Carbon Vs Aluminium | What's The Difference?

Why is lighter universally better? I hike half the climbs anyways, I fail to see how a lighter bike will benefit me. More weight means more speed and better ability to carry momentum through bumps.

Buy alloy and with the money saved you can plan a sick biketrip abroad

My carbon bike feels laterally stiffer than the last two aluminium bikes I've had. I think this feels better when climbing really technical stuff. It weighs about 29 lbs despite some 2.6 tires.

Stop making the sport so technical just ride your damn bike and enjoy

I own an aluminum mountain bike and have ridden several carbon bikes, but I genuinely don't understand the "stiffness" and "compliant" argument. Do the tires and suspension not have 150mm (or whatever your travel is) of "compliance" already built in? I'm not saying that they don't have different compliance characteristics, but I don't understand how you could feel that small of a difference if you're already riding on a pillow. Seems a bit like the princess and the pea story.

That said, I am scheduled to buy a carbon mountain bike to add to the stable tomorrow, but I'm not buying it because it's carbon. I'm buying it because it's a hecking good deal and is actually cheaper than my aluminum mountain bike was 8 years ago!

I'd love to see a video where these vague terms are quantified somehow both on their own and including suspension, wheel, and tire flexj!

Mil veces mejor el ALUMINIO 6061 T6 HIDROFORMADO, el carbono tiene un límite de duración entre 5 a 8 años, su reparacion es costosa y no es amigable con el medio ambiente una vez desechado (obsolescencia programada, no es reutilizable), varios ciclistas de elite de diferentes modalidades estan retornando del carbono al aluminio 6061 T6 por seguridad, otros prefieren el titanio por su exclusividad, al final vale el poder de las piernas y la técnica

carbon, alloy, or any other materials.. it ultimately comes down to manufacturing process.

Surely vertical compliance is totally dominated by tyre pressure and suspension setup? I can’t think of any good engineering reason for a full suspension frame to contribute to travel nor lateral flex.

But what about aluminum frames? :)

That was amazing, better then disney could ever do .

In the thumbnail pic, the aluminum welds look like they used 1/2" rod... common guys lets be realistic

I've got two Carbon framed long travel bikes with alloy rims. My hardtail is Ti with full XTR..
But, now I'm retired, my next bike will be Alu - I just ride for fun and I think I can get better bang for my buck on an alloy bike with nice components.

I've ridden steel hardtails for the first 7 years of my MTB journey , this is my 8th year and i came into a bit of money and got myself a brand new santa cruz nomad, can't say i can feel the carbon since its all suspension , but i love it .

Aluminum frames show the hand craftsmanship while Carbon bikes show that it is plastic and fiber formed in a mold. I prefer seeing the welds and feeling flex.

Bought my fist carbon hardtail, and I still own it because I am poor, but I don't see the big deal. If I could afford and new bike I would totally go back to aluminum.

For those of us who have practiced MTB since the 90s, we know that the welding bead on a bicycle frame is the most beautiful thing there is! My bicycle is a Cannondale f 700 from 2000, and it is still as strong as it was in its time.

This exact question was bothering me for quite some time but unexpectedly I had the possibility to test it myself aka. the real difference that a carbon frame makes on a full suspension mtb. Long story short, I've bought a used 2020 Lapierre Zesty 4.0 AM and the day later I've noticed that due some issues Lapierre had decided to recall all bike from that period for frame swap. Before the new frame was actually available I've had the chance to run the bike for 7 months and believe me it wasn't collection dust in the basement. Swapped frame wasn't a Zesty anymore but a 2022 carbon Spicy team frame. All the other components remained the same and my verdict is there is NO noticeable difference for a non PRO rider. People tend to forget when jumping from a 2.5k alu bike to a 5k carbon bike it is not all about the frame but all the components make the carbon bike feel better. My advice, get an alu frame with geometry that suits you equipped with decent forks and shocks and save the extra money for upgrades when eventually parts need to be changed.

I'm pretty sure you got the whole "aluminum will fail in 5 - 10 years" statement absolutely wrong. Well, I suppose that "might" hold true if you're talking of a cheap $100 bike from some big box store.

I mean I can barely tell the difference between a Rockshox recon and a fox 34 kashima so I’ll never tell the difference between carbon and aluminum

Not a MTB, but in Canada, a aluminum Trek Domane AL5 is around 2650 dollars. And the SL5 carbon version is over 4500! Granted, the carbon one has slightly better tires, and iso speed dampening, but that's still almost two thousand dollars more.

