Forged carbon is not forged, and it is not woven. It is chopped fibre compression moulding, and it has taken over the boutique end of bicycle componentry. Conventional carbon parts are laminated. Continuous fibre prepreg is cut, oriented ply by ply, then cured under vacuum or in a bladder mould. That works beautifully for tubes and beams, where load paths run in straight lines. It works badly for small parts with teeth, ribs, bosses and bearing seats. Forged carbon solves that geometry problem. The charge is a moulding compound of chopped tow, typically 25 to 50 millimetres long, pre-impregnated with epoxy and dropped into a matched steel die. - Die heated to roughly 140 to 160 degrees Celsius - Pressure in the region of 70 to 140 bar - Cure cycle measured in minutes, not hours - Fibre flows into every feature under pressure, net shape The result is quasi-isotropic. There is no weak transverse direction because there is no dominant direction at all. The marbled surface is random to...