Q. What is Carbon Fibre?
A. In simple terms it is synthetic thread (Polyacrylonitrile, or PAN for short) that is heated so that total carbonization takes place. For use in structural engineering very fine filaments (a tenth the diameter of a human hair) are woven together to form yarns and fabric mats.

Q. What is Carbon Composite?
A. Composite is a simple term meaning a combination of materials. Usually this takes the form of two or more materials with differing, yet complimentary, properties. Carbon composite is carbon fibres – to take tensile loads, set into a polymer resin matrix – to take compressive loads. The best performing structural materials, both natural and man-made, are usually composites. Some examples are; Tarmac – hard stones in a flexible bitumen matrix. Natural timber - hard cellulose fibres in a soft lignum matrix. Steel-reinforced concrete - high-tensile steel set into a compression bearing concrete matrix. The concrete itself is a composite of cement and ballast. Plant stems - cellulose fibres supported in a cellular compression bearing matrix. The structural performance of these composite materials cannot be doubted! 

Q. Where did the carbon composite technology come from?
A. It is British invention! Much of the ground-breaking scientific work on advanced composites was done at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough during the 1950’s and 1960’s. 

Q. Are carbon composites better than the traditional, metal, alternatives?
A. Yes, in the vast majority of small-scale, high-performance structural applications. Carbon composites have unrivalled mechanical properties and, in most load-bearing applications (where strength-to-weight is an issue), will easily outperform any metal alternative. This is why jet fighters and Formula 1 cars (where performance is the one and only consideration) are made mainly of carbon composite materials.

Q How much better?
A. Carbon fibre has more than four times the tensile strength of the best steel alloys, at just a quarter of the weight! It also has much better fatigue characteristics. Metals cannot compete!

Q. So, why isn’t a carbon frame a sixteenth the weight of an equivalent steel frame?
A. Carbon fibre is a filament material. Many thousands of filaments are woven to form yarns and fabric mat. Filaments and fabrics have strength ONLY in tension. You can climb a thin rope, but it will not support its own weight in compression! So, the carbon filaments are orientated in multiple directions, to cover all directions of tensile load, and must be supported by a rigid, compression bearing matrix – the resin element of the composite. For given mechanical characteristics, a well designed carbon composite frame might be less than half the weight of steel alternatives and significantly lighter than an aluminium or titanium ones.

Q. Does carbon composite have other advantages over metals?
A. Yes. The advantages are manifold. Metals are isotropic. This means that, for example, a sheet of aluminium has identical tensile characteristics in any direction of load. Carbon composites can be engineered to be anisotropic. This means that, for example, a tube can, due solely to the carbon filament orientation, be engineered to be resistant laterally, but compliant vertically. This is great for bicycles, but is impossible to achieve with metals. Carbon composites also allow far greater freedom of form, so that shapes can be optimised for mechanical or aerodynamic reasons. Shape in metal structures is constrained by the material and its joining protocol. Carbon composites can be formed into complex, one-piece structures – allowing stresses to flow freely throughout. Metal frames must have joints which interrupt and concentrate forces, leading to weaknesses and the need to overbuild. Carbon composites have fatigue-life and damping characteristics that are far superior to those of the metal alternatives.

Q. Is the current carbon technology a ten-year ‘flash in the pan’ like aluminium seems to have been? Is it just fashion? Is there another, better material just a few years away?
A. No. It seems that carbon is the end of the line. There is no new ‘wonder material’ in the early stages of development. The current filament and resin technology will probably be gradually refined in the future, but the ‘Carbon Revolution’ seems to be the ultimate episode in the development of high-performance cycle frame materials. Military and aerospace technology has historically been way ahead of civilian, sporting goods technology. Today’s jet fighters and missiles are made, almost exclusively, of carbon composite materials. Carbon really is the future, as much as anyone can presently foresee it.

Q. On the subject of refinements, what is ‘High-Modulus’ carbon?
A. If you look at a carbon filament under a scanning electron-microscope you will notice that the filament’s surface is rough and flawed. Therefore only the core of the filament can bear tensile loads. The rough surface is superfluous, but contributes to the weight. High-Modulus carbon is very similar, but without the useless flawed surface. It gives the same strength with less weight, but comes in at a higher price due to the additional processing required. High-Modulus TORAYCA T1000G carbon is used in several Isaac models.

