GCN Tech Show: How is the carbon fibre used in bikes different from carbon fibre used in aerospace?

Carbon fibre has long been used in Formula 1, aircraft design and space equipment. But what separates this type of carbon fibre from what we have in our bikes? In this week's GCN Tech Show, Alex Paton and Ollie Bridgewood aim to find out.

In a recent trip to Utah, Ollie got a factory tour from carbon fibre specialists Forge & Bond. The parent company that owns Forge & Bond, CSS, also manufactures carbon fibre parts for aerospace applications. It turns out that for the most part, it is the same carbon used in both bike design and aerospace.

Unless in-house top-secret carbon fibre is being developed for military applications, the aerospace industry will be buying the same off-the-shelf carbon fibre that the bike industry uses. In some cases, premium road bikes even use a higher grade of carbon than in the aerospace industry. Quite simply the requirements of aerospace applications do not need the same stiffness-to-weight properties that we have in road bike design.

• Read more: How is carbon fibre made?

In the show, Alex and Ollie take a deeper look at what separates aerospace and bike carbon fibre. Although they are the same material, quality control processes do present a real difference in the finished product. Watch the full video to find out more.

Hot and spicy tech

It has been a busy week in the world of bike tech, so here is our rundown of the biggest stories from the past seven days.

Strava introduces an instant messaging service

Strava has added messaging within the app, both to individual athletes and to groups chats as well. This new service aims to allow athletes to discuss plans, talk about routes, and general chitchat. Messaging in the app will be available for both premium and free users of the platform, with various privacy settings to control who can message you.

Park Tools community tool grant

Park Tools has announced its annual community tool grant that aims to give non-profit organisations a share of the grant to equip them with the necessary tools. Once the application process is complete, 10 grant recipients will receive over $1,600 worth of tools from the brand.

CTT has updated regulations around in-competition fairings

After we discussed the use of aero fairings in time trial competitions a while back, the CTT (Cycling Time Trials) body which govern time trial events in the UK have come out and banned the use of body fairings. The exception to this ruling is the placement of hydration packs down the front of a jersey, so long as it can be proven to be used for hydration and not just for an aerodynamic gain.

Your comments and bikes

Rounding off this week's show we take a look at Comments of the Week and the Bike Vault. This week, Alex’s video about getting the right tyres received high praise from many of you, so if you haven’t seen it yet, make sure you check it out!

• Read more: Are you using the wrong tyres? Comparing summer, winter, and all-season rubber

The most super-liked bike in the vault this week is a Specialized S-Works Tarmac that was built over two years. Unfortunately, during the build process, the man building it suffered a stroke and lost his vision. Fortunately, the story has a happy ending as he recovered enough to ride again.

Watch this week's GCN Tech Show in full above or on the GCN Tech YouTube channel.