Aluminium or Carbon?

FitzM

My current bike is aluminium (a 2001 Klein Quantum) and I’m looking to get a new bike.

I’m prepared to spend a couple of grand to find a bike as good as my Klein was when I bought it 8yrs ago. If that brings me a lighter, faster more comfortable bike I’ll smile even broader when crunching the miles.

The local bike shop says go carbon, a couple of cyclist I know say go carbon. They say aluminium is harsh/stiff, yet I have never thought my Klein as harsh, before people mentioned it the thought never crossed my mind. And some say wait until you’ve tried carbon and you’ll see the difference.

Not sure it makes much difference but I’m short and lean so while I’m happy to sacrifice frame weight if I can save weight elsewhere. And my bike will be used for the occasional triathlon (1-2 per year).

Lunar Tick

Neither - go for titanium. Will last forever, sublime ride quality, light, strong and stiff with it (if well built). Once you've ridden Ti, it's hard to go back

STEFANOS4784

Scandium.........

Wont your LBS let you test ride a carbon bike?

STEFANOS4784

P.s for what it's worth my carbon bike is smoother, noticably more so than my alu one but that also has alu forks, seat post etc, i find it kinda feels like im going quicker when im juddering around on my 'dale

ride_whenever

couple of grand, go for Ti...

if you have a vast number of grand, try the helix that is reviewed on the front page. And btw the photos don't do justice to how the mirrored finish looks in person.

Mister W

The whole aluminium = harsh thing is a bit of a red herring. The characteristics of a frame are down to the frame builder/designer. It's possible to make a very stiff or a very flexible frame from pretty much any material.... well, any conventional frame building material. I suspect a bike made from bamboo might always be a bit flexible.

But if you've got that much cash then Ti is a good choice as it should last forever.

cougie

You can make a carbon bike very harsh - I think some of the Isaac racing bikes are a bit like that.

I'd probably not spend much more than a grand. Once you get past that - its the law of diminishing returns.

Get one Carbon and one Ti !

FitzM

Seems most people are surprised that I'm prepared to spend up to £2k. It's not because I'm flush more because the Klein was £1,750 some 9yrs ago and I adjusted for inflation.

I'll happily spend just £1k, if I can get a nice road bike (better than my Klein) that will cope better than me with 1-2 triathlons a year

redddraggon

http://www.planet-x-warehouse.co.uk/aca ... _1999.html

or

http://www.planet-x-warehouse.co.uk/aca ... _7900.html

Escargot

If you have the money and see something that fits the bill then go for it.

Unfortunately there's diminishing returns with everything and I'm sure a £2k bike won't be twice as good as a £1k bike but I think the differences/improvements are justifiable in most cases. If it makes you feel any better I bought over £2k's worth of bike earlier this year and do not regret it for one minute. It's a carbon monocoque frame and is fantasticly smooth although I can't say how much so over an equivalent aluminium frame (like a Cervelo S1 for instance) as I didn't test one out.

Re the material choice I wouldn't think too hard about it (unless you have concerns over knocking it about) as for that kind of money I think it's more important that you enjoy the ride/position/looks etc.

JayT

I'm glad to hear Escargot mention the Cervelo S1. I recently used the components from my aluminium Cannondale Synapse to build up an S1 (£800 for the frameset) and I am so pleased with it. I expected it would feel fast but didn't expect it to be so comfortable. My second ride on it was 100 miles with no ill effects!

ride_whenever

As for 1k vs. 2k, it's a case of how much you prefer the bikes.

FitzM

Escargot/JayT,

Glad you mentioned the Cervelo S1. Have seen loads of posts about it and it looks amazing. OK it's aluminium but so is my Klein so it no great shakes missing out on a carbon.

At the moment the Cervelo S1 is leading the chase but I've got a few weeks before I decide.