The horror of fake carbon fibre cages

This guide will let you know the difference between real and fake carbon fibre bottle cages.

REAL CARBON

Genuine carbon fibre will have the same weave pattern size throughout the bottle cage. Here are pictures of genuine carbon cages:



Notice how the carbon weave is clearly visible beneath a layer of clear laminate coating. If you hold it under a light, you should be able to see a definite weave that looks like fabric. If it is genuine carbon fibre, you should be able to see the individual fibres inside the weave.

FAKE CARBON

Fake carbon cages may not contain any carbon at all! The carbon weave pattern will NOT appear to be consistent throughout the cage. In some places, it will look stretched like in the following image:


In the above cage, the pattern is distorted and stretched around the lower hole. This is because this is in fact NOT a carbon cage. It is made from plastic moulding. This stretching never happens to carbon fibre because the real carbon is a carbon fabric sheet with a fixed pattern and is laid up in layers on top of one another, then set with clear resin.

The plastic FAKE cage with the stretch marks in the above picture is in fact the XTR X-Top Racing bottle cage and is marketed as the "XTR Carbon Fiber Bike/Bicycle Bottle Cage Ultra durable".

Please do not believe the false statements made by the seller/s of the XTR "carbon" bottle cage because you will end up disappointed and stuck with a ordinary plastic bottle cage that doesn't even look like carbon. The same goes for other imitation 'carbon' cages. Your best bet is to talk to people who have purchased carbon cages off eBay and check the cages out for all of the following:

1. It must not have a stretched and distorted pattern
2. The carbon should have a fabric-like weave
3. The weave should gleam and shine under a light
4. Depending on the fibres used, you may be able to see the individual strands of carbon within the weave
5. There should be a glossy clear coating covering the carbon weave

I wish you the best of luck in your purchase of a carbon bottle cage and let's hope that's real carbon you're getting.