Carbon Worth It??

NWLondoner

Well, I am going to stick with my existing Hybrid bike for now but once I get more miles under my belt I will upgrade towards the middle/later part of this year.

I have been blown away by the Focus Carbon Frame bikes for under £1000.

Are these really too good to be true or the dog's b******s?

What are your experiences of all carbon frames?

redddraggon

Aye the Focus bikes are good. Normally the negatives are heard louder than the positives - I haven't heard a single negative but plenty of positives.

feel

NWLondoner wrote:

Carbon Frame bikes for under £1000.

Are these really too good to be true or the dog's b******s?

What are your experiences of all carbon frames?

don't have a carbon frame myself, but have read of various cases of crushed seat posts/steerers through over tightening, or occasional seatposts slipping (hence the overtightening i suspect) and also problems with the varnish/lacquer peeling. Carbon is not as strong as other materials in the case of impacts. However whether the numbers of these incidents is significant or not i wouldn't know.

sloxam

having owned 2 alu and 2 carbon bikes i can say they both have pros and cons.
carbon is super forgiving on road chatter, light, stiff but responsive i love the way it rides. however, as has been said you can overtighten bits and crush them, just buy a torque wrench and that problems solved. i am particulary careful with my carbon bike when putting in the workstand and moving it round the garage, probably too careful. they make formula 1 cars out of the stuff so its strong, but when it fails its gone, crash and you may need a new frame.
alu is more robust but heavier and not as comfy over long rides. lots of people talk about Ti or steel frames on the forums too. do a search or, if you can, have some test rides on the different frames and decide yourself.

meagain

I've been "away" from this Forum since demise of C+, so how nice to see that some questions/answers/debates go on and on and on...As do the stereotypes (myths?) attached to various frame materials.

I've owned all carbon (TCR, lovely!), all Ti, part Ti, alu, steel (gas pipe to 853). And I remain of the view that other than for an all out RACE bike (where carbon wins simply on weight/comfort trade-off), design the important bit, not what it's made of (with the exception of real old and dirt cheap steel pipes). Geometry. Sizing. FIT. All the boring bits that cannot be advertised to ones peers by a sticker!

Oh and the WHEELS!