If you bought a Carbone frame ?

[Smiley]

would you feel compelled to build it light or super light ? Owning a carbone frame means building a light frame to hold up its ride features or what ? Does it make sense to buy any high zoot carbon frame and then pay no attention to what you hang on it , then why not buy a different frame material . Just asking a question to all Carbone frame owners out there . If I buy a Meivei I have to budget for light stuff .

[ergott]

There are no rules. Build it the way you see fit and forget what anybody tells you. If you have Meivici money than you can out whatever you want on it.

[dirtdigger88]

i think I would go light and lots of carbon- I am not a big fan of carbon bikes- but if you are going to do it you may as well go all the way

Jason

[jeffg]

I went for a decent build on my Parlee, but not "stupid light" as the mechanic put it. Chorus, Eurus wheels, Ritchey WCS (shallow) bar and stem, Thomson post, etc. It's about 16.5 with pedals (56cm) whereas my Legend is about 17 with 9 speed DA and Ksyriums.

Honestly, the reason for the carbon was the great feel when climbing out of the saddle, and the touch of the bros Hampsten on geometry (It handles almost as well as the Legend ;) ). Maybe Chorus is heavier than DA, but the 29 cog has come in handy! Also, I have seen too many folks break parts and sag in on DCs, Gran fondos, etc. This bike can handle the descent off the back side of Geysers (almost cycloscross for a bit), gravel tracks in the Black Forest, whatever.

If I was building something for an uphill TT, it would look a lot different than what I bought my bikes for (all events involve 6.5-15+ hours in the saddle).

[Too Tall]

Different riders and intent are key. Very light bikes and equipment don't feel right for me. Maybe it is my height or overall weight that influences this. My instinct says go with a standard DA / Record build and can't do no better (for me)...oops AND an awesome set of tubular wheels natch ;)

[Bill Bove]

i have decided to buy a Meivici next spring/summer. It will be Record, with the carbon crank and the new carbon brake calipers, the only part that i'm still shoppin on are the bars/stem. I like the ITM Millinium but I don't like the OS ones and that's the only way to get them in carbon now, maybe by then there will be more choices around, Bruce K said that the Meivici at The Sunflower ride had a Reynolds carbon bar

[JohnS]

i have decided to buy a Meivici next spring/summer. It will be Record, with the carbon crank and the new carbon brake calipers, the only part that i'm still shoppin on are the bars/stem. I like the ITM Millinium but I don't like the OS ones and that's the only way to get them in carbon now, maybe by then there will be more choices around, Bruce K said that the Meivici at The Sunflower ride had a Reynolds carbon bar
The FIRST forumite to bite!!!!!! :banana:

[Jeff N.]

I'm NOT a big Campy fan. I feel DA-7800 is superior. But if I were buying a carbon bike like a Meivici, I'd go all Record on it. It's just more in keeping with the whole Carbone thing.
I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on a Holland Exogrid road frame.To see one is to want one. 6 month wait. That'll gimme time to play some Texas Hold'em and pool the winnings toward the frame($4400.00). I can go carbon(Reynolds) seat stay or Ti. Which do you-all think, based on the Ottrott ST or whatever? Jeff N.

[zap]

My carbon Monoblade is the heaviest bike I have by a big margin at 20.5lbs.

I decided to keep it as French as possible with Mavic ZAP bits and Carbone wheels.

But its the fastest darn bike on the flats and rolling terrain. Since the frame was originally designed as a track bike, it's super stiff. Too stiff for some roads.

Eleven years old now and still far to modern.

i don't care what material the frame is made of. Always pay attention to what you hang on the frame as well as the finishing details.

Who's going to be the first to put Ultegra on MeiVici!

By the way, I've seen some new Shimano DA parts that use carbon :banana:

[Climb01742]

with nothing stupid light on it and with clinchers and DA10, my vxrs is 15.5. same with hampsten/parlee Z1 and it's about 16 pounds. both bikes have, so far, easily handles daily training over crappy new england roads. easton EC90 equippe pro bars are carbon but sturdy. with a little effort, building a special purpose frame in the 13-14 pound neighborhood wouldn't be hard. i've heard of a 780 gram alu frame...now that's an interesting place to start. :rolleyes:

[Tmogul]

Jeff N,

Bill told me there was no performance benefit from the carbon stays plus its an upcharge. I personally don't like the look of reynold's stays on ti bikes. I guess if you had more carbon tubes in the frame like the ottrott or isogrid then it would blend nicely. I always felt the vortex looked better than the ultimate with those carbon stays. However you're a tall guy and they would definitely look better on a nice big frame. IMHO

Smiley et al,

Just slap one of these component packages onto any sub kilogram frame and voila....you've got a serious weight weenie bike. (clic on pic for parts list)

http://www.fairwheelbikes.com/gallery.html

[Jeff N.]

Jeff N,

Bill told me there was no performance benefit from the carbon stays plus its an upcharge. I personally don't like the look of reynold's stays on ti bikes. I guess if you had more carbon tubes in the frame like the ottrott or isogrid then it would blend nicely. I always felt the vortex looked better than the ultimate with those carbon stays. However you're a tall guy and they would definitely look better on a nice big frame. IMHO

Smiley et al,

Just slap one of these component packages onto any sub kilogram frame and voila....you've got a serious weight weenie bike. (clic on pic for parts list)

http://www.fairwheelbikes.com/gallery.htmlTmogul: Yes, Bill told me the same thing....no performance benefit between Ti or carbon stays. Its just that the carbon stay would be something a little different from what I already ride. I dunno...just on the fence post, but I'll probably go with Ti stays. Jeff N.

[Saxon]

I don't like the feel of a super light bike under me for some reason. I bought a Tetra Pro and put standard DA stuff on in. Race-x-lite wheels. I went for good quality components on the light side, but I didn't have to have the lightest stuff on the planet. I bought my carbon bike because of the feel of the CF ride. In my experience, carbon bikes climb and sprint with very similar feels regardless of weight (within reason).

[fiamme red]

I have a friend who uses a Brooks Pro saddle on a Calfee Dragonfly. Comfort is more important than weight.

[The Spider]

Bill,

Does the bar have to be 25.8mm? The Easton equipe EC90 that Climb likes is pretty good...hopefuly the 06 model will have CNT technology. Available in normal and OS.

With a carbon frame based bike, when you add DA or record...it's going to be light! no matter what comes next...

What's left - your contact points...and weight should never be an issue for these (pedals, seats and bars) because comfort is king.

Then throw on some wheels and see what you think...and then 'tune' the bike with a wheel purcahse/wheel swap/wheel build.

I still don't understand the point of carbon cranks however...

[cs124]

... i've heard of a 780 gram alu frame...now that's an interesting place to start. :rolleyes:

have you heard back from our mate yet?

[Climb01742]

no, radio silence. i read that he's merging his business with another builder down your way, so maybe he's wrapped up in that. but no reply yet. but here's another interesting option:

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8193&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=2a99489ce8aa8b4841807dba37d47883

[cs124]

no, radio silence. i read that he's merging his business with another builder down your way, so maybe he's wrapped up in that. but no reply yet. but here's another interesting option:

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8193&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=2a99489ce8aa8b4841807dba37d47883


hmmm, interesting... I saw some of the other mobs bikes up close late last year and they looked pretty good, just haven't seen any out on the road yet. I hope the two of them make a good show of this merger...might be time to support some homegrown product again...that crumpton is cool