Niner Bikes Fork Hammering

[MaskBratshove]

Obviously there are people out there on the trail with hammers!!! What?

[gumiennyracing]

Where are his safety glasses? Very dangerous to hammer without safety glasses.

[rkan2]

If you know some physics. Dropping from 5 meters on a carbon fork with a punctured tyre gives a tad bit more energy to absorb, than hitting a carbon fork at one spot with a 500g hammer.

[xtracycletony]

I'd still ride the steel 

[meSSican80]

Poor execution! Tanya Harding would be disappointed.

[c40niner]

baahhh he said niner fork!! that means its my fork!!

[PJKossta]

will it blend?

[DR1ZERO]

I wanna see you hammer your head.

In the "after" image you can see a lot of damage to the steel fork the strange thing is in the video you hit the steel fork 6 times but in the after image there are a bit more than 6 dents?!? Strange, one might think you tried to cheat us.

[mekore]

wtf carbon's problem is with FATIGUE ISSUES, not strength, and this test did nothing about that. thx

[Varaxis]

There's "weight weenie" carbon parts for those wanting to "pay to go faster" and then there's carbon parts meant to withstand abuse for those wanting to take advantage of carbon's various characteristics.

Good job Niner for helping to fix carbon's poor reputation.

[2020tuber]

That kind of damage on the side can only be done by car hitting you while riding... At that point, I'm more concern for my welfare then my bike... The major advantage I see with CF is that's a lot lighter while having better strength pound for pound. That said, cause of the lighter weight, you're able to enjoy a longer ride or an easier hill climb.

[guitarohman]

HAHAHA this proves absolutely nothing! all this shows is that when you damage a steel fork, you can actually SEE the damage. when you damage a carbon fiber fork, you cannot. I would rather know that my bike is dangerous than have no idea if it is dangerous or not. besides, dents in steel are much stronger than cracks in carbon. I am not saying that steel never breaks, it definitely can. but i have never seen it happen in person. but I have seen carbon forks break during races. think about it

[trnsprt1]

You can buy it on ebay :)

[yetibiker08]

Are there any hairline fractures in the carbon fork and what is the stress load on the fork as far as maximum pounds?

[Billosfrog]

Apparently after this video they took the carbon fiber fork and ran it through testing (on a stressing machine) and the fork performed as if it were brand new. Try that with the steel fork.

[aidnmx]

@Billosfrog proof on this please!

[pyromaniac1207]

he should be hit with a hammer, for ruining that beautiful steel fork with that stupid hammer! :(

[dildog]

@pyromaniac1207 It's a crabon firbe fork, not steel.

[pyromaniac1207]

@dildog the orange reynolds fork is.

[smugmur]

The fork is designed to transfer the energy to that huge, STEEL, unbreakable hub. In a real MTB setup, the fork wouldn't be subject to punishment like that. The only way to test durability is to test it until it breaks. So yeah, that discredits mostly everything.

[oldirtybrza]

This isn't something you'd experience in the wild, unless a crazy guy with a hammer comes after you and your fork is your only defense. The fact that he's holding it and letting it fall as its hit, as well as where he's hitting it allows for a lot of absorption

The force from the hammer head to the frame is on a very very tight spot, concentrating the power.

It's not that he's full of shit, but it's far from scientific.

[guitarohman]

@oldirtybrza nah he's full of shit.

[brettrosenbauer]

This fork was sent back to the lab and it went 500,000 more cycles (and not breaking) before turning the machine off.

[jackdonkey22]

The other day I was riding along and some deer jumps out and starts hammering on my fork, needless to say I was glad I had a niner fork. Those deer are crazy, I hope they don't figure out how chainsaws work.

[lithohedron]

I agree with @scoobasteevz

Holding both forks in a vise would be a better test because then they would have received the same force from the hammer blows.

The lower mass carbon fork can accelerate away from the hammer, reducing the force it receives from the blow.

Do the test again in a vise. Then test the fork until it fails (breaks). Repeat 10 times. Compare the breaking strength of the damaged versus undamaged fork; that would be scientific.

[zepp3lin]

Yeah nice, i will still ride that carbon fork even it's been hit hard like that because I trust Niner.

[Zilipukin]

И че? Типа нада юзать карбон? С куяли?

[efetuspook]

is there a weight limit for this fork? im 6'4" 230 the thought of it being carbon would not let me ride with the piece of mind that the steel fork would. i guess its ok for commuting or smooth trails with no jumps

[keysersozeX]

I owe this fork. I've been riding it for a couple months. I have no worries concerning the stability of this fork. I should also say the vibration damping is amazing. If you are looking at a White Brothers or Origin 8 carbon fork, give this fork a look over. You will not be disapointed.

[oldtrikerider]

Having ridden steel bikes all my life, I wouldn't hesitate to ride a bike with that steel fork.. In fact, I have a 1960 Viking with a small bend in the rear drive side seat stay that I still ride with no problems. It's a fixed gear bike.