Q. What is this new ‘White Carbon’ material that some other manufacturers use?
A. White carbon is a total nonsense. There is no such thing. All true carbon fibre is black in colour. The white or silver looking composite materials, as now used by a few manufacturers, are, in fact, types of simple glass fibre! This is laminated in as a cosmetic layer. Glass fibre is far cheaper, and has vastly inferior mechanical properties in comparison to carbon. 

Q. Is all carbon fibre the same?
A. No. It’s a matter of processing and quality control. Isaac’s carbon filament comes from world renowned Japanese manufacturers. Isaac uses several different types of carbon filament, supplied by two primary manufacturers, Torayca and Mitsubishi Rayon. Materials are selected depending on the specific application. All materials are produced to aerospace certification, and the providers operate to the necessary quality assurance standards. Isaac’s suppliers can count Boeing, Airbus and many other aerospace and defence manufacturers as major customers. Formula 1 racing cars are constructed using the very same materials that Isaac used in its products. How many other cycle manufacturers name the exact source of their materials? There are plenty of cheaper, lower standard materials (sometimes called ‘Sports Grade’ carbon) available. We will let you draw your own conclusions!

Q. Do carbon frames last?
A. Yes. Isaac frames are guaranteed for five years of racing and training use. When the primary consideration is performance, carbon is the only choice. If you really need your frame to last for fifty years, buy a steel one – which may be twice the weight, and also less efficient!

Q. Are carbon frames and components repairable?
A. Just like the top-end metal alternatives, repair of an accident damaged carbon frame is not usually economically viable.

Q. Does a carbon frame or component demand particular care and attention?
A. Any high performance product should be cared for properly and treated with respect. All specialist information regarding care of Isaac’s carbon composite products is detailed in a comprehensive handbook. One is supplied with every frame – and further copies are available by request. Please read it and follow the simple instructions. This will ensure long and trouble free service from your frame or component.

Q. What is ‘Bladder Moulding’?
A. Isaac’s monocoques are internally pressurised during moulding. Internal bladders (specially shaped and placed air bags) are inflated to 200psi to exclude voids and excess resin. In effect, the multiple layers of carbon are ‘squashed’ hard against the inside of the mould during curing. This is by far the best way of producing a carbon monocoque.

COMPANY & PRODUCTS ...

Q. Where is Isaac based and where does the name come from?
A. Isaac is an Anglo-German company. The financial and administrative side of the business is based in Britain, whilst the R&D, warehousing and international sales operation is based in Germany. Isaac is a British Registered Limited Company. The name is from Isaac Newton and the model names are all Newton or physics-related.

Q. Who designs and develops the Isaac products?
A. Isaac’s R&D department is based in Germany. Its staff members are highly qualified and have the necessary experience in applied physics, engineering, and the associated computer technologies. They spend part of their time at the manufacturing facility to ensure quality control and logistical flow. They are also cyclists and bike fanatics!

Q. Why can’t Isaac products be made in Britain or Germany?
A. Because, quite simply, they would have to sell at many times the price in order to achieve a similar specification and quality. This is due to the relative labour costs. Implementation of development, production, testing and logistics are all personally overseen by German staff.

Q. Are the frames made by hand?
A. Yes. There is no doubt about this. Every frame is totally hand-fabricated and finished. For instance, more than one-hundred-and-twenty technicians invest a total of more than two-hundred man-hours in the production processes for each and every Isaac Sonic frameset.

Q. Does Isaac plan to use CNT – carbon nano-tube technology
A. Isaac will only employ technologies and features that can be lab-proven to realistically enhance performance, with undeniable laboratory test figures as proof. This is not possible with CNT! Even if utilised fully, CNT brings negligible benefits – at incredible expense per unit. There are many such examples of technological misinformation surrounding bicycles, with wild, unsubstantiated, unquantifiable claims. Don’t believe the hype! 

Q. What is EFBe Pruftechnik?
A. The EFBe Institute is the cycle industry’s foremost independent testing facility. It is based in Waltrop, Germany. EFBe carries out laboratory tests and then awards standards based on the fatigue-test results. The results of EFBe tests are published openly for comparison. All Isaac frame models have been, or are in the process of being, tested by EFBe Pruftechnik. Only true production samples are accepted for testing – not specially prepared prototypes. This is why not all of the new frames in the brochure show an EFBe standard yet. 

