How Not to Treat Carbon

             I have written many times on the subject of carbon fiber and rarely does a week go by without someone thrusting a scratched or damaged carbon doodad under my nose and asking is it OK.  Well last week we had a bike come in for a full overhaul and prep ready for the new race season with a couple of good examples of carbon fiber that is definitely NOT OK.

             The parts in question are a carbon drop bar and a full carbon seat post. These two components are the most common to suffer abuse and these examples are the most common way to kill them. Over tightening the clamping pressure. The handlebars have been squashed in the stem to the point of cracking through all the layers on both sides of the face plate. The seat post has suffered a similar fate by being  over torqued at the seat clamp. Both these components are dead and will fail in a spectacular fashion if used further.
             If you only buy one tool in your life let it be a torque wrench.

Again, probably twice the specified torque on the stem face plate to cause this.

Carbon has been squashed so hard it has made a peg in the carbon.