t.d.f.'s gone all carbon

[Fixed]

bro got the new cycle sport list the teams bikes it looks to me like everyone is on carbon .. is alum goin the way of steel out the door? just wanted to see what the bros thought .
cheers

[GoJavs]

Fixed - I've got that issue to me right here and I've got my bikes to my left. Without a single piece of carbon on my entire collection I'm beginning to feel like I'm out of this planet!

A lot of pretty (and pricey) bikes in there.

[bostondrunk]

bro got the new cycle sport list the teams bikes it looks to me like everyone is on carbon .. is alum goin the way of steel out the door? just wanted to see what the bros thought .
cheers

i dunno bro, I'm just a dumb bike rider, so no one listens to me imho bro. just enjoy the sport, cheers bro.

[Climb01742]

some of the lick-e-gas boys are fer sure on all alu celeste rigs...alu seatstays too. and i'd bet others are too, whether made by the name on the downtube or not. alu ain't dead as a race frame.

[cydewaze]

Betcha if these guys got to ride what they wanted to ride as opposed to what they were given to ride, the peloton would look a LOT different.

[znfdl]

I agree. Was talking to a person on my commute home on Thursday and he told me how he trashed his carbon frame. The frame was trashed because his chain went past his twelve cog and got wedged between the cassette and the frame. Took a chunk out of his drop out and good bye frame. I think that I will stay with my Ti or steel frames.

[Sandy]

Don't you think it is time to dump those Spectrum ti (or steel) creations that you ride and go with the flow and buy all carbon?? :rolleyes:


:) Sandy :)

[zank]

some of the lick-e-gas boys are fer sure on all alu celeste rigs...alu seatstays too. and i'd bet others are too, whether made by the name on the downtube or not. alu ain't dead as a race frame.

Climb-o, I know of one particularly tall Liquigas rider who will be on a "unique" carbon TT bike next week. Don't ask me how I know or what the bike is. But I am sure you will be able to ID it the moment you see it.

[Endless Goods]

Betcha if these guys got to ride what they wanted to ride as opposed to what they were given to ride, the peloton would look a LOT different.

Amen brother, Amen...that seemed to be what Marcel Wust was saying in his 8/05 Procycling review of the Ottrott...

[mike p]

I think I've seen the Lotto crew on their scandium model as much as the carbon bikes this year.

Mike

[Endless Goods]

I think I've seen the Lotto crew on their scandium model as much as the carbon bikes this year.

The guys on the weenie board over in Europe who are in the know are have posted several times how the Ridley carbon frames are of highly suspect quality...in fact a Unibet rider recently crashed hard when his Excalibur broke...

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17899&highlight=ridley+excalibur

The Noah has apparently been sent back to the drawing board...it was clear this spring there wasn't much confidence by the riders in the carbon frames.

Not to slam Ridley though- I'd ride their alu frames in a heartbeart- the gemoetry is sweet. :bike:

[swoop]

The guys on the weenie board over in Europe who are in the know are have posted several times how the Ridley carbon frames are of highly suspect quality...in fact a Unibet rider recently crashed hard when his Excalibur broke...

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17899&highlight=ridley+excalibur

The Noah has apparently been sent back to the drawing board...it was clear this spring there wasn't much confidence by the riders in the carbon frames.

Not to slam Ridley though- I'd ride their alu frames in a heartbeart- the gemoetry is sweet. :bike:

actually ridley is doing great and the noah isn't being redesigned.. it doesn't need it. i just saw the exact noah lotto will be riding on. they aren't having any problems... this is not true. the noah with the lotto paint job is amazing. the frame looks very well made.. a lot of folks have been racing them out here with no probs. in fact look fior ridley to go after sponsoring college teams next year.

[swoop]

look for some aluminum bianchis...

[Big Dan]

More tasty Kool Aid for you bro...............mp.. :beer:

[Endless Goods]

actually ridley is doing great and the noah isn't being redesigned.. it doesn't need it.

Technically, you are correct- I did some more reading and apparently they stopped distribution for a short while to sort out the seat collar/attachment above the fixed post.

They do look badazz in the lotto colors...although I'm not a huge fan of the integrated post...

FWIW, Ridley's response to customer problems has been fast and efficient it seems- most of the problems turned up in first gen Excaliburs apparently.

They know how to make a bike- problems arise when they're made 12,000 miles away!

[catulle]

As always, please excuse my ignorance, but I must ask: Why aren't titanium frames popular with the pro set, atmo?

[swoop]

titanium is expensive and difficult to work with... pro teams require a grip of frames. aluminum does everything titanium does for pro purposes these days but does it lighter and stiffer. most companies top of the line frames are carbon.. ergo sponsored teams ride carbon.

bianchi sponsored teams can choose bikes from any number of materials. Di Luca is a big fan of an all aluminum bike and lastly.. to make a ti bike comperably stiff to ti and carbon... common perception is that you end up wit a heavier frame.

