Aluminium vs carbon Cube

seanorawe

So im going to buy a cube road bike in a few weeks. And im caught between the aluminium or the carbon version

THe aluminium is the superlight variety, carbon fork and Shimano 105 for 1k.

The carbon is 300 pound more expensive, has the same 105 groupset, same saddle, same wheels and is only 500 grams lighter overall.

**EDIT** the alu frame is 150 grams heavier

Am I steering towards carbon because I can say I have a full carbon bike? What would you do? Save the money? or show off your carbon?

Alu version
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cube ... prod141431

Carbon Version
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cube ... prod141420

For 1500 You can get ultegra instead of 105 on the carbon bike.

dinyull

500 grams is a lot if wheels, groupo etc are all the same.

How much does the superlight alu weigh? Just the Trek Emonda ALR and CAAD 12 come in around 1kg (not including fork).

seanorawe

Dinyull wrote:

500 grams is a lot if wheels, groupo etc are all the same.

How much does the superlight alu weigh? Just the Trek Emonda ALR and CAAD 12 come in around 1kg (not including fork).

Sorry my mistake the difference in weight is 150 grams the alu is 8.65kg and the carbon is 8.5kg

dinyull

What about this http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p6150/CUBE-LITENING-SUPER-HPC-PRO-2015

Only in a 56 mind. But the Ultegra equivalent.

seanorawe

Dinyull wrote:

What about this http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p6150/CUBE-LITENING-SUPER-HPC-PRO-2015

Only in a 56 mind. But the Ultegra equivalent.

Has to be the attain, the geometry is perfect for me

drlodge

Personally, if I were after that specific bike, I'd probably get the best one I could afford. Can you afford £1500? If so, buy it.

Pretty damn sure my mate has the carbon GTC with 11sp 105, he likes it. IIRC he paid £1200 for it, forget where.

singleton

You should probably decide what are the advantages of the carbon frame and do you value those?

Those advatnages may simply be so that you can state "I have a carbon bike" - my guess is that some people buy carbon for this reason.

ForumNewbie

I'd go for whichever is more comfortable - 150 gram difference is nothing. I have a 2011 Cube Agree carbon bike - blue, white and black with full Ultegra and it's a nice bike. However I do like the look of the aluminium version but not sure if it will be as comfortable to ride as the carbon frame.

chris_bass

the wheels are better on the alu one and the tyres are different, may make the weights slightly closer than if everything was equal

simon_masterson

They're different bikes, not the same one made from two different materials. If in doubt, test...

gabriel959

As above the wheels on the Alu one are very slightly better, apart from that they look identical.

Tredz, Wheelies, Rutland Cycling also sells the bike, they usually run sales every so often (10% off, money off, etc... pretty sure you could get it a bit cheaper than that). In fact, I do get 10% off with Rutland through my Cycling club, plus they also do 10% back in rewards. Worth looking into it I think.

effillo

I had the 2014 carbon version with 105. Awesome bike, for the money it cost you can't go wrong. I upgraded to a Giant TCR but in all honesty I'd have another Cube in a heartbeat.

seanorawe

Thanks for all the advice and replies.

Ive never owned a full carbon bike, is the difference in comfort noticeable?

singleton

seanorawe wrote:

Ive never owned a full carbon bike, is the difference in comfort noticeable?

The general view is that on a like-for-like design, carbon will reduce road buzz - but I've had carbon and Alu bikes and I find that tyre choice has at least as big a difference, if not bigger difference, than frame material.

Bobbinogs

Yepp, tyre choice and pressure make a huge difference, as does the quality of roads, setup and geo...then comfort is further improved (to some degree) by nice gloves, bartape, seatpost, saddle, shorts, etc. The frame material may come into it but IMO it must be a very small percentage since, once all the other factors have been sorted, it seems to be undetectable for me.

I would still go for the carbon though, just for the hell of it

drlodge

Bobbinogs wrote:

Yepp, tyre choice and pressure make a huge difference, as does the quality of roads, setup and geo...then comfort is further improved (to some degree) by nice gloves, bartape, seatpost, saddle, shorts, etc. The frame material may come into it but IMO it must be a very small percentage since, once all the other factors have been sorted, it seems to be undetectable for me.

I would still go for the carbon though, just for the hell of it

This. I would go for carbon, simply due to the fact that the material will be thinner and more resilient compared to Aluminium. The difference between my steel and carbon frames is hardly detectable in terms of ride comfort, the geometry is the biggest difference and even that is quite small. The carbon bike is lighter by a couple of pounds too.

singleton

drlodge wrote:

I would go for carbon, simply due to the fact that the material will be thinner and more resilient compared to Aluminium.

I don't think I've heard anyone before suggesting that Carbon is both thinner AND more resilient than Aluminium.

If I drop an Alu bike I may dent it, but if I drop a carbon bike I may snap it.

Frame weight difference on a similar frame is about 100 - 150g.

keef66

My first road bike was an alu frame and carbon fork because at the time that was the only way I could get a bike with racy geometry but clearance / mounting points for 25mm tyres and full mudguards within my budget. (Racelight Tk / 105 kit)
6 years later I spotted Westbrooks selling off the outgoing CR1-SL framesets for £500, so I figured I could have a very light carbon bike at a bargain price. (and the CR1 had been on my initial shortlist because of it's geometry)

Just transferred all the kit from the alu bike to the carbon one, so pretty much a like for like comparison.

Now the novelty has worn off I think the differences are pretty subtle

It does feel lighter when wheeling it about / working on it. When I'm riding it feels a bit more nimble; I can chuck it about underneath me a lot easier, and over broken road surfaces it feels a little smoother. But it's not head and shoulders above the alu bike. That also still makes me grin when I ride it, and if I had to have just one bike again, I'd keep the Tk for it's year round versatility.

So I'd say try to get a test ride on both, making sure tyres and pressures are identical if possible. Then buy the one you like the look of most. Remember the 2016 bike of the year was the alu framed CAAD 12...

drlodge

Singleton wrote:

drlodge wrote:

I would go for carbon, simply due to the fact that the material will be thinner and more resilient compared to Aluminium.

I don't think I've heard anyone before suggesting that Carbon is both thinner AND more resilient than Aluminium.

If I drop an Alu bike I may dent it, but if I drop a carbon bike I may snap it.

Frame weight difference on a similar frame is about 100 - 150g.

Sorry I didn't mean resilient in that sense, more that a thinner material will give a more "resilient" ride. [resilience = the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity]

bikegangster

Is carbon bike parts fragile? Thats what this video tells me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn29u7GoqPk

drlodge

Carbon is brittle but strong. They wouldn't make bike frames from it if it were to break easily.

What you are seeing in that video is evidence that carbon will break "catastrophically" - it won't bend or dent like metal rather it will hold until it reaches breaking point and then break totally. Won't you don't see is what would happen to an aluminium frame if put under the same conditions. More crucial IMO than the strength of carbon, is how well put together carbon parts are especially with forks and steerer tubes.

seanorawe

The good folks at GCN have answered this question to the power of MAX!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3RG5dztrXM