Carl Fogel wrote:
But the Columbus site seems to say that they use
cheaper nickel mesh (I found "carbon nickel" mentioned)
to make the more expensive version of the fork--which
somehow ends up being lighter than the cheaper
titanium mesh version.

cheaper plain muscle fork = titanium = 380 grams
expensive super muscle fork = nickel-carbon = 340 grams

just don't know. some nickel alloys are quite exotic & expensive, but
those are usually for high temperature applications. don't know the
specifics here, and honestly still can't tell you why nickel would be used.


I browsed a bit more and found this page describing the
Super Muscle Fork further on the same site:

http://www.framebuilding.com/what.htm

"In the fork column, Columbus has inserted Kevlar
layers, which through their ability to resist cuts
and abrasions, reduce the risk of cuts caused by the
clamps of the handlebar stem, which are particularly
sharp."

Again, I'm wary. Perhaps Kevlar resists cutting better
than plain carbon fiber, but I seem recall reading that
Kevlar is usually cut with ordinary scissors--its
virtues do not include any great resistance to cuts.

as nicely stated here;

http://plastics.about.com/library/weekly/aa050597.htm

kevlar is used to protect carbon composites against catastrophic
failure, but one of the only two failed carbon handlebars i've seen was
woven with kevlar, so who knows how this is supposed to work in practice.

while looking for that page, i got totally sidetracked by this:

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/kwolek.htm

do you have any tech-inclined daughters you want to inspire?

jb