Anyone with a bit of biking knowledge knows that durability is key for a good bike. Of course, it makes no sense paying hundreds or thousands of pounds for a bike that can’t handle tough trails. For anyone other than a very beginner, a mountain bike which appears to be struggling to handle the strain early on in its life is unlikely to be a good choice. Bikers looking for durability need to check out Trek mountain bikes.

Full suspension bikes, hardtails, road bikes and women’s bikes are all offered as part of trek mountain bikes’ range. Most of their frames are available in a choice of aluminium or carbon fibre frames. The majority of experienced bikers prefer carbon fibre frames because they are lightweight. Sadly, with many mountain bikes low weight equals low durability: not so for Trek mountain bikes.

Trek mountain bikes owe their durability to the technique used in the production of their carbon fibre frames. Trek mountain bikes invented and have patented a process of production known as Optimum Compaction Low Void, or OCLV for short. Trek mountain bikes can boast of being the only manufacturer to use this method.

The process involves applying heat and pressure to densely compress multidirectional layers of carbon fibre. This sounds incredibly complex but in reality it is just a variation on the ordinary heat treating process of the carbon fibre and resin. According to Trek mountain bikes, this process gives the best fibre to resin ratio, adding strength but reducing weight. That means that the technique gives the best durability to weight ratio there is.

The low void part of the name refers to the fact that this method of production all but eliminates the presence of voids. Voids are of course the tiny, even microscopic gaps between layers of carbon fibre. There are huge benefits to eliminating these gaps because they are normally the source of fatigue failures.