Bought £1700 Carbon Bike - Now scared to use it.

[random37]

So are you implying that the only people who buy modern bikes wear Replica Team kit or buy the bike their “hero” rides?

Not at all. But I see that team replica bikes and uniforms are very popular.

Each to their own.

[100%JR]

So are you implying that the only people who buy modern bikes wear Replica Team kit or buy the bike their “hero” rides?

Not at all. But I see that team replica bikes and uniforms are very popular.

Each to their own.

Define “Team Replica bikes”???
I ride a Canyon Ultimate CF SL which is used by a few teams,non of which look like mine?
I’ve (or my son has) owned a “Team Sky” Frog Bike and a “Wiggins” Rouen but I’ve not actually seen a “Team” Branded adult bike.

[Mr Evil]

...How fragile is carbon in real use? Can I even use it for such stuff?..

It's more than tough enough to stand up to anything that you can do to it while staying on two wheels. It's not so good at coping with impacts though, of the sort that might happen if the bike falls over, or you drop something heavy onto the top tube, or you take it off-road and a rock hits the downtube.

[foxyrider]

Got a mint (except few stoneships) Scott solace 30 flat bar road bike, came up locally for a good price.
I'm used to 15kg BSOs in past which I could trash & abuse ,leave barely locked for days and loan to other people without any worry.

How do I even ride this thing? It rides so good & smooth that I do not want to damage it, I planed to use it for hardpac paths & crappy tarmac potholed roads and mount kerbs with it like I'm used -stuff that doesn't bother much the cheap crap hybrid/hardtail bikes.

How fragile is carbon in real use? Can I even use it for such stuff?
It has currently got 25mm schwalbe marathon plus tyres so pretty tough and with decent grip,but still.. the thing barely weighs nothing and is just a road bike with flat bar- But I have no desire to ride on tarmac along with cars!
Am I going to mess it up If I start mounting kerbs with it (not at speed) ,dropping kerbs & going over small roots?
have no idea how durable the carbon frames/forks are ...

-Would installing wider tyres with slightly more volume be a good idea to make it more ''durable''? ( I have no idea if 30mm would fit, maybe 28mm will)


Also How do you even go to store and leave the bike outside? I'm not sure if I even trust the ''good u-locks'' being an owner of cordless angle grinder myself. The previous owner kept it in armed garage locked up to wall..I'm used to keeping bikes just outside wherever there's space.

Look at it this way - they make CF downhill mountain bikes which don't break, tbh i'd be more cautious with a lightweight steel ride. What carbon doesn't like is sharp direct impacts so smashing the frame into a rock is not a good idea but general trail type riding should be fine.

I have a 5k CF road bike, cranks, saddle, handlebars - well pretty much the lot and it gets abused something chronic on bad roads, jumping kerbs, bunny hops, wanging into pot holes (not by choice!) and so far it's remained intact. Just get out and ride it, enjoy its lightweight, delight in its ride and boast down the pub!

[Brucey]

yeah, right, carbon bikes never break in 'normal use'....

A suggestion; do a google image search for "broken carbon frame" and ask yourself if all those bikes broke in legitimate prangs or not. My guess is that 'not' is the answer you will conclude is most likely.

Carbon can be a wonderful material but it needs to be built right to start with (and many are not) and it needs to be treated in the right way. Even then it won't (for various reasons) always or even often survive long in certain uses.

The problem is severalfold, and 'urban knockabout' use is likely to highlight some of the issues more than others.

1) carbon tends break without much if any warning, in a catastrophic way. If you are lucky you will see a crack and act accordingly before it lets go. Most people don't see cracks early enough unless the bike is new, light-coloured and pampered (cleaned often).

2) carbon is susceptible to accidental damage in ways that wouldn't greatly hurt a 'normal' bike. For example if the bike just falls over in the wrong way, or gets a knock when it is locked up, that can be the end of the frame.

3) when the frame is damaged it can be very expensive to replace.

So I think you are right to be cautious when contemplating your (normal) use of a bike vs how a CF one will cope with that use. If you are used to having a bike that you can treat with near disdain, that acquires a few dents in the frame tubes etc and loses its paint, and then replace for buttons, don't expect to be able to use a CF one in the same way.

cheers

[foxyrider]

So are you implying that the only people who buy modern bikes wear Replica Team kit or buy the bike their “hero” rides?