... story time.

3 years ago on thanksgiving i was on a long ride with a few guys from holland. one of them was rabobanks' karsten kroon.. he had his c-40. at the time i was on a merlin.. and he was mesmorized by it. the scarcity of ti bikes in europe makes it seem to some folk to be uber exotic. he just kept staring at my bike and asking questions.

part of what's up is that americans fell in love with ti. i have to say that 3/4's of the guys i ride with hate it... i don't even think they know why. i love ti. my ti seven feels to me exactly like a time ulteam vxrs... but with custom geometry.i've ridden them both back to back and i stand by that experience. that being said.. i wish my ti bike was stiffer in the drivetrain. minutely stiffer.
i let them talk me out of the stiffness that i wanted. next time...

but the bike is amazing and spectacular and it only weighs 14.9 with carbon tubulars.



atmo

[mike p]

As always, please excuse my ignorance, but I must ask: Why aren't titanium frames popular with the pro set, atmo?


Not as stiff or lite as Al. or carbon. I know thats a very broad generalization but half true. If you make ti stiff it won't be very lite and visa versa.

Mike

[znfdl]

Don't you think it is time to dump those Spectrum ti (or steel) creations that you ride and go with the flow and buy all carbon?? :rolleyes: :) Sandy :)

Only if you buy me one :D

[catulle]

3 years ago on thanksgiving i was on a long ride with a few guys from holland. one of them was rabobanks' karsten kroon.. he had his c-40. at the time i was on a merlin.. atmo

You're way too cool...! Holland, Rabobank...?! You're the best, atmo.


GO ORANGE...!!!

[obtuse]

catulle-
titanium is too expenisve to make a proper race bike out of....it ends up being either too heavy or too flexy. that being said; when the regular tubing manufacturer's won't make pipes long enough; you'll see some titanium in custom applications; eg magnus backstedt's classics frames; which didn't break but he hated them.

obtuse

[obtuse]

Technically, you are correct- I did some more reading and apparently they stopped distribution for a short while to sort out the seat collar/attachment above the fixed post.

They do look badazz in the lotto colors...although I'm not a huge fan of the integrated post...

FWIW, Ridley's response to customer problems has been fast and efficient it seems- most of the problems turned up in first gen Excaliburs apparently.

They know how to make a bike- problems arise when they're made 12,000 miles away!


ridleys are great bikes. the excalibur is a race bike that does everything better than almost anything....it's light, it handles right and it rides great....the damocles isn't quite as snappy but a bit smoother even if it is a tad heavier....the noah is just pimp.

let's face it; they're a young company able to compete with the treks and specializeds of the worlds on price; yet the bikes have the finish work of the finest italian super frames....plus they're real race bikes.

ridleys are very nice bikes. are they meivicis? no; but no one has ever lost a race becuse he was on one and i've seen them win head to head comparisons by discerning riders against some of the best frames in the world.

granted; an obtuse ottrott would be nice; but my ridley scandium is fine and that's the highest compliment i can pay to a race bike.

obtuse

Disclaimer: poster is a representative of Ridley

[aach]

my son is on the Priority Health u23 development sguad in Michigan,last week at the Ohio state championships he was in a pretty bad crash,toasted the derailuer hanger. On Monday he calls Sinclair imports the distributer for Ridley, Tuesday afternoon he has a new one on the bike.excellent customer service.

[Fat Robert]

but my ridley scandium is fine and that's the highest compliment i can pay to a race bike.

obtuse

my ridley aeron is better. it has moronic, obtuse red things in the fork and stays that do nothing other than garner the attention of sycophants. its got more deda and ridley advertising on it than any other frame. its got two MP vittoria stickers on the chainstays after I changed tires wednesday. its a girls bike. its down to 10mm of spacer under the stem. it has a turbo saddle on the middle of the rails, which qualifies me for honorary belgian status. its as frucked up as its owner. its awesome.

my new bike will be better. more about that later.

anyway, what's in the magazine isn't always what these guys ride. what's in the magazine is what the bike sponsor wants to promote. anybody notice that in the pics from flanders and roubaix he looks to be on a regal in those pic where he's hammering up the mur du grammont and going through the rail crossing (look at the rivets on the back of the saddle, yo), but all the bike pics in ads have a nice new, retail available selle italia on his time?

[Brian Smith]

As always, please excuse my ignorance, but I must ask: Why aren't titanium frames popular with the pro set, atmo?

Because they aren't so often made by the companies who can come up with the money for sponsorship deals, though having them made in titanium by yet another company would add only a pittance more money in comparison to what they do already pay...