On Mon, 2012-07-02 at 14:09 -0600, PATRICK MOORE wrote:
> Garth: So, you are in the relatively small camp who are willing to
> consider that five or six lbs removed might make a bike more pleasant.
> Me, too, but I think I'd opt (given money, time, etc etc) for titanium
> rather than CF simply because ti's durability is a given while at
> least many question the durability of CF. If I knew for certain that
> CF could last a lifetime of normal wear and tear, I'd certainly be
> open to it. I know nothing about it except that some claim it can be
> very strong, others that if feels rather dead. But it would be
> interesting to see monocoque CF used for integrating what are usually
> bolt on pieces -- fenders, storage, lighting, wiring, racks.
>
> (The good news is that y'all's Bombas or Hunqas are probably lighter
> than my Fargo. Now a Ti Fargo would be nice -- I know, they have one,
> but I can't afford it and it would be foolish for me, even if I could,
> to drop the $ just to save what, a couple of lbs?)
>
> Steve: why do you have no interest at all in CF?
I have always liked the way Ti looks, from the first moment I saw the
prototype Merlin MTB tandem they were testing while I was at Amherst at
the Eastern Tandem Rally back in the late 80s. I went up to it and said
"You are beautiful, what are you!"
I bought a Spectrum custom Ti in 1991, which I still ride. It still
looks good. I also have a Ti Santana tandem, this one polished rather
than clear-coated satin finish. They look beautiful, they feel great,
and as evidenced by 21 years of regular use, they stand up to it.
I rode a carbon Trek once. I went to a bike rally in 2000 or 2001 and
Trek was out in force, twisting people's arms to get them to take test
rides. I rode about 1/4 mi on a Postal Service OCLV and thought it felt
like I was riding a plywood bike, totally dead-feeling, not at all
metallic.
I know two people who have had to have CF frames replaced because they
propped their bikes up against trees w/2 full water bottles, and when
the bikes fell over the frames split where the water bottle cage joins
the frame. How many times I've had a steel or Ti bike fall over! Worst
that ever happened was once I had to replace the handle bar.
And then, there's the small matter of what bikes look like. Today's CF
road bikes look to me like children of the Bowen Spacelander. None of
them look like what I think a bike should look like. Some are downright
disgustingly ugly, some just laughable (like that Pinarello that
obviously was left in somebody's car trunk on a 104 degree day). None
are appealing to me. ("Yeah, but you're a cranky old man, set in your
ways!" OK, so?)
Ah, but what of the CF virtues? Look at that low weight, and that aero
slickness! Yeah, but when you weigh 0.1 tons and everybody loves to
draft off of you because of what a huge wind shadow you make, a few
pounds off the frame and a few less grams of frame wind resistance don't
mean diddly.
And besides, the whole question is moot. You simply can't get a CF
equivalent of the sort of bikes I've bought lately. Sure, if you want a
700x23 road racer, take your pick, the marketplace is chock full of
them. But I don't want one.
I already own the Spectrum, although I use 25mm tires with it, and with
a rack on the back and bar end shifters and a 20/32/44 MTB crank it's
pretty far from the road racers people are making today; and if for some
reason that bike went away I would not replace it.
My two most recent bikes are both randonneurs, one 700x32, one 650Bx42.
Both are low trail, both use a large size Berthoud handlebar bag.
Both have fittings for 3 water bottle cages, both have fenders. Not
Rivs, perhaps, but anyone here looking at them would undoubtedly say
they are both "all Rivved out." You aren't going to find anything like
that in carbon.
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