Doug Peterson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: """ The possibility of a catastrophic failure exists with any material. The probability of a catastrophic failure is lowest with steel. """"
I say: Sure, but not low enough to be smug. Doug also wrote; """ Many of the recent posts on this topic have acknowledged that "stuff breaks". No one took issue or said "it can't happen here". """ I sez: Ok, I agree almost no one said that this except for the possibly deliberately smug John. But it is implied all the time. Grant said in this thread "Better in repairable steel than in carbon". Common misconception, as posted on the other threaded part of the conversation, you can repair a broken dropout in a huge number of carbon frames made today, not all of them, but most of them. Other people (on this list) constantly post pictures about shattered carbon and congratulate themselves on smartly choosing steel. But if you think your bike can't break, or are surprised when you see a steel frame break you are fooling yourself. John wrote """ Hardly the same, steerer tubes break on all types of frames, but you will be hard pressed to find a simpler mid-fork blade failure especially, if you disregard any forks with braze-ons. Bicycle Manufactures are not playing with a full deck when it comes to carbon fork and frame design, and to assert otherwise is misleading. """" John, A broken fork is a broken fork. When you go over the bars suddenly it does not matter how you got there. Different materials have different failure modes and break in different places and fail for different reason. I would be hardpressed to say that the steel fork failure I linked to is "better" than the carbon one you linked to. You linked to a race bike that failed in a race by a professional that gets paid to ride as fast as possible, so he made some compromises on the equipment in seeking spped/performance. When he got back on his spare bike to continue the race (which he did, thankfully) I guarantee he was not riding a steel fork. I linked to a commuter bike that was ridden by a guy who is on this list or the Ibob list. You tell me which one hits closer to home. There are lots of photos of all sorts of carbon failures, but I think most of them are not JRA failures. Just like with steel. There was a crash or hitting road debris or whatnot. The squirrel in the fork that shattered the carbon one is going to bend the steel one as well, with the same end result: You go flying over the bars suddenly. I think that most people should not be on carbon forks or bars if they are not prepared to inspect the bike regularly and obey manufacturers rules for torque specs and weight limits. But if you are willing to take the time, there is nothing wrong with carbon. Next up: tig welded bikes are easily repairable. Tarik -- Tarik Saleh tas at tariksaleh dot com in los alamos, po box 208, 87544 http://tariksaleh.com all sorts of bikes blog: http://tsaleh.blogspot.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