[JimexJimex]

At 1:04 you cut and edited the footage of the Renold Steel fork.

Please do not try to destroy your company's credibility like that.

[HIGHTOWERescort]

@JimexJimex at 33 seconds, they did exactly the same type of edit to show the damage to the niner fork... I think the edit was only to take out the zooming in? It's not like they only edited JUST the steel fork!

[scoobasteevz]

This is a simple matter of physics.

The way he was holding the forks allowed them to bounce and rotate away from the hammer, kind of like clicking your drumsticks. The Niner Carbon fork is super light, too, so it has less inertia, and therefore bounces off the hammer more easily than the steel.

But, who cares.

This fork is the first carbon component I've owned.

I'll tell you its a sweet ride and it is strong as all hell.

Not going back to sus forx.

[trailextremist]

this says nothing at all as carbon damage can be invisible as far as I know so this test would be complete only after riding harsh singletrack for a week.

[CoyoteBoyUK]

So, let me summarise...

The carbon fork is no longer recommended for riding (due to internal structural damage possibilities) and the steel fork is questionable but knackered really as well. So this test has just proved that it's possible to damage a carbon fork to the point of danger, without it displaying any signs of damage. Isn't that the major complaint of most people who are wary of buying carbon?

[drunkingham]

This video was very informative, as I recently crashed my bike into a pile of hammers and was not quite sure if it was safe to continue riding it.

[MorkaGraven]

I'd have used both of those forks but he wasted them. Maybe i'll find the steel on in the trash, I'd bog up the dents, respray it and ride.

[KingGeorgeC]

Here's the difference... After that beating, I'd still be confortable riding the steel fork.... I would NOT ride the carbon fork.

I don't care WHAT it looks like, I don't care how many DENTS it has.... I would still ride the the steel for or at least finish the ride.

With the carbon fork, I'd be walking home.

[squidley36]

Lets see the radiograph after that.

[juansevo]

Carbon made right will hands down is tough to beat. Period. Those who are anti-carbon are used to the junk put out 10 years ago and have no clue what carbon can really do. Just like cheap ti, aluminum, and steal cheap carbon is junk. Stuff like the EDGE rims/bars and Niner's fork as well as others is capable of taking abuse. Just armchair internet engineers will always say otherwise.

I have quiet of few years in high end composites. You kids who are anti carbon are just ignorant.

[IsaacBickerstaffEsq]

". . . steal cheap carbon. . ."

Nah. If I'm risking a criminal record I'm going to do it for the expensive stuff.

[2wheellee]

What a sham! Again, Niner pulling another scam. Note that the steel fork was only hit a few times up near the bend, but when shown compared to the carbon fork, suddenly the steel fork has many more dents than the number of times it was hit, and the dents extend all the way down the leg. Total BS!

[Aushiker]

G'day

I think you need to watch it closely. The fork was hit at least once lower down.

Regards

Andrew

[Cloxxki]

Balls to do that! Experts KNOW carbon can be made impact-resistance. Heck, well made carbon chassis cars drive themselves home after a crash test.

In this steel vs carbon test, I'll give the steel that due to its double weight, it's also pressing back against the hammer more, adding to he dents.

If the Niner fork came in G2 offset, I'd already have a payment down for it. Huge faith in its design and makers.

[cprestonoc]

Give Chris a break. He is simply showing something that most engineers in the bike industry already know. Personally, I know the structural engineer who has worked with Niner, and he has worked for some of the best carbon bike companies in the world. There is no trickery, or slight of hand. It's just a guy (the President of Niner Bikes) showing how good carbon design can now be structurally superior to steel.

[dal75225]

I would rather see the fork tested under controlled conditions instead of just some dude whacking on it with a hammer. Ride long enough and you will see carbon parts fail. Yours, people you know etc....Crit races are great places to see carbon fold!

[topiparrot]

How many rocks and branches have flat faces like your hammer does?

[deckdr]

Thanks Chris for doing what many of us have always wanted to do! Great demo that didn't cost any of US a dime!

[DaneRThomas]

The greater weight and inertia of the steel fork would make it move less with each blow. The round blades on the steel fork would also make it more likely to be struck with a glancing blow, thus impacting (pun intended) the direction and amount of force transferred and damage caused.

Note that he does not claim that either fork would be safe to use. This simply demonstrates that the carbon doesn't visibly crack or fall apart just from the blows.

[forstret]

World class ocean racing sailboats are made from carbon and they endure unbelievable stresses. F1 cars are made from lots of carbon and the stress loads they suffer through are frightening. There is nothing any human can do on a bike that will cause carbon to fail. End of story.

[illnacord]

Thanks for the video. A couple things, notice how the hand doesn't move on the steel and the hand swings wildly on the carbon --- that helps alleviate the blows. Secondly, ride a carbon fork vs steel fork into a limb of a tree or a corner of a boulder to test the blow, not with a hammer holding the fork in hand.

[macxcrm114]

That is interesting, but carbon usually fails in use after an impact, not directly from an impact.