Probably be done a million times I know.
In market for new bike and a carbon framed bike has been reduced and now within my budget.
Always thought it had a place on road bikes but never convinced on a bike where you huck off things, rocks often get thrown up and smash against the frame, not to mention bad landings and it smashing against the ground.
Failure rates probably aren't that bad but there have been a few on here.
Tempted by this lovely bike but still unsure about carbon over alu...drama queen or valid concerns?
Just go for it, if you're worried about rock strikes put some carbon armour on the downtube.
Yeah without hesitation - Carbon had been the must-have frame material for all sorts of big nasty gravity bikes for years and years now and I'm sure they do break now and again, just like Alu bikes but the forums aren't exactly brimming with tales of woe and suffering because they've exploded.
Even though I crashed and wrote one off it hasn't stopped me buying carbon and would do again.
No, but mostly because they're more expensive than the AL equivalent and i don't really see the benefit.
You'll be fine as long as you don't ride in the rain 😉
Yep.
Stiffer & lighter than their alu equivalent.
Pretty much bombproof too.
They make carbon DH bikes after all..
That would be my point too, if world champ dh races are being ridden and won on carbon framed bikes do you think you could put yours through more punishment?
[i]A[/i] carbon bike? As in just one?
Heavens no.
My carbon Spark gets hammered just as hard as my ti bike does. I don't worry about it!
I have a carbon Devinci Wilson dh bike that's been thrown down Whistler, been crashed, and had large rocks thrown at it, and it's fine: So, yes.
Maybe.
Geometry first. If the carbon version offered significant advantages over a metal one probably . If it comes from the factory wrapped in rubber armour already, probably not.
I'd buy 3. My other one is Ti as it has a child seat clamp attachment clamped round the seat tube.... otherwise I'd have 4.
Only if it were demonstrably lighter than the alu equivalent...like the Santa Cruz CC frames.
Only if it were demonstrably lighter than the alu equivalent...like the Santa Cruz CC frames.
This. For road bikes, carbon all the way. For mountain bikes, only if you're pockets are deep enough, otherwise you'd be better running alloy with better componentry. That said, I'm building my son a bike around a German Haibike carbon frame and this was cheap enough second-hand to be well worth a punt.
Never
I too was hesitant to go from metal to carbon, but did with the new bike and have had no regrets.
I did have a hefty rock strike at BPW which would have dented a metal frame but only cracked the downtube protector and scratched the paint...phew
go for it. I was the same until a carbon bike came along in my budget. I put on a rockguardz for added downtube protection. I love it, although I must admit I still "worry" sometimes when I am riding down a really rocky trail. You just have to ride it like you would any other bike. A minor inconvenience is having to worry about getting the torques correct on bolts. On my alu frames I just "did the bolts up" until they were tight. I'm a little more precise with the carbon frame.
Carbon wouldn't and hasn't been an issue for me on material choice. What's more relevant is the brand producing the carbon.
I currently have 6 carbon bikes in my collection and have probably had 20 or so in the last 10 years.
I had one fail on me but that was me being an idiot and over tightening the BB into the alloy shell which was bonded into the frame.
the frame was old n past it so I smashed it to crap with a hammer to see how tough it was.
Massively tough was the answer. It's amazing just how tough carbon can be in some areas of the bike.
The mid point on the main tubes can be thin, but still probably stronger than alloy ( I've also cut upend a Cannondale alloy frame ) that was super thin in places.
Surprised this answer hasn't been posted yet
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/santa-cruz-bicycles-test-lab.html
I'd buy one. Any rock strike that's going to delaminate a well designed frame will put a pretty big dent in a metallic frame. Also there are places that will patch up damage in carbon too, these days - nothing like this really exists for damaged aluminium frames.
That said some protection around the BB area might be worthwhile, I've had small to medium sized dents in fairly thick walled alu frames there - some frames come with a guard there anyway.
Surprised this answer hasn't been posted yet
CLONK! CLONK! CLONK!
I took the plunge with a Norco Sight a while back, the price of the full bike was simply too good not to take up. The bike itself is silly light compared with my alloy Stumpy 29er and positively begs to be thrown around. I do get the fear sometimes when riding down a rocky descent - my local route is littered with sharp flint, but it's not let me down yet.
What's the consensus on carbon handlebars?
What's the consensus on carbon handlebars?
