Review Diving the Avelo System

[EdMcNeill09]

Except, the carbon fiber pressure vessel will not hold up to the daily "beating" an Alum 80 gets at resorts/dive shops. Carbon Fiber is not, and was never intended, for that kind of "abuse".

Avelo tanks have been in daily use for just about a year in Catalina. I've had Avelo gear since March. It gets put on the boat, washed at the dock, stored in the van, filled at the shop. They get handled quite a bit. The coating on top of the Carbon Fiber looks fine. No issues so far but it's only been a few months for me. That said I'm not expecting any unusual wear on the tanks. The coating on the tanks is the same stuff that gets sprayed into truck beds. Pretty tough stuff.

I'm pretty sure there is going to be some long term issues. It would be unusual for a new product if there wasn't. Exterior wear on the tanks probably isn't one of them.

 

[jadairiii]

Avelo tanks have been in daily use for just about a year in Catalina. I've had Avelo gear since March. It gets put on the boat, washed at the dock, stored in the van, filled at the shop. They get handled quite a bit. The coating on top of the Carbon Fiber looks fine. No issues so far but it's only been a few months for me. That said I'm not expecting any unusual wear on the tanks. The coating on the tanks is the same stuff that gets sprayed into truck beds. Pretty tough stuff.

I'm pretty sure there is going to be some long term issues. It would be unusual for a new product if there wasn't. Exterior wear on the tanks probably isn't one of them.

Are these pressure vessels, aluminum (or Steel) wrapped tanks or are they completely composite/carbon fiber cylinders?

 

[EdMcNeill09]

Are these pressure vessels, aluminum (or Steel) wrapped tanks or are they completely composite/carbon fiber cylinders?

They are a thin walled aluminum cylinder that is wrapped in carbon fiber.

 

[Nick_Radov]

I see this sort of like electronic versus mechanical shifters on a high end bicycle groupset. You get incremental improvements in shifting abilities in exchange for additional complexity, loss of flexibility, and higher cost.

For the very top end groupsets, electronic shifting is winning out, but the price delta is only 10% to 20%. Not the 500% to 1000% to go from a BP/W to Avelo.

We're getting a little off topic here, but modern electronic bike shifting is actually less complex and more reliable than mechanical. You don't have shifter cables to stretch or break. There are fewer moving parts to wear out. Indexing can be adjusted quickly without tools. Other than cost, the only downside is that you have one more battery to recharge occasionally.

 

[jadairiii]

They are a thin walled aluminum cylinder that is wrapped in carbon fiber.

I wonder if the protocols of care and removal from service (due to damage) for Avelo cylinders are the same as for the Luxfer wrapped cylinders? Doesn't take much damage to the wrap to remove a Luxfer tank from service.

 

[Wibble]

We're getting a little off topic here, but modern electronic bike shifting is actually less complex and more reliable than mechanical. You don't have shifter cables to stretch or break. There are fewer moving parts to wear out. Indexing can be adjusted quickly without tools. Other than cost, the only downside is that you have one more battery to recharge occasionally.

Less complex?

Only the wireless transmitter with associated computing, plus the wireless receiver with all the computing, plus the electric 'motor' to shift the gears, plus battery...

Or analogue where there's a gear lever, gear cable and gear mechanism.

There's a similarity to the Avelo where there's a high-pressure water pump, battery, switch gear, timers, computing malarkey...

Whereas a BCD has a bladder, Schrader valve and IP hose connection.


I like simple. Call me Simple Wibble. I like stuff that works and very rarely fails, but is very easy to maintain when it does.

 

[EdMcNeill09]

I wonder if the protocols of care and removal from service (due to damage) for Avelo cylinders are the same as for the Luxfer wrapped cylinders? Doesn't take much damage to the wrap to remove a Luxfer tank from service.

The protocols for removing a COPV are standard across the industry. Scuffs and abrasions are fine, but a deep cut or gouge into the wrap will result in a failed VIP. This is actually pretty hard to accomplish in practice, particularly the tanks that are coated in the spray on truck bed liner. They are tough.

 

[lowwall]

We're getting a little off topic here, but modern electronic bike shifting is actually less complex and more reliable than mechanical. You don't have shifter cables to stretch or break. There are fewer moving parts to wear out. Indexing can be adjusted quickly without tools. Other than cost, the only downside is that you have one more battery to recharge occasionally.

3 batteries. Other cons are that electronic systems weigh more and while mechanical systems need more adjustments, they are more robust and you can fix them in the field. Finally, electronics are proprietary which means you are locked into one manufacturer's components.

There's plenty of articles on the pros and cons for those that care to look into this further.

 

[Still Kicking]

The protocols for removing a COPV are standard across the industry. Scuffs and abrasions are fine, but a deep cut or gouge into the wrap will result in a failed VIP. This is actually pretty hard to accomplish in practice, particularly the tanks that are coated in the spray on truck bed liner. They are tough.

I would be most concerned about a tank falling and hitting a hard surface causing spidering of the resin and allowing water to seep in. That kind of damage might be masked by the Rhinoliner and you might not know about it unless you peeled the coat off. Kinda like the hidden rust on the old coated 72s.

 

[Nick_Radov]

I like simple. Call me Simple Wibble. I like stuff that works and very rarely fails, but is very easy to maintain when it does.

You can believe what you like but in real world cycling the people I train and race with have found electronic shifting to be more reliable, more robust, and easier to maintain than mechanical shifting. The latest generation of electronic simply holds up better under hard use in all conditions. Yes, there's an extra battery and motor but overall there's less stuff to break and the parts are under lower stress. The "Reliability and Maintenance" section of this article seems to be pretty spot on.
(Sorry for the off-topic comment. I don't have an opinion on the Avelo system and haven't tried it, just pointing out that mechanical versus electronic bike shifting isn't a meaningful analogy.)