Youngest just-started-running carbon bikes?

[Toddykins]

Originally Posted by redir

At some point though it will be like owning an aeroplane where you need to have constant maintenance and a crew of mechanics just to keep the thing going. Electronics, hydraulics, computer systems Oh my!

People say this and I don’t dispute that some of the equipment has become more difficult to work on (namely hydraulic brakes). However, my etap/di2 hydro equipped bikes require far less ongoing maintenance than any of my previous campy, sram, shimano mech bikes. I am not doing a solo crossing of the sahara so i am not concerned with being able to repair a broken canle with some strands of hair. Modern bikes in many respects are so much MORE user friendly.

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by Toddykins

People say this and I don’t dispute that some of the equipment has become more difficult to work on (namely hydraulic brakes). However, my etap/di2 hydro equipped bikes require far less ongoing maintenance than any of my previous campy, sram, shimano mech bikes. I am not doing a solo crossing of the sahara so i am not concerned with being able to repair a broken canle with some strands of hair. Modern bikes in many respects are so much MORE user friendly.

I’ll second this sentiment! For me, DI2 and ETap 11 has been set and forget.

[redir]

Originally Posted by Toddykins

People say this and I don’t dispute that some of the equipment has become more difficult to work on (namely hydraulic brakes). However, my etap/di2 hydro equipped bikes require far less ongoing maintenance than any of my previous campy, sram, shimano mech bikes. I am not doing a solo crossing of the sahara so i am not concerned with being able to repair a broken canle with some strands of hair. Modern bikes in many respects are so much MORE user friendly.

Yeah in all fairness to my off the cuff jokes, I remember 'starting out' on mechanical disk because I was not sure of Hydro and of course they worked just fine. But then when I got Hydro I don't think I had to fuss with my brakes for about 5 years outside of replacing the pads. I'm talking MTB here.

But still when mechanical fixes are now necessary I would rather just pay a tech to do it when in 'the old days' I found it real easy to do myself.

[Tim Porter]

After many, many years (over 50!) of riding and acquiring boutique-y bikes like my Kirks, Sachs, Waterford, Serottas, Hampstens, et al., 2 years ago I decided to indulge my curiosity about a current pro-level bike. I'm fully familiar with the traditional bike and its modern variants at this point and ride them practically every day, BUT this Colnago V3RS is absolutely stellar. Handling, climbing, descending, comfort are all eye-openers and all I can say to the "get off my lawn" nay-sayers is you don't really know squat until you've ridden one down a mountain or two at your favorite place. Here's mine in Spain a few days after I took delivery and packed it up for the trip:

[Nick12]

Originally Posted by Tim Porter

After many, many years (over 50!) of riding and acquiring boutique-y bikes like my Kirks, Sachs, Waterford, Serottas, Hampstens, et al., 2 years ago I decided to indulge my curiosity about a current pro-level bike. I'm fully familiar with the traditional bike and its modern variants at this point and ride them practically every day, BUT this Colnago V3RS is absolutely stellar. Handling, climbing, descending, comfort are all eye-openers and all I can say to the "get off my lawn" nay-sayers is you don't really know squat until you've ridden one down a mountain or two at your favorite place. Here's mine in Spain a few days after I took delivery and packed it up for the trip:

Stunning

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by Tim Porter

After many, many years (over 50!) of riding and acquiring boutique-y bikes like my Kirks, Sachs, Waterford, Serottas, Hampstens, et al., 2 years ago I decided to indulge my curiosity about a current pro-level bike. I'm fully familiar with the traditional bike and its modern variants at this point and ride them practically every day, BUT this Colnago V3RS is absolutely stellar. Handling, climbing, descending, comfort are all eye-openers and all I can say to the "get off my lawn" nay-sayers is you don't really know squat until you've ridden one down a mountain or two at your favorite place. Here's mine in Spain a few days after I took delivery and packed it up for the trip:

That’s gorgeous. I’m a sucker for white bikes..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[thermalattorney]

My fancy road bike is steel, but like Andy sti my current-gen carbon hotness is on the MTB side from Transition:



I'd love to ride a carbon wunderbike like that Canyon. With MTBs, carbon's benefits are masked behind tires and suspension. On the road there's nowhere to hide.

[Matthew]

New to me today!! Previous owner rode it twice. My first 29er finally. Can't wait to hit the dirt on this. Just need to trim the steerer after a couple rides and determine my fit.

[NHAero]

To me, just like metal bikes, some of the carbon wunderbikes look great, others less so. Dan's Canyon is a lovely bike to my eye.

Originally Posted by Kingson

wow, i thought i was the only one.
to my eye, the modern-day, production carbon fiber road bicycle is just about the most idiotic looking thing imaginable. i think design teams really had to work overtime.

lack of external cabling (at the very least, running from the handle bars to the ports in the top/down tubes), dropped seat stays and seatpost/binder mechanisms, head tube/stem junction area that accommodates the internal routing, and the lack of any creativity in paint schemes are big culprits