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Carbon fiber bikes are built with a more modern frame material, carbon fiber.
Bicycles and airplanes sharing technology since the Wright brothers. Light and strong properties make carbon fiber popular to build high-end bicycles. Its ability to be flexible or stiff depending how the fibers are woven and layered is another advantage over traditional materials.
Most carbon frames are created using the Monocoque technique. The result is a smooth single surface. The process relies on expensive molds and computer based equipment.
Frame components such as chain stays and seat stays are actually produced separately and combined into the main triangle along with dropouts and other small parts. How these components are assembled can be a good indicator of the quality of the bike. It’s common that joint areas are hidden behind black paint that fades back to carbon in select areas. This is often done to hide the joints. There are often large chunks of aluminum holding carbon frames together. Some brands use only carbon, even on their drop outs, while others use aluminum and a few, titanium. It’s hard to tell what’s under the first few layers of carbon unless you cut it apart or x-ray it.
It’s surprising how bikes produced “similarly” can actually feel totally different, so always try to test ride as many bikes as you can!
A tube to tube approach is another way to build carbon frames. Carbon tubes are used instead of steel and they are joined with adhesives and a carbon fiber weave rather than welding. This allows for small batch production and custom geometry. Using the tube to tube also results in a very strong tube surface that is quite resistant to hard objects.