Preaching to the choir

[iamkeith]

Eben Weiss shines a light on the folly of carbon, in the way only he can.

https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/opinion/theres-no-good-reason-to-buy-a-carbon-bike/?fbclid=IwAR0muu-zFYlIDfTmjI3DiAeGq8a9WL0O3NfeyNV6biqV4dGqV-CGxsRbrDU

While I'm at it, I've been meaning to share this.   A modern roadie discovers steel:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_lh6qCZESZU

 I enjoy this guy's, Lois Scott's, youtube videos, because he articulates the modern rooadie mindset so well.  I left the lycra and aero, group-ride mindset behind me so many decades ago that I often feel like those people and I speak an entirely different language.  Over the last year or so, he discovered steel and became a convert.  There are a number of videos on his youtube "channel" documenting his journey.  This is just one I could find from near his epiphany.  I think he's taken it further since.

[Patrick Moore]

I do like to read Weiss; under his profane and flippant exterior he has a lot of common sense.

But I'm curious: making a distinction between carbon fiber and stupid light carbon fiber, can cf be made tough as well as strong? That is, can it be made to withstand the thousand natural shocks that bikes are heir to? (Eloquence not mine, borrowed.)

If so, does it still have real-world advantages over top quality modern steels? That is, making it tougher will make it heavier, but might it still be lighter in a practical way than steel of similar strength and toughness, and might it also still be tunable in a way that steel cannot be?

No fight in this dog, as someone recently said, since I have no interest in buying a cf frame (unless someone starts making customs for under $2K), but academically, I wonder if cf doesn't offer real world advantages even to the commuter and average parenting schlub?

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

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When thou didst not, savage, know thine own meaning,

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I endowed thy purposes with words that made them known.

[Patrick Moore]

From the comments: But looking forward to your next article “15 Best Rivendells for Taking Your AltBike Adventures to the Next Level”

[iamkeith]

I had this for my son for a bit, but sold it last year.  It was tough enough...  I assume.   I didn't worry about it breaking under him, but it was an utter pita to work on.  Everything concealed and press-fit and propritary.  He outgrew it quickly, so I tolerated it and moved it on to someone else to take the remaining depreciation hit.  Now that he's full-height, I'm not wasting a penny on something unless he can keep it and trust it AND maintain it for as long as necessary.

[John Dewey]

BSNYC almost always makes good sense and always makes me happy, often laughing out loud all by myself.  

I have in the past referred to ‘plastic bikes’ (RSchwinn’s moniker) as BIC bikes, after those cheap disposable one-use pens. 

Like so many of you, I’m still riding a Schwinn ‘Waterford’ Paramount frameset I brought along in 1985. At the time, a prestigious racing machine along with Masi / Colnago / Bianchi / Cinelli earning many palmares. With its few nods to modernity e.g. indexed DT levers and 32mm Conti 5000s I quite happily ride along with all the local carbons and always seem to be able hold my place in line. Despite the gear restriction of 7-speed vs 11 / 12 that all the others ride. 

So what’s the odds my pals plastic bikes will still be on the road in 2059?

Up close and personal…still not a mark on it after all these years and all those miles. If we take care of that old Campy stuff, my experience tells me it’s nearly indestructible. 

I still get all giddy every time it comes up in rotation 🤪

Jock

[John Rinker]

Thanks for sharing this link Keith. I do enjoy the irreverence of Eben, but he certainly seems to be tempering as he ages. Among the salient points he makes, I found the following to be a favorite: 

"See, carbon bikes and components were designed to be serviced by shop technicians and team mechanics, not regular schmucks like you. In fact, you’ve probably even less qualified to work on them than you are to ride them."

As I enjoy tinkering with my bikes almost as much as riding them, it seems metal bicycles are for me.

In the end though, if someone wants to ride a carbon fiber bike for whatever reason then go for it!

Cheers, John

[Steve]

I follow the Snob, he's alright.  

I've owned a carbon fiber bike, it was alright.