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How strong should a frame be?

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  • June 16, 2016 at 9:24 am #25900
    Grahamd

    A friend of mine just bought a Giant TCR advanced 2, and pomptly dropped it on his first ride while descending on a wet road at abount 20 mph. He landed heavily buckling the rear wheel, but worryingly has cracked the chainstay. The bike is getting checked out this weekend by LBS this weekend, but would have expected a bit more resiliance. Would appreciate you thoughts in case it is bad news from LBS.

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  • June 16, 2016 at 11:06 am #873579
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    TypeVertigo
    AKH wrote:
    Road bike frames are incredibly strong relative to their weight; but, they’re only designed to support that load in a certain plane. In a crash, all bets are off. Sorry to hear about your mate’s situation, but it doesn’t sound at all unreasonable to me.

    Just a qualification: The above is true for carbon fiber. It’s “anisotropic” so it doesn’t support loads equally in all directions the way metal frames, made of an isotropic material, are.

    In a sense, the anisotropic nature of carbon fiber makes it desirable because frame makers can tune the design and layup of the carbon to support loads in one direction and be compliant in another. The same characteristic doesn’t do you any favors in crashes or for loaded touring though.

    June 16, 2016 at 10:27 am #873577
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    tritecommentbot

    Can be repaired I’m sure,

    Can be repaired I’m sure, specialist companies are getting good at that now. 

     

    A lot of crashes are guys sliding out so their body takes the impact and protects the frame. So you probably see a lot of pro rides just get up and ride their bikes for that reason. The other thing is perception, you might see a pro ride his bike to the finish, but it’s actually been damaged and you never find out about it. But if you go down at odd angle, like AKH says, all bets are off, especially if you flip the bike. I’ve flipped over the bars on an aluminium hardtail and landed hard and the bike spun through the air and landed on rocks. Was perfect afterwards. I wonder if a cf frame could have handled that. Only two crashes I’ve had on the cf road bike have been slow and funny. Body took all the impact.

     

    I don’t ride the road bike without insurance. Just can’t afford to buy a new frame if I wipe. 

    June 16, 2016 at 9:39 am #873575
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    AKH

    Road bike frames are

    Road bike frames are incredibly strong relative to their weight; but, they’re only designed to support that load in a certain plane. In a crash, all bets are off. Sorry to hear about your mate’s situation, but it doesn’t sound at all unreasonable to me.

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