What price for carbon?

wilwil
wilwil Posts: 374
edited October 2008 in Workshop
Take 2 FSA OS-150 stems, identical except for the face plate. One has a carbon faceplate the other forged aluminium. The carbon one costs £50.00 the alu one costs £25.00. The carbon one they say is 5 grams lighter.

Would you buy the carbon one?

Comments

  • Slow Downcp
    Slow Downcp Posts: 3,041
    No
    Carlsberg don't make cycle clothing, but if they did it would probably still not be as good as Assos
  • Lagavulin
    Lagavulin Posts: 1,688
    No.
    2010 Cannondale CAAD 9
    2008 Wilier Izoard
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    you could save 5 grams by blowing your nose before you set off!
  • idaviesmoore
    idaviesmoore Posts: 557
    Have a good sh1t before your ride. Save your 25 quid for other useless cr4p :wink:
    'How can an opinion be bullsh1t?' High Fidelity
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,788
    I wouldn't pay it either, but people always use the 'have a good sh1t before riding' analogy, like people on heavy bikes have the pleasure of keepeing their sh1t in! Personally I have a light bike+ a good clear out before riding. Double the benefit.
    http://cyclinganddesign.blogspot.fr/
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    I'm a fan of carbon except for bars and stem - alloys bars/stems are a lot cheaper ( I swap about a lot), and subconsciously I feel alloy bars/stems are safer, even though I know composite bars and stems normally only fail because of a poor mechanic.
    I like bikes...

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  • pliptrot
    pliptrot Posts: 582
    You have discovered the magic of bicycle marketing. I wonder what the true cost of a frame on sale for several thousand - and made in the Far East - is? Quite probably sufficiently low to insulate the company from worries about financial market problems. Put carbon in it and it's a surefire way to rack up the profit margin. Why else would carbon turn up where it's a bad idea to use it?
  • Gav2000
    Gav2000 Posts: 408
    I reasoned that the same applied to groupsets such as Campagnolo Centaur with the carbon levers and chainset. It added over £100 (30%) to the cost of the groupset but I didn't think it'd make much of a weight saving. I had a frugle moment and bought the alloy version.

    Gav.
    Gav2000

    Like a streak of lightnin' flashin' cross the sky,
    Like the swiftest arrow whizzin' from a bow,
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  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Carbon has its place. Bars and stems, cages and chainsets no.
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    Gav2000 wrote:
    I reasoned that the same applied to groupsets such as Campagnolo Centaur with the carbon levers and chainset. It added over £100 (30%) to the cost of the groupset but I didn't think it'd make much of a weight saving. I had a frugle moment and bought the alloy version.

    Gav.

    In 2008 the lowest priced carbon Centaur groupset was lower priced that the cheapest Alu group I could find.
    I like bikes...

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  • aracer
    aracer Posts: 1,649
    Another no. If you're bothered about weight then go for a different stem entirely. According to http://weightweenies.starbike.com/listi ... type=stems an OS-150 is 170g to 180g in a 100mm length even with the carbon faceplate - plenty of choice of good quality lighter stems for less money than that (FSA is notorious as being one of the worst offenders for being extremely optimistic with listed weights!)

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