Carbon fibre! The material that took the cycling world by storm in the 90s has come a long way. You don't have to be an avid cyclist to know a thing or two about carbon fibre and its mind-blowing aerodynamics. Due to its extreme popularity worldwide, carbon fibre is used in making regular bikes, and professional bikers consider it a go-to material to make their high-performance bike frames.
Even the dream competition for cyclists, the Tour de France, saw the last non-carbon frame bikes used back in the late 90s. Such is the popularity of this material that kindles everyone's fantasy occasionally. But is the hype real? If you're thinking of buying a carbon frame bike or just a curious mind who wants to take a sneak peek to understand the material better, here's food for your thoughts. Here in this article, we'll explain what it's made of and what difference it makes when comparing a carbon bike to steel, titanium, or other ones.
What Is A Carbon Bike Frame?
A carbon bike frame is like a regular bike frame, unlike the material that is not made of steel. It's a carbon-finished structure much lighter than your usual steel and even aluminium frames. The frame is made from weaving carbon fibre strands crafted in various shapes and wrapped using epoxy resin. The biggest advantage of the material is its lightweight, which makes the aerodynamics of the carbon bike more precise and a notch above any other material. Even sometimes, the manufacturers are so obsessed with its aerodynamics and performance that some may come with weight limits attached to them. But this doesn't mean carbon fibre bike frames are fragile; they're also known for their stiffness in cycling. Besides, it's not metallic, so it's not prone to corrosion damage and can last long.
Know the Frame Material You buy
Carbon is a commonly used material in the market that bikes are made of. Carbon bikes are indeed more expensive than steel or aluminium ones, and even once, they used to come with such exorbitant price tags. Back then, carbon frames were considered an exotic material to experience. But over time, it's evolved to come up with different grades to fit into everyone's budget. While there are other metallic materials like steel, aluminium, and titanium, carbon fibre is completely different from them as it's non-metallic and made of some carbon sheets bound together with epoxy glue.
Frame Characteristics Of Different Materials
Many things influence your material selection, including your riding style, weight, and sense of adventure, such as whether you need basic road bikes for casual biking or a professional delivery job. You could also be more of an MTB guy or gravel bike lover. The following sections describe the many types of materials frequently seen on bicycles. A few bikes are built of strange metals, but that's a topic for another day.
Steel - Probably, the most common material you'll find in bike frames is steel. Steel is known for its decent stiffness; it's far less expensive than any other material bikes are typically made of. Carbon and Chromoly are two popular steel types seen in road bikes. While carbon steel is high-tensile, Chromoly steel is more popular for its durability and flexibility.
Aluminium - Aluminum is a lightweight metallic material; thus, the idea behind using an aluminium frame is to reduce the overall bike weight. Once, aluminium bikes also used to be expensive, but not anymore, and now aluminium is an extensively used material in traditional road and mountain bikes.
Carbon Fiber - One of the best in the industry, properly tried and tested in the lab and real life by expert riders. Carbon fibre is a revolutionary specimen in the bike industry that shapes the aerodynamics of a bike in a way no other material could do before. From lightweight to better shock absorption, carbon fibre can do it all.
Titanium - Titanium is more like an exotic material in this niche that can be found in high-end bikes. Being a metallic material, titanium's flexibility is amazing. That helps manufacturers mould it into creative shapes for better aerodynamics and lightweight bikes.
Choose The Right Frame For Your Height
When you're done choosing the right material for your bike, it's time to take care of the other aspects you need to know to buy the right bike: bike height or frame height is one of them. Amateur riders are always concerned about choosing the right height for their bike for comfort. Riding the wrong-sized bikes for a long time causes discomfort, pain, and injury. So, trying out a model before deciding is always safe. If you're ordering online, check the frame height chart properly.
People within 6 ft can always go for anything between small and medium. However, for 5'9" to 6'0" riders, large bikes Beyond 6'2" X-large or XX-large dimensions would fit well. Sizes differ slightly for MTB bikes. The basic concept is that when you throw a leg over the bike, you must have your toes on the ground for a better grip. This will help you to be in a nice upright riding position to access the pedals and brakes comfortably. Some riders also prefer not to touch the ground with their toes and want their legs to bend slightly as in the normal position. But you can always adjust your saddle height according to your comfort. But while adjusting your saddle height, remember to reach for perfect geometry.
