Road bike recommendations

Hmmmmmm.

http://www.speedgoat.com/Catalog.aspx/Browse?Cat=C126&Mfg=1008&Prod=35287&Root=Cat

Here's a link to the RCUK visit to the Cyfac...tory. Moar custom carbon.

Nice.

This one I think:

Cinelli XCR Stainless

This is interesting.

The front end of the Condor is tigged, not lugged, but it's not far off, is it? Made in the same factory?

Probably. I think Condor still get most of their frames built in Italy, by Bilato I believe.

Nice.

This one I think:

If I was to do a striaght transplant onto that frame and forks. My road bike might dip under 6Kg.

The stainless cinelli's are beautiful in the flesh. Serious bike envy.

Nah. It's because there's no market for them. You could make a carbon tourer as durable as a steel tourer - it would probably be lighter too - but nobody would buy it due to all the carbon FUD out there.

This.

My only concern is eyelets such as racks, and whether it'll be fine or not.

Only reason I would go for steel is that it's cheap, look shit, and the unnickability of it.

Carbon Touring Bike

http://www.parleecycles.com/tour/

Can't imagine them selling too many

Theres some videos of testing of Santa Cruz bikes on the net, they show you the same tests on their carbon and Ali models very impressive to watch

RE the video he said both forks need replaced. But notice how the carbon fork looks like it is still OK? And you may end up riding away happily and encounter fork fail?

I'd still personally not ride carbon myself as frames near the trainstation etc. as exposed to people doing fuckknowwhat trying to get their bikes out of the much too narrow areas.

I stand corrected on the strength in one direction. I know, a so-called troll admitting she's wrong! Wow...a internet new.

That carbon touring bike is...interesting. But yeah you may be right that nobody wants it after they've seen bust carbon.

Yeah she did, but I never listened to her. You're pretty up tight about the whole carbon thing... Chill man, it's just a bike.

I have nothing against carbon fibre. The problem is with a lot of the products on the market--- and I'm equally critical of a lot of CNC junk as well. A number of my friends work with carbon fibre. Keeping to bicycles.. A very good friend has been building carbon fibre frames and wheels since the 1990s---- a large number of road and cyclecross wins on his wheels and a world championship on one of his frames. If you want to hear stuff against carbon fibre you could listen to them...
And its not just "a bike". That's the mindset of the twits in their cars that view bicycles as a children's toy. Its also the mindset of quite a few companies selling inferior lifestyle bicycle products. Product safety should not be taken lightly. A catastrophic failure of a wheel, handlebar, seat post, fork, pedal axle or.. can be quite dangerous. And I've seen them all happen.. And its not a question of supermarket bicycles or poorly maintained Freds.. I seen these failures at the highest levels of elite cyclesport..

Well then I guess the question is: What frames/brands/parts can you buy for sure knowing the material won't fail?

And some very boring engineering thing on crash properties on carbon would be interesting perhaps.

All materials can and will fail under the right circumstances. The only way to assess this with carbon is ultrasound (as you won't get big dents/cracks) which is what they use in the aircraft industry.

Risk of an instant failure is very low, I guess it depends on how you weight needs VS risks. Do I need a carbon frame for my riding? No. So the very small risk of damage that I miss that results an instant frame/fork failure and me biting the road isn't worth it for me. If you are a road racer on the other hand...

RE touring Luddites: It's part true (I hang out on touring forums) but it's part also because again if you travel and take your bike with you on a plane/train there is no way of telling how fucked up it's been treated by handlers. Metal? Dent warns you. Carbon? No way of knowing.

And yes brazeons are harder to do on carbon, as somebody pointed out, touring bikes generally have a lot of them.

Well yeah - there's an ultra niche market right now and a lot of FUD. When that clears there will be a mass market in the future for cheap, light strong carbon touring frames

Given that it will probably be more economical (translation: cheaper) to source and sell carbon bicycle frames the market will, I assume, be dominated by carbon in the future--- just as its currently dominated by welded metal tubes today. The only counterforce that I could envision might be from environmental legislation but as we are already starting to see fibre recycling, the price point where it becomes a big problem is when biodegradible bicycles become a possibility--- there are already a number of quite fantastic model studies.

