Aluminium over Carbon

crashoveroid

HI All

I have been riding carbon for about 3 years now and have really began to hate it i have had cracked frames forks snapping even seatpost cracking. So next year racing i have decided to go back to Aluminium. My winter bike i have had for 2 years and not one issue with it Next year i want to race a Cervelo Soloist Team meant to be quite a good bike i just wanted to see what you guy and gals thought about it ?

Morgan

Don't really know anything about the Cervelo - but I'm interested to hear about your problems with CF. Was is crash damage or just failure? Which frames/brands did you have trouble with? Were they covered by warranty?

tunney

A good few people shifting away from carbon.

Personally I've always stuck to Alu and intend to stay with it for as long as I can

Quigs Snr

2 of the top 4 riders in my club are on Aluminium (1 is full Alu with a carbon fork, the other is Alu frame with carbon front and rear fork). Doesn't seem to slow them down much ! Good luck with the Cervelo, sweet bike. Thinking of the R3 myself for next year... but I have had good experience with Carbon, one of my bikes is carbon almost everything ! but I would not be snobby at all about it. I have recently fallen for an old steel Terry Dolan bike FFS ! Just love its feel.

niceonetom

crashoveroid wrote: »

HI All

I have been riding carbon for about 3 years now and have really began to hate it i have had cracked frames forks snapping even seatpost cracking. So next year racing i have decided to go back to Aluminium. My winter bike i have had for 2 years and not one issue with it Next year i want to race a Cervelo Soloist Team meant to be quite a good bike i just wanted to see what you guy and gals thought about it ?

hmmm... this worries me slightly. i just changed the fork on my bike from aluminium to carbon and i have to say i was loving it... till i read your post. the aluminium fork (straight bladed) gave an unbelievably hard ride and the carbon immediately seems more forgiving on dublin roads. but some part of me can't help but feel that sooner or later that lovely carbon will fail and that'll suck.

that cervelo looks pretty.

crashoveroid

Morgan wrote: »

Don't really know anything about the Cervelo - but I'm interested to hear about your problems with CF. Was is crash damage or just failure? Which frames/brands did you have trouble with? Were they covered by warranty?

I have had a litespeed Fork snap on me and i had a time vxrs frame snap on me as for the seatpost it was a Ritchey WCS carbon seat post all were covered under warranty but when replaced i did not want to ride them any more mainly due to fail the first time.

crashoveroid

Morgan wrote: »

Don't really know anything about the Cervelo - but I'm interested to hear about your problems with CF. Was is crash damage or just failure? Which frames/brands did you have trouble with? Were they covered by warranty?

niceonetom wrote: »

hmmm... this worries me slightly. i just changed the fork on my bike from aluminium to carbon and i have to say i was loving it... till i read your post. the aluminium fork (straight bladed) gave an unbelievably hard ride and the carbon immediately seems more forgiving on dublin roads. but some part of me can't help but feel that sooner or later that lovely carbon will fail and that'll suck.

that cervelo looks pretty.

I still ride carbon forks its hard to get away as nearly all bikes have them but i will only ride Time forks going forward as they are the best out there.

niceonetom

crashoveroid wrote: »

I still ride carbon forks its hard to get away as nearly all bikes have them but i will only ride Time forks going forward as they are the best out there.

the fork i bought is by LOOK, who are pretty good too. i kind of wish i'd gone for a more heavily built one though.

crashoveroid

niceonetom wrote: »

the fork i bought is by LOOK, who are pretty good too. i kind of wish i'd gone for a more heavily built one though.

Your forks should be fine fork are usually quite strong and only fail if crashed or a bad batch from the factory which is rare.

el tel

What worries me about carbon fibre is the fact that one half decent spill and the bike could be f**ked. When I was at university doing research into Carbon composites a bike distributor brought us in 3 new Trek OCLV 5200 frames (the same as Lance Armstrong was riding at the time) which had merely 100 miles between them yet the carbon frames had all cracked around the bottom bracket. I know the technology has moved on since tgen but this has always put me off carbon fibre frames. Next time I go for a change it will be to titanium.

ba

i am beginning to worry. i have just put a deposit on a carbon frame bike.
and i do not find any comfort in these comments.

i have heard from commentary from the TDF that bikes do fail or crack. and that bike brands like ridley/specialized (roubaix models)/trek have all had issues in the past. surely they are resolved.

however i have not heard anything negative about carbon from members in my cycling club. many have carbon bikes/rear stays/forks, but only use their more expensive bikes in good weather or at races.

not sure what to do, carbon is very comfortable + smooth in comparison with aluminium. hmmm. ??

