Carbon Fiber and UV light

[li10up]

I friend of mine told me that a guy from the LBS told her to tell me that I need to take my bike inside while I'm at work and not leave it on my bike hitch. He said that the sunlight would degrade the carbon fiber and that it could cause it to crack.

I've done a little searching online and found some pages that suggest that unpainted carbon fiber will degrade in sunlight. My bike is painted. So, is he right or full of beans?

[Tuckervill]

It wouldn't surprise me at all. But I haven't researched it.

Don't you worry about it being stolen anyway?

Karen

[El Hombre]

Unless the object is coated with a UV clearcoat, the epoxy holding the carbon fibers together will breakdown. It takes a while but it happens. I had some carbon parts built for my sailboat and first thing I did was have them clearcoated. I'd keep it inside if I were you.

[sundial]

This site provides an in-depth discussion of carbon fiber and it's physical characteristics:

http://www.calfeedesign.com/whitepaper8.htm

[El Hombre]

This site provides an in-depth discussion of carbon fiber and it's physical characteristics:

http://www.calfeedesign.com/whitepaper8.htm

Great site! usually, the first sign of trouble is a cloudy look to the frame. My Origin8 frame sat in the shop window for a while before I built it up and it has a few cloudy spots. We've used 303 on Masts, Spin poles, and Steering Wheels on our sailboats for awhile and it seems to hold up for a month or so. Pretty much any local auto body shop can shoot a coat of PPG UV clearcoat on a frame. Just make sure that the shop has experience with carbon stuff. If they sand too deep, it's a big mess and looks like crap.