And lets not forget the $20 cardboard bicycle.. Its not too far off from paper and carbon ...

I guess the OP is possibly by now wondering what to do after two million different opinions :)

For touring with light loads on roads in Europe a 700c carbon bike will be fine, just keep an eye on it so it doesn't get manhandled or bring it yourself.

For heavy loads/crappy roads or far away places, steel with 26" wheels is still the touring consensus. You pay for that in a heavier frame/rims, but people on tours generally aren't in a big hurry to get anywhere :)

Knee length socks, SPD sandals and beards modelled on those customary for American Civil War infantrymen all have a significant aerodynamic drag, which we have been told is more important than weight up to a 6% incline anway, so touring bikes may as well be made of something suitable for attaching magnetic Scrabble tiles to.

Do we have a road wheels thread?
I need advice.

https://www.lfgss.com/thread20845.html

Knee length socks, SPD sandals and beards modelled on those customary for American Civil War infantrymen all have a significant aerodynamic drag, which we have been told is more important than weight up to a 6% incline anway, so touring bikes may as well be made of something suitable for attaching magnetic Scrabble tiles to.

You forget the harmonica to keep oneself entertained while camping in the wild. Wind drag on them things is lethal.

This is interesting.

The front end of the Condor is tigged, not lugged, but it's not far off, is it? Made in the same factory?

The seatpost bolt is going to fill with crap very, very quickly. #fairweather

Personally I wouldn't believe anything Pat McQuaid says, that quote is so that they can make money getting frames registered with them as safe to race and they can make money off it.

UCI don't make money from product cerification. It costs them. The major problem with their testing is that its wholly insufficient. Wheels are only tested for their impact.

On impact, no element of the wheel may become detached and be expelled outwards.

• The rupture must not present any shattered or broken off elements, or any sharp or serrated surfaces that could harm the user, other riders and/or third parties.
  
• The rupture characteristics must not cause the hub to become separated from the rim in such a way that the wheel becomes detached from the forks
  
  

UCI has devoted funds to other kinds of testing--- for example, rider safety--- but the above is really the only kind they have managed to mandate. It was in reaction to a number of high visibility incidents involving a few non-standard wheels in the 1990s. One of the brands most associated with accidents was Spinergy--- and they liquidated in 1999. The major players at the time greated the testing since most did not have product offerings at the time. It was time when a number of small vendors were getting the limelight--- Ulrich, Riis, Pantani, VDB, Cipollini, Hamilton etc. riding ADAs, Zabel, Armstrong etc. riding Lightweights, often under foreign flags--- and before the dopping scandals put the teams on sponsorship alert.

after geting hounded out of any q answered!:

Novice with questions requiring guidence! I want a road bike. the last bike with gears i rode regularly was about 5 years ago and was an ancient gary fisher mountain bike with pretty basic replacement parts on it so have no idea about squat basically.

There is a frame on here i am contemplating buying and the seller can provide with it the majority of a 7700 groupset (minus shifters).

What are the basic rules regarding compatability of parts (groups and wheelsets), good casette/chainring sizes to work with and i guess general do's and don'ts when building from scratch(ish)?

thanks

have a look at shimano compatibility charts

And maybe try the groupset thread?

http://www.lfgss.com/thread15100-26.html

^^ DJ is obviously right, but a few basic things I'd suggest/point out are:

• Shimano and SRAM wheels are compatible.
• Shifters are the most expensive parts so factor the replacements.
• Generally it's my understanding that the shifters and cassette are what needs to be compatible. Most front and rear road mechs will work with each other from the same manufacture.
• Gearing is personal, but I'd start with a compact crankset and a 11-25t or 27t. 9 speed shimano cassttes are fairly cheap, but you can now get Tigra 10 speed so don't that be a decision-maker.

Other than that all the usual rules about measuring apply and ultimately just cracking on will highlight what you don't know.

thanks guys, appreciate the time.