However if you are on an aluminium, you can be smug about any carbon bike that is going slower than you. That is the only thing stopping me upgrading.
Ha! So true! I've always been a bit allergic to looking like "all the gear and no idea" so have tried to avoid having all the posh stuff/team kit. (Not hard if you're not made of cash anyway). Even my swanky
ahem carbon road bike was a secondhand purchase. I paid for a 6 year old full carbon full Record bike what a new Allez with Tiagra would cost. I must say I'm loving it! And it hasn't snapped. However, now I have to make sure I don't get beasted by someone on a cheapy bike! Good motivation…
I think a decent carbon frame is great for road bikes, which tend to get looked after, but I do have reservations about carbon frames for off-road use. Not that carbon frames might be "not strong/flexy enough" when new, but more about the likelihood that off-road, sooner or later (in any given ride if you're trying hard) you're going to crash and if a rock takes a gouge out of the carbon it could be a write-off.
Rather than believe internet hype from fanboys of either persuasion, I'd ask about lifetime warranties. If a frame manufacturer (like Felt's mountainbikes IIRC) only offers a one year limited warranty, maybe you should worry. But if carbon bikes generally were failing all the time, I think someone would have said something. Statistically I suspect the numbers are very small. All the frames I've heard of that broke were ally, but that might be because it's more common, especially in mountainbikes. The whole debate, to me, seems like some folks are just put off by the idea that a bike "should" be made of metal and "carbon is plastic which is what toys are made of". I'd say just get a few test rides in and buy the bike you think rides the nicest, and don't worry about it breaking.
Of course, the self respecting eco-hippy would be riding
bamboo anyway…