how does a carbon frame last 2-4 times as long as aluminium ? , i had a top fuel 9.9 ssl and the chainstay had to be replaced and the bearings had wore away the carbon , this bike had only done about 300 miles of riding , i rode my Raleigh grifter about 3000 miles and the only thing that was replaced were the tyres brake cables, saddle and grips and pedals

i think that carbon may be more comfortable on a road bike but a full suspension mountain i cant see how it can make a difference , bars maybe , i have an orbea ois aluminium bike , for the most part it looks like a carbon frame due to the invisible welds on the main frame. much as i love carbon this time round it was more than i could afford so i bought the entry level oiz the previous years model for a reasonably good discount , then replaced all of the parts bar the rear shock ,with xtr drive train , hope brakes and pedals stem, bontrager kovee wheelset , fox 34 stepcast forks and dropper post ,carbon renthal bars and so on , cost about £5,000 all in and i still have all the parts that came from the original so all i need is a frame headset and bottom bracket to build another complete bike yet its the same sort of spec as a £9,000 bike and weighs 11.75 kg with pedals , more manufacturers should use invisible welds as the frames look so much better and people should get entry level spec bikes and just go on line and shop around the bike shops for deals on last years parts they are usually the same but maybe a different colour for a substantial discount it saves alot of money major bike manufacturers are charging way more than the cost of the parts for top tier bikes

I don't know what aluminium these guys are riding but being a mechanic for over 30 yrs I've seen aluminium bikes last as much as 20years and carbon crack in less than 5. True, carbon has gotten better but aluminium is tried, tested and proven.

Trek is good if you want to compare prices with same spec. Ex8 is aluminum, ex 9.8 is carbon. Same spec, works with an their mountain-bikes

9 means carbon the .8 is spec

Just sold my last carbon bike a few weeks ago riding only alloy bikes now, steel, ti and aluminum. For the loose chunk we ride, carbon just gets beat up, alloy just gets dented, no cracks.

After having few carbon bikes i would never ever go back to Aluminium :)

Carbon? Aluminum? *laughs in steel*

This vid is so full of fake news and sponsored miss information it’s embarrassing… hardly any mention of how terrible carbon is environmentally for both production and afterlife and it’s cost and specialist repair for a stone chip.

Depends on the quality and design of the product. Both Carbon and Alloy can last the same amount of time if they are built right. Obviously, Canyon wouldn't last very long in either guise....

The thing that I've noticed throughout the years with these GCN and GMBN comparison vids, is that they always have these compromises! Which then messes the objectivity of the results.

In todays world, Recycle factor wins so lets go for Alloy. And more considering Carbon are more expensive and for non-pro We'll hardly see the difference for perfomance, so rather havea an allow with mid-top components range

cheers

Can we get some bloopers edited in at the end of each video?

Alloy full-sus / hardtail and roadbike in my garage. Have been riding loads of bikes (including carbon) and still enjoy the way alloy rides. Modern alloy frames also look quite nice and handle perfectly. The weight difference is minimal on my bikes compared to carbon counterparts so thats never been a thing for me

One of my Bike frames is custom made for me with FusionFiber. So far no one has ever noticed or assumed it is not made out of Carbon 😁

i can dent my aluminum frame. you can't "dent" a carbon frame. my aluminum frame has no shelf life, aluminum has no shelf like you try to say. a carbon frame does. Every flex in a carbon frame is stress or breaking the fibers. enless you cracking welds on a cheap aluminum frame. aluminum will always trump carbon in strength! I also weigh 200 lbs which exceeds a carbon frame .

My 2013 trek fuel only weighs 28lbs with 1x and a dropper post. Cost me 1000$ usd 4 years ago used. I’ll stick with aluminum.. i also weigh 200lbs

Carbon is stiff, aluminium is soft.
Carbon cracks, aluminium bends.

The industry is pushing carbon because margins are better overall, aluminium, especially 7075 is way harder than you think to work with, companies like Giant have the aluminum and carbon equally sorted but for smaller manufacturers making a mold is easier than reproducing quality aluminium frames reliably on a smaller scale. Look into it if you don't believe me...

The clear winner here is obviously STEEL. 😂❤

I think carbon is overrated on bikes. It's useful for wheelchairs , prosthetic limbs and in aerospace when dealing with weight problems. The recycling ratio of carbon is around 10% so you have an environmental problem with carbon. Until that is solved I'll stay with aluminium.

After a couple years on carbon, I went for an aluminum frame on my last two bikes and I couldn't make out a difference in riding feel.

I have found carbon frames provide a much smoother ride than aluminum frames. Same result with carbon wheels. The main difference for me between carbon and aluminum is that carbon will fail in a catastrophic way, usually with little warning. Aluminum bends before it brakes. Also, if you gouge a carbon frame, you better stop riding it because it could fail at or near the site of the gouge. The Pro’s Closet sells carbon frames that have been damaged and repaired. I would not trust the process of repairing a carbon frame. In addition, a repaired carbon frame looks awful, just look at the frames on The Pro’s Closet’s web that are for sale.

1k to save a 1kg of weight, no thanks lol, bet alot of the weight is down to the wheelset not the frame anyway lol

The biggest difference is in how much you fret about whether the frame is damaged every time you drop/ crash it.

isnt aluminium much resistant than carbon? ive never seen an aluminium frame getting snapped in half ._.

Carbon for going up, aluminium for coming down. Unless you have a motor then aluminium all the way. Save the landfill space for crisp packets...

Carbon life is 5-10 years not the alluminum.

And then we have the best mtb bike material...steel.