Quigs Snr

Carbon can break like any other material if you are (A) Unlucky or (B) Careless. My training bike is an all Carbon Trek 5500. 7 years old, bought it from a former national veteran champ, crashed many times in races and ridden hard by me. Not a bother on it...

On the other hand I have seen other carbon bikes (and titanium for that matter) split in a crash - usually I must stress because some other part was fitted badly e.g. seat clamp too tight etc...

In general treat it well and you will be safe enough. If you buy from a reputable manufacturer you should get a decent warranty as well e.g. Trek do 15 years on a frame...

E@gle.

There is a few different types of carbon fibre there is high modulus carbon and very high moduls carbon etc

I have seen some new carbon fibre bikes recently budget carbon bikes around the €1400 mark from some brands that i cant think of the name of but TBH they look rubbish and they weight more than most Aluminium bikes.

But if your going full carbon i would stick to the well know and exoctic brands, Trek, Cervelo, Giant, Look etc.

ba

its a specialized tarmac expert. was talking to several from the cycling club, thumbs up, good bike.

very true, i will look after it, and all bikes will break/snap/crack, steel/aluminium/carbon you name it. i dont weight much, 75kilo, and dont plan on crashing any time soon.

so thunderbirds are go, i will post photos of my carbon dream machine soon.

thanks

dave2pvd

Cervelo are a well known and highly regarded brand. The frame you are contemplating is stiff, responsive and inevitably strong. It rides a little 'noisy'. In other words, it feels like an aluminium frame.

As far as bike frames go, carbon is still 'new tech'. And it's changing all the time. Full monocoque frames are the lightest, but also the hardest for a manufacturer to get right. Wasn't the OCLV the 1st mono frame? (They had teething problems with the design. I had heard also that there were BB issues).

I've raced 3 seasons on an alu/carbon bike. Great for a best of both worlds kind of frame. Fairly stiff and very responsive, but doesn't chatter too much. But not exactly light construction when you butt/bond carbon and alu together.

Next season will be a Bianchi T-Cube. Not full mono, but very strong and very light: http://www.bianchiusa.com/08_b4p_928_force.html Not at all concerned about longevity. Any frame, whether steel, carbon, ti, alu or bamboo: if properly designed for the application, it will be strong enough.

ba

that is a fantastic looking bike, the bianchi 928 carbon t cube with sram.
from talking to some lads from the myhome.ie team (they ride the spesh tarmac 07 expert) one guy had said the ride was a bit dead, and returned his frame for the S-Works. cha ching, just under 4000eur. unfortunately this is out of my budget range.

dave2pvd

The S-Works is a lovely frame alright.

Keep it all in perspective though: unless you have a lot of spare cash lying around, don't spend too much on a frame (or bike).

My alu/carbon racer is an Ultegra equipped bike I bought as a close-out from http://www.performancebike.com/ It was only $1,000!

The t-cube frame will be bought as part of a team deal. A whole lot cheaper than retail.

Seriously, there are far better things to spend money on than bling. A EUR4,000 bike won't win you more races than a EUR1,500 bike.

dave2pvd

Another thought:

Ireland's road surfaces present something of a unique challenge to a bike. A lot of the surfaces are grade, or chippings, on a bed of bitumen. Not unusual, except for the fact that the chippings are frequently not bedded in (by a roller) adequately. So high frequency 'chatter' is a big issue. It always surprises how noisy Irish B roads are.

An aluminium frame can transmit such noise only too well. I wonder how such vibration affects carbon frames & forks?

Incidentally, I read an interview with one of the Slipstream riders after the Tour of Ireland. He said that after the first day, they all went to 25mm tyres.

ba

yeah, i know what ya mean. i heard of an offer recently - a Spesh S-Works, with full Dure ace, Mavic Ksyrium SL wheelset for just over 2000eur. what a bargain, it was a former team bike in great condition but if i had of crashed it, i couldnt afford to fix that kinda bike.