I should have said "the ultimate material that still has many, many technological advancements to go through".

Admittedly, carbon has a few growing pains to go through, and it is going to be awhile before it will be as impact resistant as something like ti.

But why I say that it is the ultimate material is it's infinite tuning characteristics, the ability to make such large, fluid designs with minimal weight (compared to any metal in the same shape), and it ability to use it in so many applications.

Now, on the subject of nano-tech: the surface hasn't even been scratched, from what I understand. I think that I would call it merely a marketing term, for now. But the future could bring some petty cool stuff...

Dents or large scratches can cause stress concentrations which will cause a crack to propogate quicker. So you have a similar mechanism occurring in a shorter amount of time since the local stress is larger.

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Team Timex 2014
@ajhodges

is it really true that carbon frames, forks have just a certain number of yrs in them? 7-8 yrs tops? any truth on this? thanks

Well, my 1994 Kestrel might beg to differ... ;-)

I stand correctd :)

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"Pain is NOT temporary,you remember every bit of it"

Really, how do you know? CF doesn't creak or really show any sign of fatigue. One minute it's whole the next it's not.

I'm actually pretty careful in terms of cleaning it often, checking for any issues that might arise in the middle of nowhere on the open road. I think you might be a bit overly dramatic as to the "one minute its whole, the next it's not" line of thinking...unless of course, you've had personal experience along those lines.

The point I was trying to make is CF gives no warning before failure.

really scary but with AL..you would know if there`s possibility of failure because of cracks on the welds?

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"Pain is NOT temporary,you remember every bit of it"

The point I was trying to make is CF gives no warning before failure.

Understood....but earthquakes don't give us much warning, either. Not trying to be hyper-sarcastic, but I'm not going to fret too much about whether or not my bicycle will disintegrate beneath me. It has served me well for a very long time, is well cared for and despite your claims to the contrary, is showing no visible signs of imminent failure...which for some reason I would believe would be there if in fact something was amiss.

But I suppose it is possible nothing will evident before complete failure. If that is indeed the case, well, wish me luck then!