Carbon is better than Aluminium
WarlKicken
Posts: 224
Wowza!
Last night I finished my 17.5km commute across London as quick as I could and jumped immediately on my 'weekend' bike to run it up to the LBS for a new bike tape rap.
Holy Smoke Balls!! What a difference!!! Since having both, I've not ever jumped straight off one on t'other and starting riding. The Carbon 'weekend' bike is utterly ridiculously light, racey and powerful?? The way in which the power get's delivered from my matchsticks through the frame and out the wheels is unbelievable compared to my ALU bike. I love both, but the Carbon bike is just completely different.
That is all.
Last night I finished my 17.5km commute across London as quick as I could and jumped immediately on my 'weekend' bike to run it up to the LBS for a new bike tape rap.
Holy Smoke Balls!! What a difference!!! Since having both, I've not ever jumped straight off one on t'other and starting riding. The Carbon 'weekend' bike is utterly ridiculously light, racey and powerful?? The way in which the power get's delivered from my matchsticks through the frame and out the wheels is unbelievable compared to my ALU bike. I love both, but the Carbon bike is just completely different.
That is all.
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Posts
The feeling of power transfer on my fixed Alu bike is probably even better
I doubt it's better, because mine is much better than yours :P In all seriousness though, I've never experienced it and thought I share! Haha. Just attached some Campag Ultra Bullets to is, Ultegra Group and the ride geo is so different. I have it set up to be slightly more race feel than the ol ALU commuter gal..
The error here is the op's post/thread is linking the two things and it should have been titled 'My Carbon bike is better than my Aluminium one......because it is completely different.......and cost more.......which is I guess why I have two bikes' :shock:
People should just buy carbon because it is lighter and looks nicer, that way there will be no bitching about frame material :P
Will it take a new frame material or just happen anyway?
If aluminium was taken out of the equation would people whinge about steel v carbon. or just accept it was better?
I don't think Alu will become the new steel. Steel is steel and will remain so. Aluminium will just fade out to be the preserve of BSO's and kids bikes.
Alu is a great frame material and won't be faded out, there's too big a market share for commuting bikes around the £500-£1000 budget, and generally, the best bikes for this price point are built with alu frames.
Exactly. You pay more the bike will be 100 million, bazillion times better. That is exactly my point, exactly. One the nose. Top Corner.
P E R C E P T I O N
Perhaps that's not such a bad idea after all:
£1500 is where I'd stop looking at ALU and start looking at carbon
I have got two carbon Focus Cayos, one I've had for almost four years and the other I got earlier in this year. Now while the newer model was a bit more money and I expected there to be a difference I was pleasantly surprised at how much
So while I get what you're saying I don't think you've made an entirely fair comparison
2013 Cayo Evo 3
2013 Zesty 414
2002 Avalanche 0.0
2018 Vitus Substance v2 105 Gravel
Eh? I don't understand? I just bought a new steel bike and it's the best one I've ever had.
Yes at the moment at that price point Alu is best. But who's to say that in 10 years time carbon manufacture won't be so cheap that you can make a carbon frame for less than an aluminium one. Then aluminium becomes pointless as it's more expensive.
Stretching & Workout Vids
Utter Utter Bollox
There are many excellent aluminium bike frames that out perform average carbon frames. There are many different grades of carbon. The top end frames like a S-Works Venge or a Pinarello Dogma are nothing like a cheap identikit carbon available for around 1500ish pounds. The carbon layer up, type of fibers used, ratio of carbon to resin and many other connotations make them as different as a cheap alu frame that can weigh in at around 2kg to some super light alu produced by Cannondale for example. If the bike manufacturers threw enough money at designing a top quality aluminium frame they probably could make a frame as light and stiff as some of the best out there. It all comes down to whats cheaper and more cost effective. Carbon is, at the top end, a hell of a lot cheaper to make. But that does not mean aluminium could not be made as good. It would just be ludicrously expensive to do so.