How To Easily Estimate The Frame Size You Need By Using The Reach Stack Value
Every bike has its unique geometry that varies according to model and brand. The reach and stack method is a way to determine the geometry, angles, and distances between some key points of your bike. The reach and stack value is calculated using the bottom bracket as the origin. So, the reach is calculated horizontally from the bottom bracket(from the centre) to the top of the head tube. Meanwhile, the stack is how high the bottom bracket is to the centre of the top of the head tube or the vertical distance. If you're buying a bike online, you can find multiple stack and reach calculator services on the internet that allow you to input certain data and get the correct stack and reach value.
Select The Matching Frame Handle
Your handlebar should be chosen according to your shoulder height for better comfort in long usage. Please keep it simple and cosy, as going too fancy might be costly as it impacts your overall riding experience. Installing gel padding in your carbon road bike handlebars would absorb maximum road vibration and offer you a great grip. Narrower handlebars have a significant impact on the aerodynamics of your bike and can help you go faster.
Confirm The Accessories Needed To Assemble The Frame
If you want to go for a custom-built bike where you'll choose every part handpicked or just order a bike online — in either case, you must assemble all the parts on your own to put them together. To conveniently reassemble your frame's required parts, you need some basic accessories such as Allen keys, Philips head screwdriver, cable cutter, wrench, quill stem, axles, threads, quick release, and others.
Confirm The Kit Model Required For The Frame
A groupset refers to the basic components required to maneuver the bike forward and make you stop. The entire set includes derailleurs, chains, cassettes, cranksets, shifters, and brakes. This niche market has three major brands: Shimano, SRAM, and Campagnolo. Shimano has groupsets for both entry, performance, and pro levels. While entry-level includes Claris, Sora, and Tiagra for 8, 9, and 10-speed, the performance level has 105 R7000 and Ultegra R8100 for more than 10-speed. If you're a pro, you can go for the Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 for 12-speed with electronic shifting technology. SRAM's entry and pro-level groupsets include Apex, Rival eTap AXS, Force, and Force eTap AXS.
Confirm What Size Wheelset The Frame Can Match
When you choose the bike that best suits your needs, the wheel must be compatible with the frame structure and your sense of adventure. The three most used wheel sizes are 26 inches, 27.5 inches, and 29 inches. These wheels go well with most frames and forks and have their characteristics. While bigger wheels give you more rollover and traction to tackle obstacles more easily, smaller wheels can accelerate well.
Know Your Frame's Weighing Limits
If you're using a carbon bike, there's bad news for heavy riders. Although carbon material is stiff enough to tolerate great weight pressure, it may not perform well under the immense pressure of the rider's centre of gravity. Riders weighing more than 170 pounds should go for high-strength bikes that steel or titanium may offer. If you think you're a heavy man or woman and may not be qualified for regular road bikes, plenty of bikes are designed for such people. So, always check the weight limits of your bike frame if you're a bulky rider.
Confirm The Warranty Terms Of The Frame
Warranty may not be crucial for traditional cheap steel bikes, but for carbon bikes, it could be a significant factor. Fixing carbon bikes is not easy and takes expert handling and time-consuming efforts. Even a minor crack on the bike frame can develop into something worse that may damage the entire frame. That's why I always check the bike's warranty to see what it covers and what doesn't.
Compare Frame Prices
Regarding the price, carbon fibre outsmarts most of its rival materials. Carbon fibre. This is due to the entire process of developing a bike frame using carbon fibre sheets. Manik a carbon bike is a highly-specialized process where multiple materials are used to make the composite end product, i.e. carbon sheets. It consumes a great deal of energy, and later comes the manufacturing process of the bike, which itself is not completely automated. However, suppose you consider the steel and aluminium bike manufacturing process. In that case, these can be manufactured on a mass scale, and to a great extent, the service can be automated, reducing manual labour. This is why carbon bikes are expensive, and the nature of the material makes repairing the bike itself complicated once it gets cracked.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, people have started cycling and other activities to maintain their fitness. Now, the bike has become the source of new adventures for many people. With the rise of new riders worldwide, carbon bikes are also on-demand despite the large market for steel and aluminium bikes. As manufacturing technology advances, the prices of carbon fibre bikes will also drop; if not, they will become economical, like steel or aluminium. There are certain pros and cons for carbon bikes compared to steel and aluminium ones, but with this article, you'll understand the basic difference and get your first carbon bike.
