Carbon bits?

allthegearnoidea

Have been looking at all sorts fo carbon trickery for the bike lately and got me thinking, are the carbon parts like seat posts that much lighter than the titec x-lite series for instance and the same for the bars, are they really that much lighter than the allinium xc bars??
Also, what about carbon tuning your rear mech?? would fitting a carbon inner and outer section and carbon jockey wheels make all that much difference??
i understand that if your into serious racing etc and every gram counts but for the general all weather xc'er is it going to make a lot of difference apart from the visual impact??

i was browsing ebay.com last night nosing at bits as couldnt sleep, and noticed the americans are even more mad for carbon bits that over here! (i was secretly hoping to find a cheap set of r/s SId shocks that for some reason everyone else hadnt seen!! - you know the idea!) which is what got me thinking about it! is it really worth the extra exp[ence over the lightweight alliminium versions apart from eye candy???

gotta_hurt

I find that all that stuff is just bling for the bike! But it looks so nice...eye candy, but you find that with anodised alloy, still light...looks good, half the price!
Also won't break as easy as carbon!


http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1695431/

Anonymous

alrite ive got carbon goodies on mine race face post / bars stem washers . yes there are bling and light had no problem's with them it's just the cost factor. but carbon in general is costly every where due to the number of company's producing them ie planes etc

Blundell

I have to admit that my CF bars on my klein are well gud, they weigh a little more than the super light aluminium bars. But they do have excellent vibration dampening properties.

The Big Cheese

Everytime I see your Klein I want to weep tears of joy!

Damn Trek for not continuing them in the UK - AWESOME

... err what was the original thread about? Hold on... CARBON..

seriously I only have it on one bike for 'bling' purposes and although I agree it has good vibration damping qualities - alloy bars are half the price and I do trust them more TBH...

Saying that I just bought some Easton DH Carbon bars for my WildCard....

strodey

Will getting a carbon seatpost give a noticable difference to soften the ride of an alluminium hardtail frame? keep hearing it does but unsure!

(sorry to hijack thread but while your on the subject :oops: )

The Big Cheese

I must agree that it's less harsh than an allu seatpost - it seems to absorb more of the bumps without transferring it to your arse!

allthegearnoidea

this is it you see, for bling purposes you simply cant beet anything carbon, but its more to the point that is the weight saving worthwhile for the price difference if any saving at all!
would be nice to have a carbon post, stem and bars but having a carbon frame may be a bit too much carbon if there is such a thing!??!

strodey, no worries matey! anything that helps remove the feeling that the saddles coming up through your bum has to be good! i came from a full susser to the carbon frame, the first couple of rides were quite a shock!

The Big Cheese

he he

Not if you're Andrew156...

He IS CarbonBoy!

Blundell

Cheers Cheesey dude... I haven't been out on the old beast very often lately... too mad on my scott at the mo.
Didn't you get a klein frame or something? They must be like gold dust now since Trek did a most excellent hachet job on 'em... bar-stewards!

Right sorry.. back to CF

My personal view is that on my Al bike it has made a difference both on the handle bars and the seat post (both 31.?mm). They tend to iron out the constant small 'buzz' bumps. As far as weight goes, for handle bars there is little in it actually, stems, Al is actually lighter.. although the CF ritchey WCS looks absolutely savage! Seat posts, CF with decent seat + good shorts I recon are the way forward.
But then again on top of all of that you have the 'compliance' of your frameand the actual diameter of the handle bars or seatpost. Don't they say that 27mm stuff is more flexy or springy than 31mm stuff?

allthegearnoidea

was a bit bored this afternoon after i had put littlun down for her afternoon nap and pulled out my sattle and post to weigh it, came ibn at 500g which i dont think is too half bad! (aloy post and saddle rails etc) my bigest issue on the bike is the marzocchi mx comp's as they are a bit heavy (4lb2. iirc??) but they are super smooth so am reluctant to change them unless i can find some bargain sid's to reduce the front end weight, but adding more carbon to it i thinnk will be eye candy which is always nice more than anything, i dont think i woudl be able to notice the difference of say 70grams here and there but know i would notice the £50-75! although removeing weight is always good and add up all t he little bits etc!

What to do lol!!

teacherman

Totally off topic but i keep reading your name as allthegonorrhoea!

Sorry.

gotta_hurt

teacherman wrote:

Totally off topic but i keep reading your name as allthegonorrhoea!

Sorry.

So is thats why it's "burning" a hole in his pocket

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1695431/

allthegearnoidea

hahah! thats class!
trouble is though, when ever you see something like that, you can never not think it when you look at it!! or think it!
i Stupidly called My Bro's New lady friend Kebab (not to her face or bro's! just to the wife!) because she's called Donna! Yes its Very childish and stupid, but you know how it goes, now every time i hear her name i Cant not think of Damn Kebab's! hahahh!

tmg

I've only changed to carbon on seat post and bars and soon frame, wouldn't consider putting carbon anywhere else. If it's weight your trying to save then the heaviest bits tend to be frame wheels and forks, spend your cash on those first

Drivetrain I'd go new XTR, has the bling factor, is light and will last longer than carbon alternative

allthegearnoidea

i already have a carbon frame (4lb bare weight) , so not looking at that as such, and i dont have the money for the xtr kit!! although i have full xt so not too bad,
i think the best bet for me to save weight would be forks, but i really have to look at wether i need to loose the extra weight or not as i really doubt it will aid my riding that much (again refer to name hahah!!), trouble is though you could happily spend £500+ and only save a couple of lb's!
i think really my quest for carbon everything is faulted and only purely for eyecandy reasons!

tmg

What frame you got?