Q. Why are the tube sections of the Isaac road racing frames mostly round.
A. Round tube sections will always provide the best mechanical properties. Isaac uses CAD and FEA computer technologies to arrive at the most advantageous forms. Nature has used a multi-million year development programme – called Evolution – to arrive at optimum structural forms. All of nature’s tubular forms are basically round in section. The results of both Isaac’s and nature’s R&D methods agree perfectly. Round really is better. If nature produced a bike frame it would look like an Isaac Sonic! Aero TT and Tri fames are quite a different matter.

Q. Why use aluminium seat stays on the Force?
A. Aluminium has better compression characteristics than carbon. In the relatively small diameter seat stays, aluminium is stiffer. This additional resistance makes for improved mechanical efficiency. Less bending and twisting means that more energy reaches the road.

Q. The Sonic, Impulse, Force, and Kelvin are dimensionally identical. Is there a genuine difference between them?
A. Yes. They all have different characteristics and price points. Each has a different primary function. They are made from different materials and all have different weights. The Sonic is super-light. The Impulse is very light, but with added robustness. The Force is very stiff, but at a good weight. The Kelvin has good efficiency at a very reasonable price.

Q. Why are the tubes, and especially head tubes, so big?
A. Stiffness-To-Weight ratio is the best and simplest way to judge the performance of any frame. Stiffness and light weight bring efficiency. The ‘STW’ is independently measured under laboratory testing conditions. Frames can be made very light, but with energy sapping softness and flexibility. They can also be made stiff and efficient at an unacceptable weight. Isaac strives for a balance – the lowest weight with the highest stiffness. Big tube sections suit monocoque carbon composite structures when STW is the goal.

Q. Hang on a minute! Isn’t all this stiffness a bad thing? Aren’t the frames harsh?
A. No, this is the beauty of carbon composites – and monocoque structures in particular. Great resistance to unwanted flexing can be achieved with very good vertical compliance and damping characteristics. In Isaac’s road frames the seatpins are ‘’standard’ 27.2mm diameter. These give a good amount of flex in comparison to oversize posts – for added comfort without spoiling the power-transfer efficiency at all.

Q. OK, but what, exactly, is a monocoque?
A. The term ‘Monocoque’ comes from the Latin. It literally means ‘one shell’. So, the front triangle of a frame, traditionally made from four joined tubes, is instead moulded in one, seamless, hollow piece. There are no separate tubes, sockets, lugs or seams in this triangular structure. The stays are separate monocoques to allow for variation of material.

Q. Many other carbon frames are made of separate tubes bonded into lugs, or separate tube-sections, ‘socketed’ together. So, what is the advantage of a monocoque?
A. The monocoque structure has no joints. Joints are weaker than seamless continuity of material Joints require sockets – meaning additional, overlapping material. Joints result in discontinuity of material, and this results in ‘stress risers’ which are areas where stresses are concentrated – and when any structure fails it will usually fail at such a joint. In a monocoque structure the forces can flow freely throughout the structure - and are better dissipated. A monocoque structure can be lighter and/or stronger than a lugged alternative.

Q. So, if monocoques are so good why do many other manufacturers lug or socket their frames together from many separate component parts?
A. It’s all down to cost. A monocoque frame is much more costly in production. This is because each size requires its own expensive mould. With a frame made from tubes and lugs, the same component parts can be used for several (or sometimes all) sizes of frame. Monocoque frames cannot be machine made and are totally constructed by hand, but the technical benefits are obvious. Isaac is concerned with performance before economy.

Q. If your fames cost more to make, why are the prices so reasonable?
A. Isaac does not do big, lavish marketing. No 40ft. motor-homes, no major pro teams, no gatefold magazine ads, no PR girls in short leather skirts. These things cost big money which would simply be added to the cost of the product. When a manufacturer spends, the customer pays the bill! It really is that simple. So Isaac keeps promotional spending to a minimum - leaving the actual qualities of the product to do the selling. These savings can then be passed on to you the rider.