In case it's not already old news: Grant's book on (in?) boston.com

[PATRICK MOORE]

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/brookline/2012/08/on_biking_just_ride_urges_less.html

8/15.

"Petersen says professional bike racing has corrupted a beautiful
thing." -- There is some truth to that, with racing driving recent
hyperactive hard-sell marketing, but man, old, steel racing bikes from
the '60s through the early '80s? Some of those were wonderful bikes!

Can you ride a modern carbon fiber bike in other than full race mode?
In other words: I've read several reviews of CF race bikes that
describe them as unrewarding to ride except at high power. Are all CF
racing bikes -- or, tout court, bikes -- like this? (I realize that
that is a matter of design, no material.)

Does anyone ride and really like a CF bike? I'd be curious to learn
about it: make, model, setup, ride qualities -- handling, comfort,
acceleration and so forth. I do know they are fun to heft -- remember
hefting a ~12 lb Calfee fixie!

--
"When in Rome, do as they done in Milledgeville."

Flannery O'Connor

-------------------------
Patrick Moore, Albuquerque, NM, USA
For professional resumes, contact Patrick Moore, ACRW
http://resumespecialties.com/index.html
-------------------------

[Dave]

Despite the fact that this is rooted in a comment Grant publicized, I
wonder if your question isn't really OT, given the forum is ostensibly
about Rivendell, et al. What does anyone's opinion about whether or not
they like-ride-race on another bike made of some other material have to
do with the forum's raison d'etre?

[PATRICK MOORE]

Moderator, pronounce!

My question is at least tangentially On Topic because -- and I
neglected to make this clear -- my points of reference are Rivendell
bicycles and I wondered if someone could compare hiserher CF ride with
hiserher Rivendells.

Patrick "the Delete key is always available and should be freely used" Moore

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[Leslie]

On Tuesday, August 21, 2012 9:36:50 PM UTC-4, Dave Faller wrote:
> Despite the fact that this is rooted in a comment Grant publicized, I
> wonder if your question isn't really OT, given the forum is ostensibly
> about Rivendell, et al. What does anyone's opinion about whether or not
> they like-ride-race on another bike made of some other material have to
> do with the forum's raison d'etre?

I think it's on-topic. I've only ever ridden steel bikes myself, never ridden CF (nor aluminum for that matter, other than maybe a rare test-ride). If a description of a CF ride would ale sense to me, it'd have to come from a group like this so they could relate it to a Riv, for me to get the comparison...

And, FWIW, I thought things got nasty on iBOB when it shouldn't have; IMHO, Patrick should feel welcome here, w/o being second-guessed on intentions...

[Kelly]

Patrick

I road high end cf for ten years. Aggressive setup .. Mavic carbone wheels etc...
My routine was 1000 miles early in season to get neck arms and arse ready and to be comfy.
Wasn't very comfortable for first 500 or so.

Was a sweet ride at 65 mph coming down off veil pass. Had nice high end wobble on one frame in turn at just over 55 mph in Boulder ... Road RAIN 160 miles one way one day on it..seemed nice and finished just over 22 mph average.

Road average of 10 to 12 centuries per year.

I would avoid many roads as they were to rough ... Hated concrete roads, and had numerous flats tooling around town. Broke axles, handlebars, seat posts, and frame.. Then had to replace a frame after impact on roof rack. Manufacter indicated it could last forever or fail thus said not to ride it.

Fast sprint bike and great for the 30 mile rides...

I was always looking to get the ride over with. Never got on the bike to meander through the park. Burned out on going all out all the time .. It was fun for a long time.... So was my two seater Jensen Healy ... But just as I'll never go back to the Jenson, I'll also never be stuck with just a cf bike. Today I get on my bike for short rides turned long... Long rides turned short.. On just about any clothing and the roads I though were rough are actually pretty smooth.

My AHH may be slower, and I miss some of the sprints, and even the bar to bar shoulder to shoulder banging all out major crash waiting to happen riding... On occasion ..
Until I get on that sweet quick, smooth, fast downhill corner hugging AHH. And I don't need all those miles to be comfy.. Just get on the thing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tksleeper/5155759637/in/set-72157625210417815

[PATRICK MOORE]

Not to drag this out much more, but for the record:

Thanks, Leslie; I appreciate the vote of confidence.

FWIW, I left the boblist because the moderators seemed to be getting
too picky, the last straw being the banning of my Ken Rogers trike as
a subject. I seemed to have missed some hullaballoo on that list that
followed.

I will resolutely keep On Topic here, tho' one man's On Topic may be
another man's "delete me!" cue.

Over and definitely out on this one.

On Tue, Aug 21, 2012 at 8:52 PM, Leslie <leslie...@gmail.com> wrote:
[snip]

[PATRICK MOORE]

Kelly: thanks, very interesting comparison. My own experience of
Rivendells' handling -- including that of the Sam HIll, which I
didn't, overall, like well enough to keep -- is exactly this supremely
confident, fast cornering combined with an almost "intuitive"
(cliche', I know) willingness to go where you want them to. And your
remarks about the CF ride supports what others say: that unless you
are going to ride them very agressively, they are not really
rewarding.

Patrick "wish I could average 22 mph over 160 miles" Moore

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--

"Believe nothing until it has been officially denied."
-- Claude Cockburn

[PATRICK MOORE]

I forgot to include: has anyone ridden a CF bike that handles much
like Rivendells, as described below? If so, are there any advantages
to the CF bike over Rivendells? We know there are certainly
disadvantages.

[Toshi Takeuchi]

One carbon fiber bike that might be interesting to try are Volagi
bikes. They started making steel versions of their bikes too.

Their target users are long distance riders. I think they will run
28mm tires with fenders and are more upright than pure racing bikes. I
would still prefer wider tires.

Toshi

Sent from my mobile device

[Jim Mather]

I own a Calfee Luna Pro. I bought the frameset used at a very low price, otherwise I would not have bought it. It has a mix of DuraAce and Ultegra. The rims, bars, stem and seatpost are alloy, not carbon, and I run 28mm tires, so it's not as light as it could be (same could be said for me). I have the cockpit set up about the same as my Legolas, which means the bars are at or a little above saddle height. 

 

The Calfee handles as well as any bike I've ridden, as does the Legolas. On both I can rail fast downhill corners with confidence. The Calfee is a little lighter than the Legolas, and I notice the difference especially during acceleration. Is it an advantage? I don't race so, no, it's not an advantage. It's a heckuva lot of fun to ride, though. Which would I take on a road century? Probably the Calfee. Which would I take on a mixed-terrain ride? No question, the Legolas. And though the Calfee takes 28mm tires (wide compared to many cf bikes), the Legolas will take 40's.

 

happy trails

jim m

wc ca