How cheap is too cheap for a carbon frame?

p3t389

Hi everyone

I'm looking to buy a second bike (presently have a Ribble winter bike) but am restricted to that magical figure of £1500.

Like a number of other posters on this site I seem to be gravitating to either a Boardman Pro, Planet X or Ribble Nero Corsa, the latter two being to a spec of my own. The thing that I am concerned about is that having stripped back all the bikes to the frame cost we come back to something between £400 - £500.

Now to the layman that I am, to date this frame cost has not concerned me as all the bikes have had good reviews from Bike Radar or in the Bike of the Year review. However, there have been some contributors on here who have said that they wouldn't touch a carbon frame that's under about £800.

It would be so easy for me to dismiss this opinion as bike snobbery but as I layman I have little experience of carbon frames (but Bike Radar do) and, as a consequence, no right to be so dismissive. Therefore any thoughts from owners of the above bikes or those who have avoided them like the plague would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks to those who take the time to reply

Regards and safe cycling

Peter



I am a layman and would appreciate , however I prefer to listen to the reasoning behind this

Monty Dog

Firstly, for those with a marketing disposition, they'll know that factors that affect price have often very little to do with cost, quality and performance. In real terms, the 'price' of carbon frames has dropped due to large-scale production in the far east - £800 is such an arbitary and meaningless number without understanding the end-to-end value chain for the product. The biggest 'chunk' of cost will be interms of retail profit margin, vat, duty and distribution costs. There's enough people who have expressed a high degree of satisfaction with products by Planet-X and Ribble amongst others that you should have a high degree of confidence in the product - as long as it's right for what you want to do with it.

pabloweaver

got to be honest I love my Planet X , it does everything I need it to and looks fantastic to ( ok, in my eyes ..) mine came with a mixed bag of dura ace ( gearing ) , FSA gossamer compact chainset and dia compe brakes ( DA had gone out of stock ) .

the only things I have changed are ..saddle ( now have charge knife ) seatpost ( bought FSA carbon in PX sale ) and wheels ( trashed my px model b and was not able to get one on its own ...now got fulcrums on it ) and finally tyres ( running Ultremo R ) and brakes shoes ( now got swisstop green ......these work unlike the stock ones that came with it ! )

great smooth ride, fantastic going up hill and a very quick bike ( when Im able to make it ! )

the only " problem " I have ever notice is that its so light, strong crosswinds can snatch the front wheel .... but I think thats half the riders fault

and its cost me well within your budget .... how cheap can you go ? I dont know ...but I do know I'm happy with what I have got for my cash .

avoidingmyphd

1500 is less restricting than 1000 (which is the real magical figure!) for someone in your position. it opens up more "mainstream" options than you give in your list as 1500 seems to be major manufacturers' price point for entry level carbon offering with 105 groupset - specialized roubaix/tarmac, scott cr1, orbea onix and so on are all available at your budget.

I realise you may already have excluded these (on groupset grounds, chasing the bling? but that seems unlikely given you're worrying about frame quality!, so on some other grounds I guess). But if you haven't, you might like to look again at what comes in at the magical 1500 figure.

If I had 1000, I'd be asking your question. If i had 1500, I wouldn't be!

p3t389

Thanks guys for replying; I must admit I am moving in the direction of the Planet X.

Avoidingmyphd, the reason I have (possibly naively) excluded the likes of the more commercial names is that with these guys I feel that a greater degree of the cost of the bike is dictated by the fact that they are a big name.

Also, I often wonder whether an 'old' model coloured red can really be that much worse than the same 'new' bike coloured blue which is what you get from the bigger companies. Both bikes will make the merchant profit, just the blue one more so. But consequently unless I can source a good deal on an 'old' model I will avoid them because I honestly do not know how realistic the pricing is and I would rather go to someone who appears to be pricing competitively. Don't misunderstand me, if I could get a Scott with the same spec as either of the ones I've narrowed my choices down to, the decision would be made for me.

gabriel959

One reason for me to get a Sram Rival Orbea over a Dura Ace Planet X would be because Orbea offer lifetime warranty on their frames and Planet X don’t. Second reason is because Epic Cycles sell them and their customer support is legendary (not saying Planet X is bad). Also you get the racing pedigree, Orbea is being ridden today as I write this, in the Tour de France, Planet X is not.

OK – you get not as good a groupset but that is it! I understand your reasoning though but on carbon frames I would prefer the knowledge that a trusted and known brand is carrying me.

Anonymous

There is always the option of pre-loved. I know someone who may be selling a very nice Look 555 frame at a good price and some Ultegra bits to go on it.