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@juskrey
Created August 15, 2023 16:45
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Carbon frames
Here's the translation to English:
"Due to the nature of my work in yacht building, I had to delve into the production of Kevlar and carbon. Turns out, the lifecycle of Kevlar (from creation to full structural breakdown) is about 15 years! That's three times less than wood. Looking at carbon, initially, everything's beautiful: super strength, etc. We researched the nearest producer and ordered a racing mast of 14 meters! Result: its weight isn't lighter than duralumin, but its rigidity is amazing! And! This very rigidity is carbon's Achilles' heel. After five years, the plasticizer evaporates from it, and it begins to develop micro-cracks, and the carbonaceous links in the carbon fiber threads start tearing. The creation process requires a high-temperature melting furnace to turn loose carbon threads into a solid strong thread. These "cakes" are baked in this furnace. Torn carbon links cannot be healed. Sanding and filling (patching) a carbon part with epoxy (both Kevlar and carbon are made using the same principle = epoxy resin (which turns into plastic after polymerization) and glass fabric or carbon fabric act as reinforcement) + reinforcement in the necessary directions to get carbon fiber requires baking (they don't bake glass fabric). But repair doesn't restore the structure of the initially set directions of fibers. Repairing carbon plastic (carbon) is just patching up a broken structure. Adhesion of epoxy to epoxy is good, but the point - of restoring the structure - is missing. As a result, guardrail stands are banned on racing yachts because there have been several fatal cases. Masts break in the third or fourth year of use. I'm on my second carbon fork on my butcher bike, and the fork on my road bike (cyclocross from 2015) is worryingly creaking, so I'm looking for an aluminum replacement. Conclusion: Carbon is needed where increased rigidity is required, on the principle of "raced and threw away". In pile-ups, people aren't cut by disc brakes (they don't get hot in time) but by broken carbon!"
But traders won't tell us this because they don't know how carbon is made. Carbon is a trendy thing, like MTBs for asphalt riding back in the day. The main thing is to sell, and for that, you need a gimmick. The gimmick is that carbon in rigidity surpasses other materials with minimal thickness, which is super for an F1 car! But after the race, they throw it away. And if it's made thicker? Carl, what's the point? Then it's heavier than other, more resilient materials! That's why Cannondale gave a lifetime warranty on aluminum frames, but only THREE years for carbon parts, until it was bought by Canadians and they moved all production to Taiwan. In general, there's a catch with this carbon. I'm throwing mine away, due to the inability to restore the original quality characteristics. Repairing carbon is like putting a bandage on a corpse "
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