Originally Posted by
tonyzackery .
http://www.velocite-bikes.com/carbon-fiber.html
FYI, interesting info for those uninformed (like I) to the various designations for bicycle grade CF.
From the above link:
"There are no bike specific carbon fiber materials, or resins despite of what some more fanciful marketing materials my claim."
While there may not be any bicycle specific carbon that's used in frame construction, there are a couple of companies such as Giant and Time that weave their own carbon in house from spools of 'carbon silk'. I think Look might do as well but can't remember. Whether it makes a better frame is open for debate.
Weaving carbon. Mmmmm.
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/nstv/2011/02/giant-3d-loom-weaves-parts-for-supercar.html
If Velocite bikes catch your eye then take a look at Isaac bikes. They're been around longer and must be that good that velocite basically stole their website from about 8 years ago - down to very similar claims, details about stiffness and all that "seemingly" good stuff. They make some really nice kit and given the abuse that a friends Isaac Kelvin has seen from baggage handlers, they're pretty impact resistant too.
From reading a lot of interesting bike literature over the past few decades, espcially stuff from Chester Kyle (Cycling Science and his HPV mags) I haven't come across anything that definitavely says that a stiffer frame is indeed a faster frame. One could assume that it is but that assumption is just that...
... a bit like a slack chain being more efficient or chain lubrication making a big difference. Assumptions.
Calfee made a claim in a white paper about their bamboo bikes that riders could ride faster at the end of a long ride due to the better vibration damping characteristics of the frame. I vaguely recall Sean Kelly saying something similar about his old Vitus 979 frame after he retired.
As long as the frame is stiff enough to stop undue flexing - ie keep the wheels in pretty much in track and the chain from grinding against the front mech when out of the saddle and pressing hard on the pedals, then it's most likely stiff enough. My Cannondale Hi-Mod feels fantasically still when out of the saddle with barely any deflection of the chain/chainrings between the front mech guide plates yet it's the most comfortable, in terms of damping vibration and best handling frame I've ever ridden. It's almost certainly the most unaero frame I've ever ridden too which means that it's quite likely that for everything other than a hill climb or a technical descent, the $500 custom made 653 frame is probably faster than the uber dollar Cracknfail.
