I Cut My Cheap Chinese Carbon Frame in Half... Here Is What I Found!

We're taking a cheap carbon frame and slicing it in half to see what's really inside. Will it be a Chinese carbon frame review nightmare or a carbon fiber expert's dream come true? And the big question on everyone's mind, is this Chinese carbon frame any good? Find out as we take a look at the internal structure of a Chinese carbon frame. Buckle up, it's going to be a wild ride!"

Get ready for some cutting-edge (literally) footage as we dive into the world of carbon fiber. And hopefully, we’ll learn something new about carbon bike frames and carbon bike frame construction.

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PS. When I provide a link here to gear or equipment I sometimes get a kickback from it. But I NEVER link to something that I haven't used or did use and didn't like! 👍

[michaelmechex]

From what I've seen, that frame looks better on the inside than my 11 year old top model Merida Time Warp.

[williamforbes]

This is an incredible peak behind the curtain for carbon products in general and bar no one else is posting this information, Thank you so much.

[gclh]

It pains me to say it but that frame is better made than some of the top brands.

[yourforeignlocal]

If more videos like this are made, it would encourage more manufacturers to do better regardless of price point

[bonzobanana]

That frame looks better made than many of the frames I've seen cut up by Raul at Luescher Technik. He has shown huge issues with super expensive brands. At the end of the day though carbon fibre is a hand made process with lots of potential for faults. It's the most advanced material with the least advanced manufacturing in many ways. From what I've seen that is a maybe 6 or 7 out of 10 frame. Overall good I would say. I'm not a performance cyclist though and have zero use for such a bike, I don't need to have a lightweight weak bike it serves no purpose for me and they aren't environmentally friendly. Titanium, steel and aluminium can all be fully recycled and have much better manufacturing consistency. I totally understand the appeal of CF for competitive cyclists though.

[chrrev]

Excellent video, I built a Trifox light frame ( given at 900 grams frame only) with Shimano 105. Arrived at around 7.5 kg total, riding for the past three years. No issues so far. Bought the frame in Shenzhen directly at the factory, needless to say service is great. Got the handlebar from them as well, one piece molded.

[rubenvor]

Great info! Thanks for sharing. I've been racing a Chinese enduro carbon frame since 2 years ago, and I've been very happy with it. Right now I'm on the 2nd frame, but I change it only to change size. No problems at all! Frame is an Ican P9, highly recommended.

[siclmn]

Please continue to do this testing. You can become the " project farm" of testers for bicycle frames.

[alexadamou]

wow, yes I'll agree with comments here, that frame is very well made for the price!
The white foam bit in the fork is not epoxy, it's an insert

[schrodingerthecat]

I learned more about carbon frame technology from this 2-part series than from any other videos on youtube! Thank you!

[davidgarza]

Thanks for your sacrifice! 😅
My first go round with Chinese carbon I purposely bought a road frame that was a bit beefier as most failures at that time were from the frames attempting to be ultralight climbing frames.
That bike served me well for thousands of miles and is still going strong on its third owner.
I also rode some Chinese road and mtb wheels.
Chinese carbon has come a long way. Now I have a Chinese gravel frame on order. 🎉

[kskdtr]

the white material you found may be a milled filling foam used to wrap carbon-fiber around: you can have a shape designed to withstand force, without having to layer carbon solid

[sebbelito]

Hands down the best bike/carbon/manufacturing video of the decade! Wow! This wad so much fun to watch. Chinese frames have never been a hotter topic than now with economics going south and price increases in combination with Chinese frames actually being rideable just a question of how good. Please continue these kind of videos ❤️❤️ you make all other Youtubers look like total wankers

[fylbike]

Yes, I too would like to see 'branded' frames subject to this degree of inspection, but I understand the problem!!

[jakbain]

I find it hard to believe that that large white section in the fork could be solid epoxy resin that's a huge span with few voids. Given the geometry at the section is quite complex it wouldn't surprise me if an expanding syntactic foam was used. In order to get even/reliable pressure distribution to the carbon in that difficult region. Other manufacturers do this in localised areas. Depending on how restricted it is to expansion will alter its density.

[Isaiiahii]

I haven't read the comments, so I'm sure others have mentioned it, but the flex of the fork is a nonissue once the wheel is connected to it. I'm a carpenter, and I deal with wood designs from houses to furniture all the time, and this same principle is seen a lot in many structural designs.

There is nothing to fear from the flex in that fork.

[Vermonstered]

1) Please, if you care anything about your own health, when you're cutting carbon fiber wear a respirator and cut over a vacuum table. Carbon splinters and dust are inert particles your body doesn't register as foreign bodies and will sit in your lungs and in your own skin not actively expelled by the body's immune system.

2) It's actually fairly easy to source mainstream manufacturer bike frames to cut up. They're called warranty repair or crashed bikes. Warranty repair only requires the shop to destroy the frame, would consider what you're trying to do destructive. ;)

3) If the repair expert says the forks are likely something he doesn't feel confident in, why do you end up saying you're going to keep buying them and running them? Simply buy another reputable fork and run that. Paint/decal it however you want.

[derekness]

It is not as simple as saying that the white layer is epoxy. The epoxy is everywhere. The white layer could be glass, or a thickened epoxy ( syntactic), to bulk up the laminate.

[chm]

Thanks for this video! I keep watching videos where other channels refer to something as 'cheap carbon', 'nice carbon', etc. Had no idea what that even means.

[markraines]

Good to see some PPE during the cutting (well at least glimpses)