Quote:
Originally Posted by pkim1079
Wheels can bend and still hold air while driving vs cf which will just come apart right?
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Carbon fiber can still deflect, it just doesn't deform the way aluminum does. There have been reliable carbon fiber mountain bike rims for years that hold up to pretty serious abuse (acknowledging that this is clearly not the same thing as car wheels).
One nice thing about carbon when it fails, the underlying structure tends to retain some of its form, for example, when a carbon fiber handlebar breaks, it tends to stay attached but loses most of its rigidity at the break. When an aluminum bar breaks, it tends to just shear off at the point of failure. I'll let you guess which is typically more painful.