ABS Plastic vs Fiberglass

[koonendez]

A friend of mind insisted that I go with Fiberglass. Anyone want to chime in on the difference? Quality?

 

[DunhamFab]

A friend of mind insisted that I go with Fiberglass. Anyone want to chime in on the difference? Quality?

Fiberglass - Stronger, Less flexible, easier to work with in regards to paint (sands easily, takes filler well, etc)

ABS Plastic - Cheaper (?I think?), must be molded or vacuum pressed so unless you ahve the tooling for that you probably can't do it yourself. More flexible, requires more care in prep work to ready for paint ie.: you can't "sand" plastic, it just melts, body filler does not adhere all too well to plastic neither does paint, it will go on but you may find that your paint will bubble or peel prematurely.

This is all just my experience, obviously your mileage may vary. Good Luck!!

 

[koonendez]

Damnit! I just don't have the wiggle room to spend the extra right now. Just want this bike up and running ASAP before season here in Chicago ends

 

[koonendez]

Thanks for the info though

 

[Sonreir]

For the DIYer, fiberglass is preferable in almost every way. The only time I used plastics is if it's already made and ready to go in the color I want.

 

[DunhamFab]

Damnit! I just don't have the wiggle room to spend the extra right now. Just want this bike up and running ASAP before season here in Chicago ends

You're welcome. However, it doesn't take a large bank account to make a fiberglass seat pan. You can make one prettly cheap and if you're diligent and careful not to make too many mistakes you can have a working seat in a day.

 

[koonendez]

I was actually going to just purchase the Thruxton seat from DCC. Any bad reviews with their seats? It's made with ABS plastic.

 

[jsharpphoto]

if you're short on cash, just use half of a skateboard until you can afford a real seat.

 

[caferay]

ABS requires a flexible primer before paint. The Motorcycle/auto industry uses a lot of ABS, and paint holds well for decades.

Its cheap to produce, but its not as cheap to buy as it should be.

ABS seatpans and tails can be really good to make moulds from out of fiberglass, then re-make the seatpan and tail out of wet-laid carbon fiber.

Carbon has not yet been embraced over glass, but CF sheets as aesthetic seconds can be cheap now, and as an inner layer can add amazing strength to a fiberglass piece, and a pure carbon weave is heat resistent. Just remember to wear a good mask, as CF particles are extremely dangerous.

I don't see it very often, but a CF seat section should negate the need for a sub-frame.