Carbon Fiber Mountain Bike Frame Vs Aluminum

These joints are similar to carbon fiber.

Carbon fiber mountain bike frame vs aluminum.

Aluminum is the second most commonly used material for bicycle manufacturing. It s lighter and stiffer than steel but it s also more brittle and easily damaged. Of the lead materials used for bike frames ranging from aluminum to titanium and even carbon fiber chromoly offers the best cost benefit ratio. One of the most discussed aspects of carbon fiber frames is the weight savings over aluminum frames.

Aluminum frames possess the shortest fatigue life of any material used to manufacture bicycle frames. Most manufacturers provide a lifetime warranty on carbon frames. Most bamboo bikes are made by starting with strong bamboo poles then binding the joints together with fiber and resin. We fatigue tested aluminum and carbon bars with very similar surface damage.

Even then current carbon fiber is very strong and a large impact force would have to be sustained enough to badly dent an aluminum frame. These are kind of a novelty at this point. There are two main frame materials you will encounter when deciding to buy a mountain bike carbon and aluminium. The vast majority of modern bikes however will be made from aluminum or carbon fiber.

Most of the bikes ridden at world cup enduro world series level will be carbon although it isn t ubiquitous but it would be simplistic and maybe even wrong to say that carbon is objectively better. Carbon fiber doesn t exhibit this type of crack propagation. For more info check out my carbon fiber vs aluminum frame guide. Most bike frames will be made of either steel titanium aluminum or carbon fiber steel and titanium are the most popular options for custom and handmade bike building.

Let s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of each material. While both aluminum and carbon bikes will offer a little bit of flex in this way carbon bikes will offer a far greater amount of power. That said we still recommend replacing any carbon or aluminum product that has been damaged. Some manufacturers offer a lifetime warranty on.

Conversely carbon possesses the longest fatigue life. The typical aluminum frame possesses a life expectancy of five to 10 years. Having said that bamboo is a legitimate bike frame material. Luckily damage to carbon frames can usually be repaired whereas re welding or patching a cracked aluminum frame is not safe.

Uv damage is essentially non existent to reputable brand s carbon frames.