Carbon fiber is the single most impactful development in sports gear, across the board, since shoes. Whether you realize it or not, every professional sport — football, skiing, soccer, car racing, and golf — has benefited from carbon fiber, but what is it? Carbon fiber was first produced in 1860 by Joseph Swan for incandescent light bulbs. Its production today involves long strings of carbon atoms being threaded together into a sheet, then being bent into the desired shape, being cast in resin, then processed in a method called carbonization. The result is a material that is shockingly light, and even more shockingly strong — stronger than steel, and twice as stiff. Carbon fiber is also fireproof, resistant to chemicals, and safe to humans, due to it being 100% carbon-based.
In sports equipment, Carbon Fiber has three main benefits: stiffness, lightness and vibration dampening. Formula one cars synthesized with carbon fiber foils and walls are incredibly corrosion resistant, aerodynamic, and stiff, allowing the car to cut through the track. Nordic ski poles made of carbon fiber are nearly three times stiffer on average than aluminum poles, as well as being nearly three times lighter.
Carbon fiber is also being used in protective gear like shin guards and helmets, due to its vibration dampening properties. The material is made up of threads, when impacted, the force is distributed over the lengths of threads, allowing for more energy to be dispersed across the surface area. Bikes can also benefit from the vibration dampening properties of carbon fiber. Bike frames made of the material, smooth out bumps and cracks in the road or trail.
Carbon fiber completely changed the running industry, for instance, Nike put a carbon fiber plate in their distance running shoe in 2016. The plate provided a uniquely stiff platform for runners to kick off from, bending like a spring to propel the runner forward, and the lightness of the carbon fiber provided next to no weight impediments.
For those same reasons, carbon fiber is in soccer boots, football helmets, triathlon bikes, golf clubs, baseball bats, and much more gear out in the world.
