The More Cash Than Brains Track Bike The Worx WX-R Vorteq $39,000 ? :(

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Bonefish Blues

Banging donk
Location
52 Festive Road
Just glanced at the top few of those. Do you get many cars or vodka bottles at the velodrome? Personally I think modern carbon fibre bikes look awful, bur that's because I think they should remove the requirement for them to mimic metal tubesets, use the material to its full capabilities and let the designers go nuts with it, like some of those properly insane tri-bikes. It's five years old now but come on, this thing looks awesome like an e-bike.

View attachment 603306
Fixed that for you 😊
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Hacienda71

Mancunian in self imposed exile in leafy Cheshire
I remember my brother dragging his mangled Eddy Merckx back home in the 70's after totalling it. Total right off. You hit something hard and all materials will fail. To give some idea of strength though the below video shows just how strong carbon can be when compared to aluminium. I don't suppose they would use it to construct airliners if regular failures was an inherent fault.

Carbon vs Aluminum Frames - Which is Stronger? - YouTube
 
<snip>

I don't suppose they would use it to construct airliners if regular failures was an inherent fault.
Because it IS an inherent fault, the airline people have very good QC. (It's all relative of course - steel frames/handlebars need some QC too.) As a result, I'm equally scared of getting on planes whatever they are made from!

Also worth noting the number of 50-60 year old metal planes still flying regularly.
 
OP
OP
Anthony.R.Brown

Anthony.R.Brown

Active Member
Just glanced at the top few of those. Do you get many cars or vodka bottles at the velodrome? Personally I think modern carbon fibre bikes look awful, bur that's because I think they should remove the requirement for them to mimic metal tubesets, use the material to its full capabilities and let the designers go nuts with it, like some of those properly insane tri-bikes. It's five years old now but come on, this thing looks awesome.

View attachment 603306


After 5.1 years the inevitable Carbon problem happened again! :sad:

603354
 
OP
OP
Anthony.R.Brown

Anthony.R.Brown

Active Member
Out of interest Anthony R - what bike (if any) do you ride ?

Well a better question for me would be what did I ride in the Past! ? because at the moment I am only training on a heavy Decathlon mountain bike,until I get confirmation if my Hour record attempt is on or not ? then I will switch to the appropriate bike,equipment & training needed,I still have six months to do it ?
In the 1980's onward when I was riding there was mainly only steel framed bikes & equipment available,and now that I can see the problems with Carbon,and the ridiculous price of equipment today,I am glad I was riding in the golden age of Steel! :smile:
I had a few Holdsworth special training bikes with mudguards and cheap but good equipment,imported from Japan and I never had any of the components ever fail!,even after thousands of miles,One Holdsworth was Orange and the later one Silver,I also had over the years a Ruby red Condor for TT's,an Allen framed bike which I think was the first Aluminium bike in the UK,it was OK ? but I found it too soft to ride compared to Steel,I had some other bikes but I cannot remember the names ? I mainly had Rory O'Brien handmade frames & equipment because I worked in the shop in North street Romford essex,a Track bike for medium gear TT's and an all Gold special Rory TT bike,one other training bike I had was a Kenningston,if that's how it's spelt ? it was from another frame builder in Romford and maybe before Rory O'Brien ?
 
OP
OP
Anthony.R.Brown

Anthony.R.Brown

Active Member
Because it's not like a steel bike has ever failed... ;)

Yes there were some Steel bike failures but not many compared to today's Carbon bikes problems,I would say the main difference is if you bought the best Steel bikes,or should I say the most reliable like Rory O' Briens then I never heard of any failures ? there must of been some but I never heard it,now today even the very best Carbon bikes are failing ?

Below is a Rory O' Brien fast back frame similar to my best TT one,the differences with my one was that I never had chrome forks,but the Colour of mine was better it was at the time a special order Flamboyant Gold! :smile: and I had an Aero dynamic plate welded to the bottom of the bottom bracket,plus it made that part of the frame stronger where it was needed! as I was using a 54 Campagnolo chain ring at the time,plus all of my components were anodised Gold! :smile:

603368
 
Last edited:
I'm pretty sure my custom 531 that's still in my garage cost a fair bit.
The 653 Terry Dolan I bought aft r that with full Dura Ace was even more expensive.

Then I had an 853 Graham Weigh.

All lovely bikes but you get bored and move on.

I bought a TCR frame and transferred all my kit and wheels onto the TCR and it was a revelation. Road buzz gone. A much better ride and lighter too.

I flew with that abroad in a soft bag and raced all over Europe with it. No failures. They build them strong.

You can't compare what an Olympian rides to us normal people. And there were 100s of CF bikes and what one failure ?

I've broken two alloy seatposts in my riding. Had my steel frame rust right through from the inside. Not one issue with Carbon fibre.

You might as well post crashed F1 cars and tell us that our road cars are likely to lose a wheel.

The 80s were not the golden age of steel. That would have been decades earlier. CF and alu were already out and making inroads.

Enjoy your steel bikes but it's crazy to say that CF breaks all the time.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
Yes there were some Steel bike failures but not many compared to today's Carbon bikes problems,I would say the main difference is if you bought the best Steel bikes,or should I say the most reliable like Rory O' Briens then I never heard of any failures ? there must of been some but I never heard it,now today even the very best Carbon bikes are failing ?

Below is a Rory O' Brien fast back frame similar to my best TT one,the differences with my one was that I never had chrome forks,but the Colour of mine was better it was at the time a special order Flamboyant Gold! :smile: and I had an Aero dynamic plate welded to the bottom of the bottom bracket,plus it made that part of the frame stronger where it was needed! as I was using a 54 Campagnolo chain ring at the time,plus all of my components were anodised Gold! :smile:

View attachment 603368
Gold chainrings would be on the soft side.
 

AndyRM

XOXO
Location
North Shields
Flicked through that busted carbon site (which hasn't been updated in a decade) and after two pages the majority of failures seemed to be from crashes or driving into garage roofs. Anything made from any material has the potential to break, especially when it's put under stress.

Although I suppose the issue with carbon is that it will dissolve if you go out in the rain, or melt if you leave your bike next to a radiator for even a minute...
 
Top Bottom