Carbon bike

[bob heinatz]

Mcteague,
You are right about used carbon. That would be a strong consideration looking at used. Parlee certified used would eliminate that problem.

[Clean39T]

Ruckus Composites in Portland offers an inspection service..

http://www.ruckuscomp.com/inspection

The fact that that exists makes me not interested in something that would need it.

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[weisan]

bob pal, I gotta ask, are you cadence90 reincarnated?

[Hilltopperny]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w5eMMf11uhM
This was a good example of why I chose a new Santa Cruz. They seem to know what they are doing.

I also have no issue with my taking my carbon hardtail through the woods.


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[rst72]

Originally Posted by veloduffer

I think Parlee used to allow someone who bought a used Parlee to send it in (for a fee) for inspection and receive a warranty. Parlee’s customer service is top notch.

yes, but from what i remember it was around $400 if not more.

that's about half of what a used Z5 cost these days.

[bob heinatz]

Cadence 90? Not sure who that is but Mcteague brought up and interesting subject that I had read about used Carbon months ago and had completely forgotten about. Maybe Cadence 45!

[donevwil]

Originally Posted by zennmotion

Hampsten's prices for custom carbon models are on a par with comparable factory bikes. One would have the same challenge of finding something to try out no matter the material anyway, right? Steve would make sure it fit right!

I've eyed the Hampsten for a while, certainly a deal for what you get but still not financially justifiable at this stage of my life. As far as challenges finding a used bike in my size to try, steel was never a problem because a quality custom is, what, 1/4 - 1/3 the price of CF?

I'm now on the lookout for a used XXXL Parlee.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by bob heinatz

Cadence 90? Not sure who that is but Mcteague brought up and interesting subject that I had read about used Carbon months ago and had completely forgotten about. Maybe Cadence 45!

bob pal, I like U a lot...if ever you come to the great state of Texas, specifically Austin, let me know. I will roll out the red carpet and open up the barn to your complete disposal, you can choose to ride any of my bikes.

[bob heinatz]

Weisan thanks it would be fun.

[mtechnica]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

The reason pros ride carbon bikes is because they are paid to do so, if somehow steel made a revival because it was cheaper to manufacture, they would be ridding steel

If any other material had an advantage over carbon fiber, the sponsors would be giving those frames to pros to ride then selling and marketing the crap out of them. There is a reason 99.9% of racing bikes both amateur and professional are carbon and it's not because they are cheapest to manufacture. If you suggested to a professional cyclist that they should ride a steel frame in an important race they would laugh you out the door. I'm not trying to be rude it's just the way I see it and I'm pretty much certain I'm right. The only people I know that don't have carbon racing bikes, have aluminum ones because decent carbon ones are too expensive, so that kind of shoots a hole in your cost argument as well. Obviously a caad costs less to manufacture than an evo, otherwise they wouldn't even make the caad at all. That's not to say every carbon frame is better than any metal frame, but in my experience / observation really good carbon frames are better than the best metal frames.

[SPOKE]

I like bike that have what I call a “Bright” feeling to them. It simply means that the bike gives me a “little something back” during moderate to hard efforts. This feeling in no way means me or the bike is fast but the “brightness” makes me feel that the bike is encouraging me to push a bit harder.
If you think that you want a bike with this character order up an Onesto from Dave Kirk or give Richard Sachs a call.

Now here’s the brutal truth....the best all around riding frame set that has been produced that you can no longer buy new is the Serotta Ottrott ST.....

[VTR1000SP2]

My experience with cycling while still fairly young at 5 years has included early aluminum frames, modern hydroformed aluminum, 90's lugged Columbus SL steel, aero carbon (Cervélo), lightweight carbon (SuperSix Hi-Mod) and some entry level carbon bikes. I've also had an opportunity to test out the Canyon Aeroad, Trek Madone 9.

I'm not a fan of aluminium, they're harsh and I am not a fan of hydroforming an alloy tube to look like carbon. Not all carbon bikes work for me either, some are too "dead" and I like a little feedback like my Cervelo S3. The best riding bike I've ever been on though is my Basso Gap but that was mostly due to the 28h box section wheelset which I figured out after switching to Zonda's.

Earlier this year I built a gravel bike starting with a 2018 Giant TCX frameset to be a road or gravel setup with wheelsets dedicated to each discipline. What I found with the road setup (Stan's Avion Pro Wheelset + 25mm Schwalbe Pro One's inflated to 58psi) was that it was almost as capable during a tempo training session as my Cervelo S3 allowing me to average a pace almost as fast and I set PRs on a few different climbs despite this TCX being 1kg heavier than my S3. The experience reminds me of a cyclingtips podcast from last year where they discussed frame stiffness with Jan Heine, I would suggest looking it up.

Long story short, many factors contribute to feel, comfort, and performance but there isn't one bike that's better than another just the right bike for the right rider. Of all that I've read of the Parlee Z5, this or the Altum is on my shortlist of bikes to try next.

Good luck with your journey.

[rallizes]

A Colnago C40 is great and not expensive

Try one!

[nobuseri]

Not sure I agree with all of this. The sponsors are all about business. Maximizing profit. Carbon bikes seem the way to go in this day and age. They are making a lot of technological advancements, but they are still, relatively, a lot cheaper to produce for the masses. You’d be surprised what these pros ride/buy with their own choices/cash.

All these races are about marketing products. They were all riding alloy before carbon took off, and now that it’s a fraction of the cost to mass produce, it only makes sense to ride that wave.

Just my $0.02

Originally Posted by mtechnica

If any other material had an advantage over carbon fiber, the sponsors would be giving those frames to pros to ride then selling and marketing the crap out of them. There is a reason 99.9% of racing bikes both amateur and professional are carbon and it's not because they are cheapest to manufacture. If you suggested to a professional cyclist that they should ride a steel frame in an important race they would laugh you out the door. I'm not trying to be rude it's just the way I see it and I'm pretty much certain I'm right. The only people I know that don't have carbon racing bikes, have aluminum ones because decent carbon ones are too expensive, so that kind of shoots a hole in your cost argument as well. Obviously a caad costs less to manufacture than an evo, otherwise they wouldn't even make the caad at all. That's not to say every carbon frame is better than any metal frame, but in my experience / observation really good carbon frames are better than the best metal frames.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by nobuseri

You’d be surprised what these pros ride/buy with their own choices/cash.