Am looking at getting S-Works Epic Frame, although heard lots of good things about the Giant Anthem, although at £2,200 it's a tad pricey

allthegearnoidea

to be honest i dont know what the frame is but! on some research and many days spent looking at bike frames on the net etci can say its a naked carbon version of the Bianchi grizzly/supergrizzly, (according to cable guides, rear drop outs etc! )and also a couple of people i have chatted to and that have seen the frame instantly said bianchi but the only marking on the frame says 'Carborn' which is on the down tube under the carbon top coat (gelcoat or epoxy layer),
has made such a difference to my riding though! a fast responsive hard tail from a full susser!

tmg

Ahhhh am thinking of going the other way, from HT to full susser, recently moved to the Peaks and HT is just a tad to harsh on my back end up here

allthegearnoidea

i cant say what a carbon full susser will be like but i know coming from my old one (frame weighed 6.5lb) to the carbon hard tail made so much difference! has given me a lot more confidence in my riding and doesnt feel half so wallowy when turning, and also alot better when cranking as all your effort goes through the crank rather than being soaked up by the frame if that makes any sence??
But i will say that the full susser was a lot more comfortable on the slightly uneven hardpack trails! didnt feel like the saddle was trying to be forced up my bum every bump hahahh!

i think what i would ideally love would be to have the carbon hardtail upgraded a little more and then build the full susser back up as a spare using the surplus from the HT. although that may take some time!!
be nice to have a spare decent bike that freinds could use when they are down!

anyways, been browsing XTR on ebay today! always dangerous! should be saving some money for my car tax but oh so tempted!!

tmg

will be ordering the frame march time for the better weather

have XTR on my current whip, altho it's not the latest version so I just know when I get the new frame I'll start looking at the new stuff and will prob buy at some point

have to say tho that it's def worth the buy if you want to be able to keep calling yourself by your nickname!!

allthegearnoidea

hahahha! to be honest my normal choice of names were taken and its what i started with on the old mbuk forum! I'd like to think i have come a long way from my first cycling times whenm i was a bit of a case of my name up there hahah!
i really would have loved to have got xtr when i built thje last bike up in '03 but coulndt afford it really so went for XT as my lbs were doing Silly deals on it at the time!!
the XTR on ebay isnt all the latest but the previous to that i think but will do me what i want until no doubt they bring out a newer lighter version!

Discopooh

I've put a few carbon bits on in the save abit of weight factor, but it also looks very trick. while I've found that some of the carbon stuff is not that much lighter than alloy stuff so it's not worth bothering other than for the bling. I cannot say that I've noticed any flex at all in my cf bars or seat post(27.2mm)

My mates fitted a carbon velo seat because it just looks soooo good but he may had well fitted a razor blade for the comfort it offers.



I went for the very heavy Non carbon seat (140g)that you can infact sit on.lol

cjw

Discopooh wrote:

I've put a few carbon bits on in the save abit of weight factor, but it also looks very trick. while I've found that some of the carbon stuff is not that much lighter than alloy stuff so it's not worth bothering other than for the bling. I cannot say that I've noticed any flex at all in my cf bars or seat post(27.2mm)

My mates fitted a carbon velo seat because it just looks soooo good but he may had well fitted a razor blade for the comfort it offers.



I went for the very heavy Non carbon seat (140g)that you can infact sit on.lol

Spider man, spider man does everything a spider can... looks a little harshe for my arse

cjw

actually ... thinking about it .... what's the weight.....

ride_whenever

looks really comfy, as long as the strands are flexible enough not to be brutal, but not so stretch that they all just bunch and try and be a g-string...

allthegearnoidea

i would worry that i would break the saddle by sitting on the damn thing!!
mind you i suppose its much like the old racing ones where your but just goes permanantly numb in the saddle area so you dont know if its comfortable otr not!!

purely out of interest but how little does that thing weigh?? 50g??

ride_whenever

I'm sorry, the only way forward is poshbikes

carbon fibre chainrings...

And the carbon bolts

and the saddle/post combo

and the titanium carbonitride cassette

and the clavicula cranks...

Most of the weight savings come from your wallet though

Andy

Cheesey wrote:

he he

Not if you're Andrew156...

He IS CarbonBoy!

:oops:

Discopooh

allthegearnoidea wrote:

purely out of interest but how little does that thing weigh?? 50g??

The velo is 124g but if you want carbon lite then go for an AX - Phoenix Saddle - 48g, it's a road saddle but i've seen loads of road seats on XC bikes



oh....and its £285!