If carbon glittered like diamonds, you would have had to put on a pair of sunglasses at the bike shows in autumn 2002, the precious material was so omnipresent. But the matt shimmer of black gold also accelerates the heartbeat of many bike fans: the urge for black fibres is increasing and manufacturers are working feverishly to refine even the smallest and most inconspicuous part of the bike with the high-tech weave.
The question of concept is of particular interest when it comes to carbon fibre. On the one hand, the material - more than steel and aluminium - requires intimate knowledge of its properties if you want to build good bikes from it; on the other hand, however, it offers the designer who masters it undreamt-of possibilities to leave the beaten track. Not only, but especially in frame construction. TOUR therefore set out in search of concepts for this test.
All bikes in this test:
Bianchi XLCarbon Sloping, Carbon Crew TCC-3, Carbon Sports Total Eclipse, Il Diavolo Black Venus, Tommasini Carbo Fire, Wilier Galibier Dura-Ace and Ziemen C-1
(Text: Matthias Borchers, Thomas Musch)
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