High end Alu or cheapest Carbon?

matthooper

I currently ride a Trek 1200 and am getting to a level where I want get a better machine.
My budget is around £1000 and its on the border of carbon territory (such as the 2007 Trek 5000).

Question is, would it be better to go for better componentry with aluminium or should I make the break into carbon?

Any advice??? :shock:

Down the Road

Seeing that was a £1700 bike it is not a fair comparison with the budget (poor) carbon bikes out there for £1000.

willbevan

my thought would be (not that im there yet, as only biking recent) is get the carbon (presuming its a good frame) as you can always upgrade the groupset as it wears out

morrisje

I have changed my mind completely recently regarding the best frame material for the money. I've had carbon before and been lead to believe that was the modern material and everything else was past tense. However I recently bought a Kinesis Racelight TK and it's excellent. It doesn't shake out your fillings or make you walk like a cowboy after 40 miles. A perfect ride. If I was looking for a weekend fast riding bike I would now look at the other Kinesis offerings or the Planet X Ultralight. Cheaper than the cheapest carbon but great frames.
I think there is a lot of propaganda about carbon at the moment.

woody-som

personally i would go for the good alu frame, but i actually ride Ti. better than alu or carbon.

homercles

I've got the same budget to spend on my new roadie and am going alu (well, alu main triangle, carbon fork, carbon rear end, so not so alu perhaps!), mainly because I've always believed that getting a mid-high end something is better than getting a low end something which is essentially what I'd feel like I was doing if I went for carbon in this price range.

It's something I've angsted over for a while, especially with the level of good press something like the Planet X SL gets round here (seemingly amazing value, so much so that I always find myself thinking, "How the heck...?") but I'm well aware that at my level of cycling the bike will not be the limitation for a fair while.

Sounds to me like you need to ride an alu bike a couple of rungs up from your current and see how you think it compares - if the difference justifies a new alu in itself, great, if not give carbon a whirl and see how you go.

acorn_user

If you are bothered by weight, get the alu frame. A lot of budget carbon frames really aren't that light..

henderson_mk

1000 notes to burn?
planet-x planet-x planet-x.

1000 squids, full carbon, ultegra. It gets great reviews and I don't think anyone on here has anything bad to say about it.

carlstone

something like the Planet X SL gets round here (seemingly amazing value, so much so that I always find myself thinking, "How the heck...?")

Easy to explain.

With a Trek for example you are paying for their massive advertising costs, plus the dealer (bike shop) mark up, oh and up to a couple of years ago Lances wages . With Planet X you are buying direct from the manufacturer, a manufacturer with very 'Yorkshire' values (I'm sure they won't mind me saying that) i.e. bl00dy good value for money. This really does make that much difference!

A Planet X is one thing in life that is a deal that seems too good to be true but isn't . I love mine and have yet to see anyone who isn't very pleased with their buy.

As was said earlier Planet X Planet X Planet X.

McBain_v1

I've never ridden a carbon fiber frame bike and I don't think I ever will. The last bike I bought was Titanium and I love it (albeit with a Reynolds Pro Ouzo carbon fork). My other bikes are all steel (Reynolds 531c and 631).

Having never ridden an aluminium frame road bike either (my mountain bike is Alu - weighs a ruddy tonne) I can't really comment, but my general feeling would be to go with a metal frame rather than the carbon fiber - probably irrational, but there you go

peejay78

i'd go for a lightweight italian dedaciai tubing steel frame.

perfect bike for everything.

stuartbikeman

£ for £ aluminium frames are stiffer and lighter than carbon , and are not Black !

Columbus altec + as an example

homercles

The alu I'm going for (which we've already established is about 50% carbon!) is black! Planet X fiends will point out to you that it is available in blue or white also.

Stormtrooper

What about a Wilier Evasion Carbon and ally and has all campagnolo accesories just had mine and it was £899
http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/wilier.htm

cunavalos

For what its worth i would go for high end aluminiun frame over the carbon. I bought my first bike 15 months ago, an all carbon orbea onix with centaur 9 speed however 2 months ago i got an all aluminium orbea lobular with ultegra, pricewise both bikes were similar and geometry is identical and cost the same £900 second hand but nearly new. And of the two i prefer the aluminium lobular it is lighter and far more responsive. This is just an opinion and i am for from experienced enough to give an expert view. Hope this helps

pjh

Once you've ridden carbon .... you won't fancy going back to ali IMHO