Road Bikes: How Robust?

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Cee Jay

New Member
Location
The North
Hi all, stupid question ahoy… I recently ‘went roadie’ and bought a Bianchi Via Nirone Alu Carbon, and am chuffed to bits with it. However it has alerted me, with arse-bruising, 110psi clarity, that the roads round our way are really, really poor. Padded shorts take the pain away from me but what about the bike? I appreciate that avoidance is a good policy but when you’re confronted with a deep rut across the road there’s little you can do… Just how robust are a pair of carbon forks? Are my wheels taking a major battering?
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
good question, for me anyway, the roads really do stink and even knowing the road there's a couple of stinkers that I hit hard now and then and loads of rough stuff

I was surprised the decent wheels on my hybrid seemed to take it all without problems

the blokes on what I still call racers seem to glide around, perhaps that's just me seeing what I expect
 

slow down

New Member
Location
Walsall
You'll be fine with most roads - look at the battering the pro's bikes take on Paris Roubaix. If I can't avoid a large pothole I'll tend to bunnyhop over it, soon becomes second nature.
 
I use my road bike as an all purpose bike now, it seems fine on gravel tracks and rough roads.

There are pot holes that will damage a car wheel though, hit one of those wrong and you could get a damaged wheel or flat tyre whatever your riding.
 
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Cee Jay

New Member
Location
The North
Thanks for the replies! Puts my mind at rest. Hadn't thought of Paris-Roubaix. I can just pretend I'm having my own, personal 'Hell Of The North'. Which is quite easy here in Rochdale...xx(
 

asterix

Comrade Member
Location
Limoges or York
slow down said:
You'll be fine with most roads - look at the battering the pro's bikes take on Paris Roubaix. If I can't avoid a large pothole I'll tend to bunnyhop over it, soon becomes second nature.

Yeah but don't they throw 'em in the skip afterwards:evil:
 

gbb

Legendary Member
Location
Peterborough
If your Nirone has the Bianchi componenti wheels made by Ambrosio, i think they are quite robust.
I dont abuse mine, but have hit potholes a couple of times, quite heavily xx(
No damage though, still true and running well.
 

stevenb

New Member
Location
South Beds.
gbb said:
If your Nirone has the Bianchi componenti wheels made by Ambrosio, i think they are quite robust.
I dont abuse mine, but have hit potholes a couple of times, quite heavily xx(
No damage though, still true and running well.

very true...the Ambrosio wheels are rock hard...yeah they will damage with a huge wallop....but when they did a test on the bike I brought last year (Bianchi via Nirone & which is the all ally one) they said they'd ridden it to work...gone up and down kerbs, over drains and normal country road routes and the wheels stood up to the lot.

You'll be fine...the frames are rock solid too. As long as they aren't suffering abuse mile after mile you'll be just fine.

Steve
 

yenrod

Guest
My Carbon no name forks have took quite a whacking, not of my doing !

I ended up side on under a car through their fault - I got up expecting *&^ked forks but NO the wheel bent but not the forks which surprised me as I'd never have gave them the positivity..of this but this totally surprised me: me being an anti-carbon fork person.

Changed my mind quite a bit.

To go on a bit more...coming from an MTB you will think this but at the end of the day a bikes a bike and its took me many years and miles to realise that a bike is pretty bloody strong and can really take some absolute whackings ! ! !

I'd still only 'jump' (as in 'in the air') on a Steel MTB - compared to an alu'framed MTB.

Road ridings not soo bad...

Happy riding.......
 

walker

New Member
Location
Bromley, Kent
Carbon forks are pretty Robust on hard road's, they take compresion well so your ok for a good 6000+ miles. Make sure you check them regularly though for the freak crack. Are they full Carbon or Alu/Carbon?

to make the ride a little comfier try adding a carbon seat post to your road bike, this will take away a little of the shock you come acrosss on your travels.
 
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Cee Jay

New Member
Location
The North
Thanks for the reassurance everyone! The forks are the Alu/Carbon type - I like the idea of adding a carbon seat post, will look into it! Just seems hard to believe that something so light (and compared to the old two-ton beast I was on before this is featherweight!) can handle the bad roads so well. Guess it's just what it's designed for!
 

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
i was riding a friend's carbon-forked bike in edinburgh when i (inevitably) hit a pothole. the forks made a horrid cracking noise and i feared the worst, but apparently that's just the noise they make (giant, flat ones).

normally i bunny hop but this one was in shade and i didn't see it.
 
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