Carbon Conundrum ??

[Grayduff]

Is carbon that much better/different or is it simply a personal preference or i have to have one of those choice??
My Budget is £1000( can go a little more) and i have been looking at lots of reviews and trying out the Giant Defy 1,Trek Domane 2, Boardman road team and the Caad8 all with Shimano 105`s and think i prefer the Giant Defy 1, however i also tried out the Spesh Roubaix Sport at £1500 and liked that also.

My Question is am i being blinded by the Carbon myth or should i sick with Aluminium and upgrade wheels etc as i go along OR will i need/want a Carbon in the near future..

Cheers in advance for comments on Carbon or any of the bikes above.

 

[Andrew_P]

I think in your hearts of hearts you sound like you fancy a carbon bike, you will enjoy the Alu one but then start lusting over the carbons again.

I bought an Alu winter bike November 2011 and rode it through to Feb. When I got back on my Roubaix it was a lot different, placebo effect? Probably but the winter bike has not been out on the commute this year and is only in use by my daughter.

It is always the way no matter what your budget is the bike you want is always £300-500 more, clever marketing!

 

[Grayduff]

I think in your hearts of hearts you sound like you fancy a carbon bike, you will enjoy the Alu one but then start lusting over the carbons again.

I bought an Alu winter bike November 2011 and rode it through to Feb. When I got back on my Roubaix it was a lot different, placebo effect? Probably but the winter bike has not been out on the commute this year and is only in use by my daughter.

It is always the way no matter what your budget is the bike you want is always £300-500 more, clever marketing!

I wish you were wrong

 

[addictfreak]

I'm lucky enough to have both an aluminium and a carbon bike. I love them both, but the carbon just pips it for me. Mine just feels so smooth and glides along the road.
Try and find an LBS that will let you test ride a few.

 

[SquareDaff]

I have a full carbon bike but at your price range (£1k) the Defy 1 seems to win hands down every time!!! (Well, certainly in every review I've read!)

 

[addictfreak]

I would also look at Focus and Cube, lots of bargains around at the moment.

 

[Rob3rt]

I would forget about the material and ride a few bikes at £1k and see what you like best.

On paper I would prefer a class leading alu frame (Cannondale, as light and stiff as many higher priced carbon bikes, you can quite easily get a CAAD8, 9, 10 under 7kg and these things are very stiff where it matters) over a budget carbon offering, but it is not until you ride that you will know what suits you.

Personally, I would steer well clear of Planet X, not because there is anything wrong with the bikes, but because their staff in my experience, at least 3 times have been utterly useless and completely devoid of interest, unable to give advice and unwilling to help in any way, shape or form. I'd go as far as saying the last person I spoke to on the phone was quite simply a knob!

 

[Grayduff]

I should of said i am limited to the Cycle to work scheme so Ribbles are out, Cubes are in they are great bikes..Great feedback so far
thanks guys..

 

[Andrew_P]

I should of said i am limited to the Cycle to work scheme so Ribbles are out, Cubes are in they are great bikes..Great feedback so far
thanks guys..

I bought my Roubaix for £1500 December 2010, it has done 10k commuting miles it has well and truly paid itself back. If you liked the ride of the Roubaix and you are going to use it to commute the extra £500 will soon pay itself back. (thats what I keep telling everyone they just cannot see my secret Wiggle account)

 

[Rob3rt]

Planet x then, all day long.

Speaking from personal experience?

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Not all carbon bikes are created equal.. it is a composite material bonded with a resin. In fact what is commonly referred to as carbon fibre on a cycle is actually carbon fiber reinforced plastic as the resin utilized for bonding is a plastic. The material properties of Carbon fibre permit it to be layed up in different ways, altering strength and torsional rigidity. This can massively change the characteristics of the bike behaves.
If you have ever lived with a bike which is available in high grade carbon and lower grade carbon along you will appreciate just how much things change.
The common woven appearance which most people associate with carbon fibre is a cosmetic covering offering very little in terms of desirable properties for a cycle other than appearance and a unilateral layup offers far better stiffness and torsional rigidity... I personally will never buy a bike with a cosmetic carbon finish as I want the bike manufacturer to be concerned with making the bike good rather than pretty. The appearance should be reasonable if a quality manufacturing process and design is used without adding additional coverings (unless you wish to hide shoddy production finish)

If you buy a low value carbon frame you have to consider that low grade carbon fibre may be used in its manufacture, or that its layup is not as thick which effects stiffness, or that the resin is of a lower grade.... the costs have to be cut somewhere for you to get things cheaper.

Aluminium is a great product and can produce some very decent frames and light frames and is reasonably cost effective... its often overlooked because its not in fashion.

Steel is a great strong and dependable product.. commonly the term 'steel is real' is used, imho its not real, your not getting anything special, no matter who the builder is the tubes are purchased from the same people everyone else in the industry purchase their tubes from. How much room does that leave the bike builder to affect the performance of the material? - Very little which is why most Steel frames have similar characteristics imho

Titanium is a quality material, it has finish and class, but is a nightmare to work with from a manufacturing perspective, but it has great ride quality for a cycle.

Get the best material for your needs imho, do not exclude any material because Carbon is cool and in fashion, many alloy frames are better than a average carbon frame imho.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

The Roubaix imho is an amazing bike to ride imho. It;s the easiest bike to ride for great distances bar none.
The Cannondale CAAD bikes are pretty impressive as well but everyone usually ends that statement with for a alloy bike, which I really dislike... they are pretty decent quality bikes on merit no matter what the material is.

 

[Andrew_P]

The Roubaix imho is an amazing bike to ride imho. It;s the easiest bike to ride for great distances bar none.
The Aluminium CAAD bikes are pretty impressive as well but everyone usually ends that with for a alloy bike, which I hate... they are pretty decent bikes no matter what the material is.

Off Topic slightly, but to do with your long post on this subject. Is your Roubaix an S-Works (not sure it needed asking!) and what would the difference be between a Comp and the S-Works?

 

[Grayduff]

"Aluminium is a great product and can produce some very decent frames and light frames and is reasonably cost effective... its often overlooked because its not in fashion."

Fashion that`s the word thanks V, I would love o Spesh Roubaix but at £1500 the company that i will be using for the c2ws will only go to £1200, so that bike is out..Giant Defy 1 2013 is looking favourite or a Cube maybe..??

 

[Rob3rt]

PX bikes are fine themselves, in fact very good VFM, but if you are going to buy direct, you might want to consider the service, try call them and ask a few questions, if local go and visit the showroom. Many people have had no problems, some even say the service is immaculate, but myself, several poor experiences (if it was a one off, I might assume the guy was having a bad day or I got unlucky with that 1 awkward member of staff, but 3-4 times, this is a repeatable thing)!

Normally a company wait until they have sold you something before displaying any degree of indifference, PX seem to be like this from the start. For me, I want a company to sell me a bike and be activelly interested in helping me choose the best bike for my needs, but PX stand around shrug a bit then say "I don't know". Not even an offer of "but I will find out for you", simply "I don't know". PX have easily pissed away 2-3k of potential business with me.

They also only offer 2 year warranty, IIRC! Not as confidence inspiring as say Specialized or Cannondale who offer lifetime warranties on their products. In addition to upgrade schemes and crash replacement programmes.