They Were Popular Three Years Ago
Jul 22 '01
The Bottom Line Other options such as Aluminum and Titanium are usually cheaper, lighter, or more comfortable then carbon fiber, which has been given up on.
Back in the mid to late 90s, composite frames, much more commonly known as Carbon Fiber frames, were very popular, as they had a futuristic look, and many manufacturers claimed that their carbon fiber bikes were lighter and stronger than regular metal tubed bikes. Boy, were they wrong. Not only were they not lighter (GT made a Carbon Fiber framed that they claimed to be upgraded, but was actually 1/2 pound heavier than their Easton Aluminum tubed frame), but some frames were even dangerous. Carbon Fiber is basically reinforced plastic, and like normal plastic, these frames didn't take abuse well, and I have heard of reports of the Carbon Fiber WCF from DBR (DiamondBack Racing) failing because of chipping in the down tube. So in other words, there is little reason to go carbon fiber for mountain biking. Currently, the only company that still mass produces carbon mountain bike frames is Trek, and these frames are not the light (Klein, Schwinn and Giant make lighter frames), and they are not comfortable (they are incredibly stiff).
For road biking, the only reason that carbon fiber is popular is because Lance Armstrong has won a number of Tour de Frances on his Trek carbon fiber frames. His bikes are light, and they do mute out a lot of road vibration, but they also cut out a lot of road feel along with that vibration, meaning that sharp turns at speed are less reasuring than if your bike had good road feel. In ddition, his bikes are expensive. For the price of one of his bikes, anybody could get a comparable titanium bike: while slightly heavier, offerings from Lightspeed and Merlin and Mongoose Pro offer much more road feel, which in turn translates in to a much snappier feeling bike.In all actuality, the offerings from Mongoose Pro would even be cheaper.
Down from eight major builders using carbon fiber between 1996-1999 (Trek, Gary Fisher, DBR, Schwinn, Klein, Giant, GT, Mongoose), there is now only one (Trek). For all the marketing spins on carbon fiber, it did not live up.
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