a conversation with lbs about carbon bikes

[mr Mag00]

Do you think an F1 car is as reliable and durable as, say, a Ford Focus?

*slaps hand to head*

 

[Hip Priest]

Unlike the motoring analogy, an F1 team won't sell one of their cars to any Tom, Dick or Harry who walks into a high street shop.

Ok, maybe an F1 car is taking things a little far.

But Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pagani, Koenigsegg...etc will sell you a high-end road car that it wouldn't be advisable to drive daily and would require a hell of a lot more TLC than yer £10k eurohatch.

 

[snailracer]

... if you're buying a performance frame and gear, a certain level of maintenance is expected as a bare minimum - if you personally can't do it, see your lbs. Same exactly with a performance car - don't expect performance if you don't keep it well looked after....

Well of course. If you are riding a performance frame and crash, make sure you crash it carefully - if you personally can't do that, get your lbs to crash it carefully for you .

 

[fossyant]

easy to say. i was of the same opinion..... knocked unconscious, a broken eye socket and fractured wrist later.....i KNOW carbon can fail catastrophically, my bikes are always repaired regardless of cost and i check meticulously every week, so i KNOW there was nothing to see on my bike.....IT STILL BROKE and it ****in hurt.

so no, common sense does not prevail and never can with cf. giant and trek both recommend changing their forks regularly (every 5000 miles iirc), so even the manufacturers are suspect of their own products.

good business model though, sell something, then tell 'em they need to buy ****ing expensive parts every couple of years.

Dont mean to 'sh1t you up' but brommies have more potential failure points if you look at it ?

Mountain bikes - by the very nature of it, things get broken, including one self fairly regular.

It's not worth getting panic minded over it. By all accounts, both my steel bikes should have been replaced by now, and don't go into how old my alloy bars are.

Anyone seen dan_bo's pictures of his Kaffenback, after a tree jumped out on him in a race ? - Steel frame was wrecked, but the Spesh carbon forks were pretty OK.

Just ride !

 

[fossyant]

Anyway, will folk stop worrying if a bike or part is going to fall to bits !

Just watch out for the blind buggers in cars/vans - they are more likely to get you, or that ninja tree/rock when MTB'ing

 

[gb155]

I'd lov to see the dan-bo Vs tree pictures

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

me too!

 

[oldfatfool]

Ok, maybe an F1 car is taking things a little far.

But Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pagani, Koenigsegg...etc will sell you a high-end road car that it wouldn't be advisable to drive daily and would require a hell of a lot more TLC than yer £10k eurohatch.

Not really, and certainly nothing to do with the chassis/ body materials.

 

[Flying Dodo]

What put me off a carbon frame was after going for a test ride on a Specialized Roubaix Elite, gently squeezing the top tube with my thumb and realising I could push it in.

But I'm sure it was fine!

 

[the_mikey]

how many pros are still riding the frame they rode lase season?

Pros are often riding a different bike in training to the one they'll ride when racing, it'll still be a carbon model from the chosen manufacturer but perhaps not the same frame and wheels as used in a race, and that bike will be the one they'll keep for a year or more.