I've got some SC ones and they seem OK (i.e. they haven't snapped in half and killed me yet).
I think that I'd be nervous about cheap bars though - not necessarily because they'd be less good, but more than you've no real idea whether they are or not. I remember reading about someone who bought two identical cheap chinesium carbon bars - one to use and one to destroy to check the first one was safe...
Good luck.
I've been riding them for 14 years. Just onto my third, so about 6/7 years each for the first two. I've weighed in between 15 and 18 stone in that time.
The only one I ever broke, the first one, involved snapping off an aluminium front derailleur hanger. My brother still rides it as a 1x.
Carbon frames - wouldn't worry. Alloy frames fatigue quicker perhaps than carbon anyway, and I've seen a few cracked alloy frames, plus snapped steel. Maybe only one carbon, out of the friends I ride with and the majority ride carbon.
Carbon wheels though, from my experience I won't be touching carbon wheels again. There's a reason Enve etc are so expensive as you're paying for warranty replacements. Ding an alloy rim and you can fix it. Ding carbon, it's a write off. As I say, from my experience. Add to that the surprising ease to punch a hole in a carbon rim by hitting a nail on the trail (okay a bloody great 6 inch nail, but it just sank right in).
Carbon bars are no worry. I've even got the dreaded scratches and out of 4 bars I've had, none have disintegrated or snapped. Likewise carbon cranks.
Not really - I bought a carbon Demo 8 without really worrying about the frame material. They seem to have added protection in key places and the rear on mine is alloy as it's the cheaper one.
It looks a lot better than the alloy version - the one sided shock support doesn't really work aesthetically on the metal version.
FTFY:
What's more relevant is the cache of the name on the sticker on the Chinese-made frame [s]brand producing the carbon[/s].
I had this dilemma when I bought my last frame, never had carbon before so was worried it wouldn't be up to the job. Bought a second hand carbon Evil frame (mainly because it matched the ride criteria I was looking for) and it's been great.
What's more relevant is the cache of the name on the sticker on the Chinese-made frame [s]brand producing the carbon.[/s]
It's a fair point, and a lot of people will swear by off-brand carbon frames. When you buy a brand, you are really paying for two things: the fact that you know (well, at least hope you know!) that it's made correctly and that if it breaks, they'll sort it for you.
There are some good, cheap carbon frames that probably come out of the same factories as the expensive, branded ones. But there will also be some that are cheap because they layup is crap and light because there's not enough material in the frame. The problem is that both look the same... :-/
Are there any online resources which will help differentiate the two? Ideally involving x-rays, saws and the type of kit on the pinkbike SC video above 🙂
Yes.
Love a carbon roadie, but I'd still worry about breaking it.
I do love the idea of Fred Knackerthwhaite hand brazing me a nice, simple road bike out of Briggs 666 steel in an old Nissen hut, but I've ridden a couple of carbon bikes and they were spot on.
Same with ally, there's some lovely, cheap frames out there that are so nice to ride now.
put some carbon armour on the downtube.
Tasty, but how do you get it to stay on? Lacquer over the top?
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It's also worth remembering that carbon fibre is repairable. My well-hammered Dirty Disco developed a crack in the headtube and one in the seatstay which were both fixed by Rob Hayles at [url= https://twitter.com/re_carb?lang=en ]Re-Carb[/url] - to put that in context, the bike's done over 10,000 km and rising and regularly gets battered on Peak District off-road stuff like the Roych etc.
I'd happily buy a carbon mtb from a decent brand.
Depends on the type of bike..
I wanted a lightweight full suss XC bike and went carbon frame. There was no way in hell an Alu bike was getting anywhere near the 4.2 pounds (with shock) that it weighs.
On a trail bike I struggle to see the point, not because it would break, but simply because I can't see the point of spending an extra grand to save a pound or so on a 28lb bike.
They may be stiffer, but I've struggled to notice the difference.
I did recently, but mainly because it was the only way to get the weight and geometry I wanted for a fatbike build. All things being equal I'd probably still prefer metal, but they never are.
I have a carbon long travel 29er full sus bike. By far the best quality frame I've ever had, crashed it really really hard a few times and come away with just paint chips. I definitely think carbon is at least as strong as an alloy bike. Really like carbon brake levers as well then don't seem to get bent like alloy ones do.