Well, if you saw me in one of those wicked stretchy, neon-rainbow- colored, advert-festooned synthetic jerseys, you'd be thinking... catastrophic failure!
As for the steel v carbon thing... it's much, much simpler. Forget about catastrophic failure, fatigue, and all that rocket science stuff. It was a beautiful day in my hometown, Concord MA (about 20 miles NW of Boston), yesterday. Fifty-something degrees and sunny. There were a million people out on their bikes. I had just read "The Rant" before I went out on my ride. As I was riding along and checking out everyone's bike, I noticed something... people on carbon bikes are way too serious. They all look like if they could just get to wherever they're going faster than the last time, then life would be good until the next time they rode when they'd have to beat that time. Unless their friend was a little faster. Then they're miserable. And if you put two or more of them together, they need to ride wheel to wheel to maximize draft and get wherever it is they're going faster. They look straight ahead and they're almost never smiling. Only about 1 in 10 will say hello as they pass. The frames are impossibly small, the seats incredibly narrow, the bars are way below the seat, and... well... it reminded me that before I bought my Atlantis, I had a Lemond (steel with a carbon fork) and that was more or less how I rode. It wasn't comfortable. It was all about the cyclocomputer. And riding was more of a competitive event that just plain fun. Now it's just fun and comfortable and I'm happy every time I go out for a ride. I never installed a computer on my Atlantis. I ride as far as I want and as fast as I want. Having a steel bike lets me do that. All those folks on carbon (and I don't mean this critically) don't pay attention to folks on steel. But... if you ride carbon and dress the part, carbon passing carbon is always a competitive event. You can't not be about going faster. You can't relax. You don't notice stuff along the way. The first time I rode my Atlantis on my favorite route after 10 years on a Lemond, I saw 100 things I'd never noticed before along the way. Steel is liberating that way. Frankly, I could care less what people ride. As for carbon being dangerous... it probably is more dangerous. But... it turns out that the most dangerous things in life are the most mundane. It's more dangerous getting in and out of the bathtub or crossing the street. Or these days, driving a Toyota (kidding...). So let them ride carbon and think of the benefits... they pass you fast, they won't interrupt your happiness by saying hello, and they're long gone much more quickly than if they were riding steel. On Mar 7, 10:36 am, cyclotourist <cyclotour...@gmail.com> wrote: > I have a synthetic jersey and it keeps me warm. Everybody I know uses > synthetic jersies. They have never failed, even the zippers! Why is Grant > going on and on about wool and disparaging synthetic jersies. Tom Ritchey > uses synthetic jersies. So does Gary Fisher. They both know a thing or two > about jersies. > > Oh, wrong list, sorry. > > > > On Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 12:19 AM, bfd <bfd...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > On Mar 6, 9:41 am, Tim McNamara <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote: > > > On Mar 6, 2010, at 10:22 AM, bfd wrote: > > > >Grant's pointing out the problems with carbon doesn't strike me as > > desperate, it > > > strikes me as concerned about people's safety. > > > OK, maybe I wasn't clear, I was only talking about carbon FRAMES; not > > carbon forks, carbon seatpost, carbon handlebars or any other carbon > > parts. Maybe I'm not Grant and "connected" or "in" so I don't see or > > hear that much about carbon failing. Maybe I only see my little group > > and nobody has ever had a carbon FRAME failed. Yes, its anecdotal and > > really doesn't prove anything. BUT, then you have Grant making his > > doom and gloom comments about carbon frame failing and unrepairable is > > incorrect. > > > For example, on page 1 of his 2010 bike catalog, he states "Carbon is > > light, for instant mass appeal. It is theoretically strong, but if the > > reality approached the theory, carbon frames and forks would never > > break. And yet, failures are common, sudden failures are the norm, and > > nobody who knows carbon rides old carbon." Really, I'm riding a 13 > > year old Calfee with a kestrel carbon fork (yes, steel steerer tube) > > that I bought USED in 1997 that supposedly had 2500 miles on it. It > > now has over 25K miles on it and interesting, no sudden failure. Craig > > Calfee has riders on his bikes that are 20 years old with over 100k > > miles (100,000 MILES) with no problem. Stating that all carbon bike > > are subject to sudden failures is incorrect. > > > Further in the same catalog on page 16 he compares his roadeo bike to > > a mcrb (modern carbon road bike) and states "The MCRB should be > > retired in four years, and may force your retirement sooner." Really? > > a mcrb should be retired in four years? On what basis? Paranoia? Or > > just another way to discredit carbon because it outsells his bikes 100 > > to 1? > > > If he's only referring to a carbon fork, then he ought to say so and > > be specific. But, generalizing that carbon frames are unrepairable is > > wrong. > > > Note, besides a Calfee, I also have a STEEL cross bike. I enjoy both > > bikes and expect them to last at least another 20 years. Good Luck! > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<rbw-owners-bunch%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > > . > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- > Cheers, > David > Redlands, CA > > "Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There is something > wrong with a society that drives a car to workout in a gym." ~Bill Nye, > scientist guy -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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