All about bicycles, electric-assisted bikes, technology and safety in the press

The most common safety risks that we come across in our daily work around bicycle safety, technology and operating instructions are also published by us in articles in the leading German special-interest magazines TOUR (Europe's road bike magazine no. 1), BIKE (Europe's mountain bike magazine no. 1), MYBIKE and EMTB in order to make this information, which is important for the industry, available to a wider public.

For many years now, the Eurobike Show Daily, trade fair magazine of the annual Eurobike Show, has also given us the opportunity to publish our view of major developments in the cycle industry in full-page articles.

We also speak regularly in independent expert presentations about all areas of bicycle technology and the bicycle market. In addition, we are quoted by further special-interest magazines of the industry and the trade as well as increasingly by radio and television in their media reports, which shows us that we are spot on with our advice. The section "News" informs you about the latest news from our specialist areas. The reports and publications of this section are listed chronologically or according to areas of interest.

BIKE 02/2013
Reading time 0:45 minutes

Carbon damage

You’ve got 20 years of experience with carbon damage. What happens to fail in most of the cases?

Reply by Dirk Zedler, bicycle expert

Frames are concerned very often, but it’s the cause that is decisive. On the one hand there are defects as a result of poor construction or defective processing. On the other hand there is damage due to overload, e.g. as a result of a fall or pre-damage due to inappropriate handling.

How is carbon compared to aluminium and steel?

According to my experience, steel and aluminium frames are clearly more prone to so-called fatigue breaks. As regards the service life under normal conditions, I'm completely relaxed with high-quality carbon. A critical point is reached, when the bicycle topples over. Incidents resulting in indented aluminium or steel tubes, lead to cracks on a carbon tube.

What are the classic handling errors?

Much too often carbon fails due to overtightening. The assembly requires care and accurateness. Another classic: clamping carbon frames on car roof racks. The wrong combination of the parts also leads to damage. Those days when a bicycle could be assembled with a multi-tool are over now with carbon parts. In particular clampings require professional handling and special tools.

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