Hi
has anyone made the jump from the alu frame to the carbon? just wondering if it was worth the change. I have the opportunity to either go with a carbon or change up my 2015 alu to a 2016 alu & give my partner the 2015. love my alu scout btw.

I think the only real benefit is shedding a few grams.

Are you looking at the ’18 frame with teh SBG geo? If not, I’m sure of the benefit really.

Hi

Not too bothered about the 2018’s tbh, love my lime alloy 2015 but looking a bit tired now. may just go for the 2016 alu as the price on the carbon frame has come down a lot but still pretty expensive at £1700.

Transition don’t make particularly light carbon frames, they don’t make them to as high a quality as some brands despite their pricing, and they don’t offer a particuarly good warranty.

The Lime alloy Scout from 2015 is what I have. I love mine a lot.

I started to get giddy when the carbon version was proposed as being the perfect upgrade for the alloy. I didn’t upgrade for the following reasons;

Could justify the cost over perceived technical advantage.

Didn’t like the fact that the down tube has a long curve in it. I prefer the look of the alloy version.

Once I considered it, I realised I don’t actually want a carbon bike. They are too desirable to leave anywhere and would attract unwanted attention (he says, after admitting to owning a flouro yellow alloy version).

I build my own bikes, my perception of carbon is that here is a much smaller margin for error when fitting parts, headsets, BB’s and the like. I don’t own any carbon parts on any of my bikes as a result.

its about 600g lighter than the alu, not sure how that would feel comparatively. also been looking at a santa cruz 5010 frame. I know what you are saying tho jef, just feeling like I cant really justify the cost despite it being much cheaper than original price. but you can get hold an alu new from £800. nearly £1k cheaper.

I’d be spending the money on upgrading shock & wheels, better performance gains there than a carbon frame.

to carbon wheels?

thanks sir hc, was thinking of doing exactly that, any suggestions?

Had a Alu Patrol and now have a Carbon.
It’s in no way 1k better than the Alu one, just looks nicer.

They seam to be clearing out their 2017 stock and the carbon scout frames have come down a lot, biketart had them at £1675 but using their XMAS10 discount code gets you that down to £1507.

The difference in weight between the two frames is around 0.9lbs (410g) according to transition, something that you could easily shed off your current alu scout by changing tyres.

Upgrading the wheels and shock (CC Coil inline?) might be your best way to go, unless you wanted to go for the new bells and whistles SBG 2018 frames which you’d need to buy a shorter offset fork and boost wheels to fit into it as well.

I got an ali one after the carbon came out. As someone else said, was all ready to get a carbon one until I got chatting with the shop and went down the spend the saving on upgrades route. I looked at it as 600g vs putting everything I want/ think I want on it.

Jef Wachowchow – Member

Once I considered it, I realised I don’t actually want a carbon bike. They are too desirable to leave anywhere and would attract unwanted attention (he says, after admitting to owning a flouro yellow alloy version).

I doubt bike thieves will often be in a position where they will go for a carbon bike over an alloy one. They just want to take something of value and sell it on as soon as possible. Most people that can tell the difference between the carbon and alloy versions will not be out to steal your bike :roll:.

I build my own bikes, my perception of carbon is that here is a much smaller margin for error when fitting parts, headsets, BB’s and the like. I don’t own any carbon parts on any of my bikes as a result.

Your ‘perception’ is wrong in my experience (if you give it a try, you would find that carbon parts are not fragile or difficult to fit correctly). At worse, there is a very slightly smaller margin or error, if any.

Upgrading the wheels and shock (CC Coil inline?) might be your best way to go, unless you wanted to go for the new bells and whistles SBG 2018 frames which you’d need to buy a shorter offset fork and boost wheels to fit into it as well.

The shock is definitely work swapping – I sacked off the Monarch and fitted a DHX RC4 which added some weigh to an already chubby bike, but the rear end feels way better now. The suspension is more suppler, smoother and feels properly bottomless.

In my experience the biggest difference in moving from Aluminium to Carbon has less to do with weight savings and a lot to do with frame stiffness. There’s a noticeable difference in frame flex, especially if you’re running long travel forks, when comparing the same frame designs in Carbon and Aluminium.

Ideally try a back to back test ride over some choppy rough ground and see if it matters to you when riding the bike. I’m sure there are much burlier aluminium frames that flex less, hence why comparing the same model frame in both materials is the only true comparison to make.

I went for the carbon 🙂 used that discount code on bike tart so happy with the price paid. The money saved can use for some wheels/shock. Do have some flows with fuel hubs currently. looking two change up them.