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I have been enjoying road riding more and more and recently did the Etape Eryri long route and want to do more longer events like that.
My road bike is a Saracen Hack which is great for getting to and from work but was a bit cumbersome towards the end of the 103 miler! So I was thinking of getting a lighter more road oreintated roadbike as the hack is pretty much a CX bike.
Planet X and Ribble both seem to offer good value Carbon fibre and Alu frames with decent build kits, maybe the frames will not be as refined as trek or specialized offerings but they are a bit more budget. the frames i was looking at are the Planet X Pro Carbon, The RT-57 and all the ribble carbon frames!
So my questioin is is it worth going Carbon or are the Alu frames in the same kind of price bracket (1000 or under) better, lighter, prettier....? Is the frame secondary to build kit (ie wheels etc)? What are the real benefits of C over Alu in road riding?
Road riding is very much second to MTBing so I don't want to spend a lot, I am just after something lighter and a bit quicker on longer rides. Also apart from Ribble and Planet X are there any other similar places which do these kind of cheaper builds?
Similar thread here - http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ribble-framesets-are-they-good?replies=6#post-6133157
I've had a carbon Ribble for 4 years or so. Absolutely love the bike and it meant that I could get a carbon frame plus Ultegra groupset for £1k, which isn't to be sniffed at.
For me, carbon was prettier and I really liked the lines on my Ribble. It's also significantly lighter than my friends' £700-£800 alu Scott road bikes, which both came with entry(ish) level groupset.
If you live hampshire way you're welcome to come and have a go.
I have a Saracen Hack 2 and its a real lump compared to my Giant TCR SL (alu) and KTM Revelator. Thats cos its 24lb+ compared to 16lb. I struggled doing 60miles on the Hack, but did 84 miles last weekend easily on the KTM.
I'd only go for certain alloy frames reknowned for decent performance and lightweight such as the TCR, CAAD8 or CAAD10 or Kinesis Aithein (I got one of these too awaiting to be built), or other than that carbon.
Should be possible to get sub-17lb build for around £1k with some sensible speccing.
I can't speak for Ribble, but there's a world of difference between the PX alloy rt-58 and the carbon version, the carbon is a smoother ride, transmits less road noise and vibration, weighs less and generally handles better. In comparison the alloy ride is a little rough around the edges, it's still a very decent frame for the money but the carbon is noticeably better.