hear a lot more about frames spontaneously disintegrating
We have come a long way from exploding steam tanks
Designing safe systems is a fascinating topic, I had a few courses on this at Uni. We visited a large labour-safety-lab nearby that certifies all kinds of equipment. That was really cool.
Yeah this happens, the market moves faster than regulations
A key point is "acceptable risk". Everything in life has some associated risk, nothing is 100% safe. Risk is the product of probability of damage times the maximum "cost" (of life). If something can cause a lot of damage (e.g. nuclear accident) the probability needs to be very low and you need strong protection measures. If the maximum damage is low (e.g. stubbed toe) the probability basically doesn't matter and you need no protection.
So product tests are designed to achieve a certain level of safety. This doesn't mean something bad can NEVER happen, just that the risk level is below the generally accepted threshold. Traffic lights or car seatbelts don't 100% prevent injury either, but the risk level is generally accepted by society
Luckily a bicycle is pretty easy to test. Consider a car ABS with millions of lines of code and complex sensors and actors. A malfunction can easily cause several deaths. Now that's hard to test
@Michael There must be, possibly buried in some ISO norm
@Michael Just scanned the video, but yes, it's frightening. Epoxy fumes solidify in the trachea and the lungs, and there is no solution to it. The person would live with diminished lung capacity and worse health for the rest of their life.
@Erlkoenig Is the mechanism through which asbestos causes lung cancer just physical (puncture from asbestos fibers?) ? I thought it was chemical.
@Michael although there were several broken frames, there were no casualties. And I see loads of those bikes around. I think there is a third or is it already fifth company which failed recently.
