Click on the image above to read a cool Pink Bike article about testing AL & carbon Santa Cruz Nomad frames to failure. I think it’s neat to see some of the tests they run. However, I would caution that these tests don’t tell the whole story. What they say is that carbon can be very strong in the face of some specific forces. What they don’t tell you is how happy you’ll be with your carbon MTB frame 3yrs into your expensive relationship.
For example what happens when you crash 4 or 10 times onto some sharp rocks cracking the surface of your carbon frame and then you ride it hard for another year? Will the crash impact combine with the repeated stress cycles to cause a frame failure?
We have a pretty good handle on how steel or AL MTB frames respond to typical use and abuse. I don’t feel the same level of confidence with carbon. That’s not to say you’ll never see me on a carbon bike, but it does mean I’ll be hesitant to throw down the big $$$ to run my own torture tests!
Don’t take this to mean I am anti-carbon. To me it’s just another potential frame material that deserves due consideration.
What would really be interesting is if Santa Cruz would release their warranty/crash replacement stats for the AL and carbon Nomads. That would clearly demonstrate how each frame material performs in the real world.