Bike porn

I like it. and I like the colour scheme, waspish.

Terrible pic, but I think it deserves it...

Might want to rework that phrase, if you like that bike.

had a feel of the carbon Milani in the window of LMNH

except build with carbon Athena and Deda Zero stem/seatpost.
It must weigh half what my BMC does, it's crazy light.

On the subjects of speed on descents.. I got to 87km/h on the Mt Ventoux descent.. Dunno if that is fast or not, but in the absolute sense: really stupid if you look at it in retrospect.. But badass.. I had my buff covering my face as it was very chilly up there.. Young guys climbing up were grinning facewide, old men shaking their heads..:)
I passed some porn on my way up.. Ti Serrotta's, Ti Lynskey's with full Campag Record 11sp.. And there I was on my rusty old Gazelle.. sigh

had a feel of the carbon Milani in the window of LMNH
except build with carbon Athena and Deda Zero stem/seatpost.
It must weigh half what my BMC does, it's crazy light.

Milani's (other than the ugly Pista) mostly look very stylish and tastefully built up. They also seem way overpriced, not that that should be a factor in this thread.

I quite like this...

oh yes please

Like all bikes, they vary. Some are badly compromised in the areas of utility and durability, many use components with rider weight restrictions, but some pretty light bikes are made only from components proven on the Pro tour, even in the Spring Classics, e.g. Cervelo R3SL is Roubaix proof even at ~800g, Lightweight Standard wheels have been ridden on many TdF mountain stages and only seem to break if you hit a dog.

I can't recall seeing anything under about 5.7kg that I'd ride in anger, but I'm a 90kg sprinter, not a 60kg mountain climber. Oh, and you're not 'flying' down a mountain if you're only doing 40mph, you can go faster than that coasting down some of the short descents in the Chilterns and Cotswolds.

Cheers for detailed response!
TBH if something can stand up to being sprinted hard on the Roubaix then that pretty much answers my question.
I guess they are all fit for the purpose of riding hard (but in a smooth manor) and can take general road use, but any serious pothole/kerb/car/concrete interaction is going to result in failure.
I do think of carbon as very fragile, but then, I'm riding a 40yr old steel lugged frame and have to admit, every time I ride/wash it, I do inspect every lug & joint for signs of cracking or fatique (and cranks, snapped a crank before and i'm lucky to still have a leg to pedal with!), just incase :p

I do think of carbon as very fragile

Watch the testing of F1 tubs and see if you still think that.

Carbon is fucking tough - I have a client who manufactures carbon composites for the defence and F1 industries, some of the stress tests it goes through are unbelievable. Amongst other things they make anti-mine blast shells for vehicles from it now and apparently it's wayyyy better than steel. The stress that carbon comes under during cycling is nothing compared to F1 too.

Made me feel a whole load better about a carbon frame/bars/seatpost etc. I actually worry more about my steel bikes now.

Watch the testing of F1 tubs and see if you still think that.

snap

have a look some of the videos of carbon component stress testing they're brutal

Made me feel a whole load better about a carbon frame/bars/seatpost etc. I actually worry more about my steel bikes now.

The thing is, its hard to gauge if a carbon component is near failure due to impact, stress fatigue etc.. You have a similar issue will aluminium to some extent. But aluminium frames and components tend to be sufficiently "overbuilt" where carbon stuff seems to only have as much material as necessary as its designed to be "racelight". So if it gets a wollopping, it might be fucked and not even look it.

You cant just bash it back like steel either.

*Generalising of course.

The thing is, its hard to gauge if a carbon component is near failure due to impact,

Sometimes you can get a pretty good idea from close inspection

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MTB pedals on a road bike, tatty bar tape, bent fork...
Anti >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

That spokey dokey is pretty cool though.

Anyone remember the crash that Button had coming out of the tunnel in Monaco Grand Prix?

180 mph into the barrier, the accelerometers in the car spiked at negative 78G.