Not at all. But I see that team replica bikes and uniforms are very popular.

Each to their own.

Define “Team Replica bikes”???
I ride a Canyon Ultimate CF SL which is used by a few teams,non of which look like mine?
I’ve (or my son has) owned a “Team Sky” Frog Bike and a “Wiggins” Rouen but I’ve not actually seen a “Team” Branded adult bike.

You must have seen those god awful Raleigh Banana things?

[foxyrider]

yeah, right, carbon bikes never break in 'normal use'....

A suggestion; do a google image search for "broken carbon frame" and ask yourself if all those bikes broke in legitimate prangs or not. My guess is that 'not' is the answer you will conclude is most likely.

Carbon can be a wonderful material but it needs to be built right to start with (and many are not) and it needs to be treated in the right way. Even then it won't (for various reasons) always or even often survive long in certain uses.

The problem is severalfold, and 'urban knockabout' use is likely to highlight some of the issues more than others.

1) carbon tends break without much if any warning, in a catastrophic way. If you are lucky you will see a crack and act accordingly before it lets go. Most people don't see cracks early enough unless the bike is new, light-coloured and pampered (cleaned often).

2) carbon is susceptible to accidental damage in ways that wouldn't greatly hurt a 'normal' bike. For example if the bike just falls over in the wrong way, or gets a knock when it is locked up, that can be the end of the frame.

3) when the frame is damaged it can be very expensive to replace.

So I think you are right to be cautious when contemplating your (normal) use of a bike vs how a CF one will cope with that use. If you are used to having a bike that you can treat with near disdain, that acquires a few dents in the frame tubes etc and loses its paint, and then replace for buttons, don't expect to be able to use a CF one in the same way.

cheers

And the same could be thrown at any material. Who claimed that nothing ever brakes in 'normal' use?

From personal experience aluminium frames brake more often than steel or CF and steel more often of those. That even extends to the components, i've broken Al cranks but not CF, pedals the same. Doesn't stop me using any of the materials in sometimes 'not normal' riding, if they break, well that's the nature of things.

Yes CF is expensive to replace/repair but so is steel if you are going quality. If it was such a break prone material we, that is real, not armchair cyclists would have dumped it long ago.

All that said, if I want a cheap hack I will buy/build that and not consider a sparkly CF machine.

[100%JR]

You must have seen those god awful Raleigh Banana things?

I had to Google that.I haven’t seen a Raleigh,either old or modern,on the road for years!

[random37]

I had to Google that.I haven’t seen a Raleigh,either old or modern,on the road for years!

Depends where you ride, I suppose. I think Raleigh made those around 1990ish, and I still see them locked up at train stations and the like. Of course, they built many identical bikes without the Team Banana livery, and many are still taking people to work. I think you'd be pushed to not find one of those locked up at a train station.

I'd say, on the other hand, that you're unlikely to see a lightweight carbon, alu or steel frame of similar vintage taking someone to work 30 years after it was manufactured.

Lightweights are not designed for careless handling, or to be kept for a long time.

[100%JR]

I had to Google that.I haven’t seen a Raleigh,either old or modern,on the road for years!

Depends where you ride, I suppose. I think Raleigh made those around 1990ish, and I still see them locked up at train stations and the like. Of course, they built many identical bikes without the Team Banana livery, and many are still taking people to work. I think you'd be pushed to not find one of those locked up at a train station.
I'd say, on the other hand, that you're unlikely to see a lightweight carbon, alu or steel frame of similar vintage taking someone to work 30 years after it was manufactured.
Lightweights are not designed for careless handling, or to be kept for a long time.

I have only used Trains 2 or 3 times over the last 30+ years so never go to Train Stations!My FIL worked at Raleigh in Nottingham from leaving school to his early 20s(late 60s/early 70s) so he's quite nostalgic about the brand.

[tykeboy2003]

I'd be more scared of paying the price....

[100%JR]

I'd be more scared of paying the price....

You can pick up a Carbon bike for about a grand now