Just out of Curiousity... Carbon

Didn't have a kickstand?

ha!

carbon fiber rocks the fuckin' hizzouse.

i think carbon is a bit pointless for anything other than competitive racing. i would probably still have a carbon bike if it was cheap enough, but i dont see the point splashing that much dollar out for somthing fragile that offers only minimal performance gains.

Erm.. they're not 'fragile' and the performance gains over a 30yo steel track bike are huge.. over a new alu or good steel bike, less so but noticeable.

My carbon Casati goes like shit off a chrome shovel. It's far superior to any of the other bikes I have in terms of being vertically stiff yet laterally compliant.

"vertically stiff yet laterally compliant"

you are bike snob and I want my fiver!

I knew someone would get that reference. I'll buy you a pint when I see you next.

:)

i dont ride old steel frames, so its neighter here nor there. obviosuly there is performance gains, but what i meant was that outside of competitive racing there isnt much of a perfomcne gain. on an evening blast out riding for the hell of it im not going to notice that im 10 seconds quicker per mile or whatever.

fair enough, the fragile thing i dont really know about as ive never crashed a carbon bike.

i would love a carbon bike but it seems like a bit of an uneccessary extravigance for someone of my means.

I have a carbon road bike and a steel fixed commuter. My fixed is sort of my beater; it's not the prettiest and it wouldn't be the bike I need it to be if it was.

Fitness for purpose, innit? A carbon (or titanium for that matter) beater would be stupid.

I've seen some courier bloke with a £2k Colnago carbon track frame riding it brakeless with risers. Seemed a bit daft to me.

i dont ride old steel frames, so its neighter here nor there. obviosuly there is performance gains, but what i meant was that outside of competitive racing there isnt much of a perfomcne gain. on an evening blast out riding for the hell of it im not going to notice that im 10 seconds quicker per mile or whatever.

fair enough, the fragile thing i dont really know about as ive never crashed a carbon bike.

i would love a carbon bike but it seems like a bit of an uneccessary extravigance for someone of my means.

Well, you need to properly explain what you mean the first time 'round :P

I tend to agree.. which is why I've owned a shitload of bikes and only a single, stupidly expensive carbon one, which is still less than 12 months old. I don't NEED it I wanted it. Simple as that.

To dive in, I ride carbon road bikes and carbon and steel track frames. It seems to me the only reason there are not many people riding carbon track frames on the road is that there is not a big second hand market. Whereas there is a big market of old steel frames. Carbon track frames are certainly stiff but, in my experience, are much stronger/tougher than equivalent steel frames. And therefore just as road worthy. Comfort? Well if you want serious comfort, why are you riding any sort of track frame on the road.

im actually curious now about the strength of carbon frames, in everyday road use. i get that they are stiff, but arnt they fairly brittle? stiff and brittle are not things i want when riding on dodgy roads and bunny hopping curbs.

do dinks and scartches develop into bigger problems if not treated? or am i being a pansey here.

You'll actually find the many thousands of carbon fibre frame users out there, some of whom are far heavier than you, some of whom do far more riding over worse roads.. well.. you see.. they are hover mere millimetres from the road surface. This is how the light carbon bikes survive for as long as they do.. hovering.

I've seen some courier bloke with a £2k Colnago carbon track frame riding it brakeless with risers. Seemed a bit daft to me.

He must have saved up for a long time to get that..

I'm not sure which I disapprove of more, using a bike like that for work, or running it with risers ;)

generally steel and carbon perform similarly in comparison to alu. Steel is so much cheaper and yes i guess it is style to.The flex that carbon and steel offer also irons out the stiffness of the wheels (big flanges) Probably just down to the way these types of bikes are used (ie in the city all the time) Its more down to why aluminium isnt used very much.

I ride both carbon racers and steel hack bikes/ mtbs. carbon is generally considered very strong, definately comparable to alu. or steel, hit a car at 25 on a carbon bike and ul see what happens often comes out ok :)

hit a car at 25 on a carbon bike and ul see what happens often comes out ok :)

Dangerous past-time you've got there ;)

Is this you?

hit a car at 25 on a carbon bike and ul see what happens
Doesn't have to be a car...

YouTube - Tour de France 2008 - Stage 13 CRASH

Crash that fast into a post on a steel bike.. it might not split in two but it'll be just as fucked.

Agreed. It's just a cool crash - £3k of bike explodes, nobody gets hurt.

Since we're talking about carbon fibre on road bike, what about mountain bike?

Since we're talking about carbon fibre on road bike, what about mountain bike?

What about it?

It's usually only on the high-end bikes which can be used by either pro riders or rich fuckers. :)

I did a quick google search and found a 'chart' for different material used in MTB;

http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/frame_metal.html

apparently carbon is a big no-no when it come to jump.