Are racquets' graphite the same substance as bike frames' carbon? One of the materials used for tennis/squash/pickleball/... racquets is graphite. One of the materials used for bike frames (and components) is carbon. I gather that both have the element Carbon in them, but that they could be as distinct as the difference between the graphite in pencils and that in diamonds. Are racquets' graphite the same substance as bike frames' carbon? Context of the question: I'm still trying to understand how carbon can be hard for torquing yet soft to absorb bumps. Carbon racquets have the first property. They allow the player to return a fast ball from a hard racquet. I'm not aware that graphite racquets have any compliance properties (whether desirable or undesirable). Context of the context: I was sloppily carrying a pickleball racket dangling in a bag from the handlebar, and it nearly entered the wheel. I stopped just short of learning which is harder: carbon or graphite.

They are two names for composites of graphite fiber in a resin, usually epoxy, matrix. Graphite is made of carbon. The magic is that the graphite fibers are very strong in tension, which can make the resulting product very stiff for its weight. There are wide ranges of graphite fibers, epoxy resins, fiber/resin ratios, and layups of the fiber. The two are members of this class. Any comparison between members depends on more information about them.