He had "slight nausea".

just another carbon off the peg weight weenie measurebator build.
and yellow bar tape????

Not really OTP, as I carefully selected, sourced, and put together every component down to the spoke nipples.

Not really weight weenie build, as the F&F weigh twice that of most full carbon framesets. Plus I'd hate to think what the price to lightness ratio of those cranks is.

Tis a major measurebator build with silly bar tape though. Cant refute that.

That's a bit harsh, I'm sure it will ride nicely and at least when you're on it you won't have to look at it.

Ha. The fact that the oft named ugliest cranks, and ugliest brake calipers, of road cycling, suit the frame. Does hint somewhat, that it is'nt exactly a classic stallion of a road bike.

The thing is, its hard to gauge if a carbon component is near failure due to impact, stress fatigue etc.. You have a similar issue will aluminium to some extent. But aluminium frames and components tend to be sufficiently "overbuilt" where carbon stuff seems to only have as much material as necessary as its designed to be "racelight". So if it gets a wollopping, it might be fucked and not even look it.

You cant just bash it back like steel either.

*Generalising of course.

I'm suspicious of carbon - the thing that did it for me was one of the early canondale super V suspension bikes that Rob Warner managed to snap when he reviewed it for MBUK - think he did both the fork and the snapped a shard off the swingarm.
Now, I obviously realise that this was 10+ years ago and has almost no bearing on modern day material / manufacturing (and that I'm never going to ride a bike as heavily as Rob Warner) but some things stick :)

So nice

I'm suspicious of carbon - the thing that did it for me was one of the early canondale super V suspension bikes that Rob Warner managed to snap when he reviewed it for MBUK - think he did both the fork and the snapped a shard off the swingarm.
Now, I obviously realise that this was 10+ years ago and has almost no bearing on modern day material / manufacturing (and that I'm never going to ride a bike as heavily as Rob Warner) but some things stick :)

I had a couple steel bikes try to kill me 'back i the day'. Totally my fault for not takig care of, or checking, them.

Hence I find myself checking over my steel frames more than the alu, or carbon ones.

Science > Suspicion please or >>>>> to the dark ages with your Langster Steel *

• i also like steel bikes too.
  

The thing is, its hard to gauge if a carbon component is near failure due to impact, stress fatigue etc.. You have a similar issue will aluminium to some extent. But aluminium frames and components tend to be sufficiently "overbuilt" where carbon stuff seems to only have as much material as necessary as its designed to be "racelight". So if it gets a wollopping, it might be fucked and not even look it.

You cant just bash it back like steel either.

*Generalising of course.

a) Not sure I'd want to ride a steel frame that had been 'bashed back in'
b) Not all carbon frames are designed to be racelight - only the top top super weight weenie ones. Even then, my S-Works Roubaix frame is built like a tank and can very easily be built up under the weight limit.

I'm suspicious of carbon - the thing that did it for me was one of the early canondale super V suspension bikes that Rob Warner managed to snap when he reviewed it for MBUK - think he did both the fork and the snapped a shard off the swingarm.
Now, I obviously realise that this was 10+ years ago and has almost no
bearing on modern day material / manufacturing (and that I'm never going to ride a bike as heavily as Rob Warner) but some things stick :)

Crack-n-fail mtb's are notoriously breaky. In any case, there's a big difference between carbon now and then - back then they were building carbon frames in the same way as steel or alu, without taking into account the relative values/strengths of the material. Now everything is oversized to shit and layered up so much that you really have to do something pretty drastic to fuck with it.

They ride Downhill on carbon rims and frames now - with confidence. This really is the end of the argument - if they can do that then I'm more than happy to ride through a 1,000 potholes on my road bike

The carbon vs steel, which is trying to kill me debate.

Reminds me of my mother-in-law. Wont let my kids have a glass of diet soda because of the scary chemical sweetners. Yet serves them stew with a centimeter thick layer of saturates on the top.

Better the devil you know?