I've been foiling on aluminum masts since when learned HF but already had the chance to try a carbon mast from a local brand and did not like it. It did not feel as rigid as the aluminum mast. I know there a bunch of expensive and rigid carbon masts in the market but, do they worth the money for freeride? What do we actually gain by using carbon masts? From my understanding, I can list the following:
Aluminum: cheap, rigid up to <100cm, resistant (to hit solid objects/trash) the down side is the weight.
Carbon: expensive, light and, maybe, repairable when suffer some damage.
Another doubt we were discussing on our local groups is if carbon masts get less rigid over time since it's constantly flexing (fibers "working"), which can cause micro fractions in the resin.