n fiber has a modulus of elasticity of 55.0 in million psi, but Kevlar has a modulus of elasticity of 19.0 million psi. Modulus means the stiffness. You can obviously see that pitch carbon fiber crushes the Kevlar 49 but it all depends on what strength you are looking for. insert of chartAnother factor in making a bicycle from composites is that anybody can work with composite materials. The construction technology can be very simple. First, a mold is made. There are two kinds of molds: a female mold or a male mold. I will talk about building a female mold. To make a mold you need eight major components. First is a plan of what you want the bike to look like. Second is medium density fiber board (MDF) to build the mold. The third tool needed is a table saw to cut the mold material. Fourth, a miter saw to cut little pieces of the MDF. Fifth, sandpaper to round the edges of the mold. Sixth, glue to construct the mold. Seventh, filleting compound to create a fillited joint on the mold. Eighth, wax to wax the mold to keep the epoxy from glueing to the moldThen you have to think about what kind of resin you want to use to bind the reinforcing fibers of the composite together within the mold. You have two main choices: epoxy or vinylester. Epoxy is a two part system. The two parts are resin and the hardener. A good thing about epoxy is that it is easy to work with. However, epoxy tends to be more expensive. Vinylester is a multipart system which includes: resin, promoter, accelerator and catalyst. Both epoxy and vinylester have a limited shelf life. Vinylesters shelf life is shorter. Both of these resins are shipped with the ingredients apart. Small quantities of vinylester can not be created and thus a gallon or more must be made up at a time. Epoxy can be made up an ounce at a time. Vinylester is cheaper, so this is another thing to look at. With epoxy there are several things that you can buy to...