Aluminium is old Grandad, get offa my new thread if you can't ride the carbon, coz the times they are a'changin'
Just kidding man, I was being utterly tongue in cheek with my reply regarding the more you spend the better the carbon
My CAAD 9 is lighter than most off the shelf carbon bikes :roll:
Whats your point ednino?
Would Cannondales current carbon equivalent frame/fork not be lighter than your CAAD 9?
If you want light surely carbon is the way to go.
Theres a lot of talk about good ali frames and censored carbon ones, but what advantage does ali have other than cost?
It's no good bringing money into a debate about which is the better frame material when the difference in cost is as near as it is. i.e. good ali v good carbon.
Well, Which is the better bike of these two then? both about the same price
http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=3078#tab-reiter2
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/tarmac-sport-2013-road-bike-ec040972#features
If you want to bring price into it, the carbon frame is probably cheaper to mass produce in a cast than a hand welded alu frame.
Really, guess the guys at Specialized have got it completely wrong, not like they know what they are talking about...unlike the experts that comment on message forums.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uod5bSgH1Vg
Which is better?
Green or Blue?
1 vs the other, such a stupid question, what deems "better" when referring to a bike? It's faster? it's comfortable? It's light? it's good round corners?
Talking of stupid, you obviously missed the point I was making. I will leave you a minute or two to figure it out for yourself so you can read my previous comments
P.S. Please tell me you mean that you went to buy tape and aren't paying a shop to wrap your bars...
Fixed TT 2015-2016
Having a higher disposable income doesn't make you gullible. Someone on a 6 figure salary will find it much easier to spend 5 or 6k on a bike than someone on minimum wage. Often the fact that someone commands a high salary can mean they are also intelligent enough to make an informed choice. It's nice to earn good money and it's nice to spend it on nice things like expensive bikes, however marginal the gains may be.
If the OP wants to spend some of his hard earned cash getting his LBS to fit his bar tape then good luck to him. I thought you would have applauded his support of local business but apparently not?
Nothing wrong with earning minimum wage of course. It can be equally, if not more, rewarding to save hard for an entry level bike.
Aluminum ( and any metal ) constructions demand technically skilled workers,which ask for bigger salaries. Carbon frames on the other hand, are made from carbon fabric and resins, so even the most unskilled worker can apply the carbon fabric the right way ( they have markings on them) and the resins in the casts in order to make a carbon frame. Carbon is a more versatile material and it is easy to be formed in any shape something that is more difficult to be done with any metal. It is possible but has higher working cost.
So it is by far cheaper for the manufactures to massive produce carbon frames, though the carbon material itself is not so cheap. But the low workers' cost leave to the companies huge profits. And this is the reason why manufactures and bike companies hype carbon on the market, especially in the high end bikes. It is possible for them to sell something of high quality with the lowest cost, consumable, in any shape ( geometry etc) by demand, and not that long life expectancy ( which means that someone will have to replace it in a short period of time).
Good metal ( any kind of metal ) frames on the other hand, don't have same characteristics. It is more difficult and harder to be constructed, last longer, have higher resale value and it is not easy to be made in any shape or style, or a new shape or style each year..
And before you tell that carbon has a very good resale value I will ask you: would you buy a ten years old carbon frame? How long was the longer time that you kept a carbon frame?
I think that alu and generally metal bike frames will faded out in the long run, but this will happen if it the cost of carbon material get lower. For the moment this is not a very probable possibility because China who has the biggest inventories of raw material for the construction of carbon fabric, is controling the supplies. But if it ever stops that, then most of frames will be made from carbon. ( unless they'll find another material with better properties that will leave them bigger profits).
Anyway.. carbon is not better than Aluminum. It is just another kind of material with other characteristics. A high end Aluminum frame can be even better than carbon. But who is going to make it and what will be the final cost..(rhetoric :?: )