Carbon Fiber Bicycle Components OK or Not OK

[cnighbor1]

What is durabiliy of Carbon Fiber components from Campagnolo and now shimano? Worth buying. Have they cracked without hitting anything? do they crack after hitting something. have we been dupped into into buying for a lot of money something that should never have sold?
Thanks for any comments
Charles

[bart998]

I got a chip in a Sram crank arm when struck by a rock kicked up by another rider.... That is the only problem so far...

[bicycletricycle]

If component need to be carbon fiber than just replace them every season.

[Louis]

If CF is good enough for forks I see no reason why it shouldn't be good enough elsewhere. There aren't a whole lot more critical locations on a bike than that.

[Chousen One]

FWIW, I've always found the carbon levers of campy stuff (granted I've only got 10sp Record QS stuff) to be pretty fragile. A lot of the used shifters you'll see on theBay come up with at least some minor cosmetic defects, nothing that will affect performance though. 6700 and 7900 stuff seems to be a bit more durable, but you're still not going to want it leaning up against something or anything like that.

As for being duped, check the weights! Group weight has gone way down in the past few years as more and more of the components change to at least partially carbon. For race bikes and the like, carbon's great. For your around town daily beater, I tend to stick to alloy or steel stuff, but that's just me.

[gearguywb]

I have not had any real issues with the carbon components. Some light marks from something coming off the road, slight wear signs....but hey, I use the stuff. Don't expect it to look like new.

[uber]

I have had carbon wheels crack (and replaced by warranty). I had a carbon crank delaminate, and the pedal came off (not a great day for me). This crank was aftermarket I never had any problems with Campy carbon, and have similar confidence in SRAM. One of my friends had a carbon railed saddle fail, and he did fall. These incidents are few and far between. Good idea to check carbon components, especially after a crash.

[palincss]

What advantages are you hoping for? From what I've heard, the single biggest benefit to CF levers is in regards to not feeling so cold or sucking the heat out of your fingers on very cold days. In other cases, while you get the carbon cosmetics, it's often not accompanied by any corresponding weight savings over cheaper alloy components.

[jpw]

The alloy 7900 cranks on my dirt road bike have taken a beating and look a mess but they still function without any mechanical durability or safety issues. Carbon Campagnolo? I don't think so.

7900 sti and Record Ergo levers? They would probably both have been destroyed on the same bike by now - I use bar end shifters, cheap, light, excellent cable routing for smooth shifting, tucked away from the possibility of serious crash damage, and in a very handy controls position once you get the protocol of riding with them sorted out.

Isn't carbon really all about increased industry margins of profit if we're being honest?

[rugbysecondrow]

No issues with my campy carbon parts. The campy brifters are hard to find in anything but carbon, the alloy ones when found are crazy expensive.

[vxpro]

I have been using carbon components for the last decade and have only had one issue. I had a crank failure a few years ago, when my Time carbon cranks, built by Stronglight, cracked around the insert in the crankarm. I replaced the cranks with Campagnolo and have had no issues since.

[fourflys]

I think I can speak to this a bit...

a few months ago while riding I hit a crease in the pavement and went over the bars... while my head took a lot of the impact, my front shifter also hit pretty hard and was actually rotated on the bar... aside from some cosmetic gouges from sliding on the pavement a bit, the shifter works perfectly... these are Campy Chorus 11sp shifters...

I also have Chorus 10sp (carbon shifters) on my cross bike and the RD has a small chip on the carbon face... haven't had any issues in the two years I've had it and I bought it used with the chip... shifters have been perfect for cross/dirt road riding...

Now, to the other question of why carbon over alloy... well, because I really like the way it looks... for me, I know it doesn't give any measurable advantage, but I really like the way it looks on my bike...

so, I guess what I'm saying is I think the carbon used in modern components is strong enough for 99% of us to use everyday... also, remember that carbon is used in mountain bike applications and has been for some time (Ibis)...

[EDS]

This thread is funny. Also a lot of bad info.

[akelman]

.

[biker72]

My carbon exposure has been limited to frames/forks,seat stays on a aluminum frame and a set of Campy 9 speed shifters. No real problems.

I had an old Trek 2300 that had bonded carbon tubes in aluminum lugs. I needed to re-apply some clearcoat a few times.

[Fixed]

all stuff that gets used can break
cheers

[endosch2]

My friend just broke his very esthetically pleasing retro grouch old school dura ace crank arm. From the chat on this forum I thought "sliver bits" did not break. He must need to go back a few more generations - perhaps to the 60s to find components that dont break. He rode the snot out of it and it cracked at the spider. We should all be fearful of this modern carbon stuff.

[rustychain]

I use SR on my cross bike ( long story) works fine and has survived multiple crashes. Only carbon Campy part I've busted was the bottle cage ( 3 times!). I'm sure someone will tell you that they were just riding along and their carbon bit all exploded at once. FYI aluminum fails too

[Bob Loblaw]

Seen two Campy Record Carbon FD's break...the metal chain carrier plate at the back of the derailer separates.

[nahtnoj]

I was looking for www.bikeforums.net, but got lost and wound up at this thread.

[cnighbor1]

I posted the question on Carbon fiber with poor wording on purpose. Has i ride all steel lugged bikes with all aloy parts. Up and down hills and at times I say to myself charles you need less weigth on your bike. Than I think Carbon fiber or ti or alum frame and CF components
But at 75 losing 10 pounds would do about the same. I did get a Litespeed Ultimate with CF fork and all dura Ace alloy triple for when I know a long day in the saddle with a lot of climbing in coming. But I ride steel the rest of the time

[zap]

What is durabiliy of Carbon Fiber components from Campagnolo and now shimano? Worth buying. Have they cracked without hitting anything? do they crack after hitting something. have we been dupped into into buying for a lot of money something that should never have sold?
Thanks for any comments
Charles

Just fine-5+years with carbon Campy Record brifters and crank and derailleurs.

Good parts with panache.

[Germany_chris]

Honestly..I can't believe this question is being debated. We have carbon CX and mountain bikes covered in carbon components if they don't break there their not going to break on a road bike. When will people finally understand that carbon is not the ruination of all things good in cycling.

Chris

[endosch2]

I agree that this is a completely ridiculus topic - I would hate it if these kinds of discussions had to be scientifically "evidence based" instead of just anecdotal personal opionions and BS that keeps getting re-hashed to the point of pointlessness.

[FastVegan]

Carbon.. So.. Scary :confused: http://tenspeedhero.blogspot.com/2011/04/heroes-trash-their-old-crankset.html