Carbonization (Carbon)

FESCH.TV INFORMIERT:

Installation view at Künstlerhaus BBK in Karlsruhe, Germany, July 2021. The installation was part of an exhibition about the bicycle ()

Photo by Tanja Meissner
Editing by Nicolas C. Geissler
Assistance by Anne-Sophie Brunold
Voice-Over by Geoffrey Newland

Carbon fibers are fibers with a diameter of about 5 to 10 micrometers, consisting mainly of carbon atoms. Carbon fibers have several advantages, including high stiffness, high tensile strength, low weight to strength, high chemical resistance, high temperature tolerance and low thermal expansion. These properties have made carbon fibers very popular in aerospace, construction, military, motorsports, and other competitive sports.

Beginning in the late 1970s, other types of carbon fiber yarns entered the world market that had higher tensile strength and modulus of elasticity. We have these scientists from the 1970s to thank for their radically free-thinking basic research.

Carbon fiber reinforced polymers are extremely strong and lightweight fiber reinforced plastics that contain carbon fibers. CFRPs are expensive to produce, but are used wherever a high strength-to-weight ratio and stiffness are required, such as in aerospace, ship superstructures, automotive, construction, sports equipment, and an increasing number of consumer and technical applications.

Carbon fiber made its way into bicycle parts in the 1970s, when manufacturers discovered its enormous weight-saving potential. French bicycle manufacturer Look produced a carbon fiber frame in 1986 that attracted a lot of attention when Greg LeMond used it to win the Tour de France.

A CFRP bicycle frame weighs less than a steel, aluminum or titanium frame of equal strength. The type and orientation of the carbon fiber fabric can be designed to maximize stiffness in the desired directions. Accelerate. CFRP is increasingly found in other components such as derailleur parts, brake and shift levers and bodies, cassette sprocket carriers, suspension linkages, disc brake rotors, pedals, shoe soles and saddle rails. Accelerate.

As long as you don’t crash hard or hit the frame with a hammer, a carbon bike can theoretically last forever. In fact, steel and aluminum only last so long before the metal fatigues and can no longer be used safely, but carbon remains strong indefinitely. Keep pedaling. Forever. Until the next technology springs from the depths of human ingenuity.

The bicycle is extraordinarily efficient in both biological and mechanical terms. It’s so efficient that you can hardly believe it. The bicycle is the most efficient human-powered mode of transportation in terms of the energy a person must expend to travel a given distance. From a mechanical point of view, up to 99% of the energy put into the pedals by the rider is transferred to the wheels, although the use of gear mechanisms can reduce this value by 10-15%.

A person moving on a bicycle at low to moderate speeds of about 20 km/h consumes only the power needed to walk. Air resistance, which is proportional to the square of the speed, requires dramatically more power as the speed increases. When the rider is sitting upright, the rider’s body generates about 75% of the total resistance of the bike/rider combination. Using a road bike is not only efficient, but also elegant and superior.

The carbon dioxide produced in the production and transportation of the food required by the cyclist is less than 1/10th of that produced by energy-efficient motor vehicles per mile ridden. Internal combustion engines are old-fashioned. They are outdated. They are rotten. They are a thing of the past. They are disgusting. They stink. Bridge technology, fuck you.

Bicycle manufacturers can’t distinguish one from another in terms of quality based on the components they use. That’s why strong, emotional image marketing is the foundation of all well-known bicycle brands. Their stories manipulate us by becoming part of the narrative. We believe in innovative storytellers that make us anti-establishment.

Early adopters are those people who use new products before the majority of people. They are risk takers and trendsetters and have a strong influence on the success or failure of a new product. For this reason, many companies try to gain the approval of early adopters. Sometimes they are called alpha customers.

Whether it’s the first iPhone, the Tesla Roadster, Bluetooth partner vibrators or 4K TVs – all of these innovations were first brought to a wide audience by cash-rich, tech-savvy early adopters. Be the first. Influence. Define yourself through your consumption.

In return for being an early adopter, and thus being exposed to the problems, risks, and annoyances common to early-stage product testing and adoption, the early adopter feels a sense of pride, pleasure, and satisfaction.