on 3/26/09 1:14 PM, Chris at fourf...@gmail.com wrote: (snipped) > I just test rode a Look carbon bike the other day that weighs in at > 18# (verified on the scale), only a couple of pounds more than my > Salsa. I can't even begin to tell you how much better that Look > climbed! It was like it was pushing me up the hills... Carbon and > lightweight isn't the end all/be all of bike riding, but it matters! > > I'll always have a steel bike or two and I still really want an Orange > Ram, but I'll tell you what....Carbon is the future.
Oh...I dunno. I think carbon is clearly the _current_ trend in mainstream bikes. ;^) One of the things which has put me off of carbon as a material specifically has to do with the breadth of manufacturers that work with it. In the beginning, there were very few folks messing with it, and even the bikes that were made by larger makers (yes, you can read that as "Trek") went through a very special division dedicated only to that. Nowadays, it seems to me that anyone who can afford to buy resins and molds can cobble something together. Combine that with the sheer volume of manufacture, and even if the failure percentage stays the same, there will be numerically more carbon items failing. You have to get carbon right. There is not a lot of wiggle room in the process. Air in the layup or non-permeated layers will cause failure. I won't go into the failure modes, clearance issues, aging concerns etc. I think we've all heard those discussions before. (And it's funny, about a month and a half ago, I got a call from the guy who I sold my carbon, open-wheeled racer to. He was asking about how to mount fenders to the frame "so he could ride in the rain, too....") I will say that nearly every bike I've ever test-ridden has felt zippier and faster than my current bikes - probably because of the recent-ness of being tuned up in the workstand. - Jim -- Jim Edgar cyclofi...@earthlink.net Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com Current Classics - Cross Bikes Singlespeed - Working Bikes Send In Your Photos! - Here's how: http://www.cyclofiend.com/guidelines "That which is overdesigned, too highly specific, anticipates outcome; the anticipation of outcome guarantees, if not failure, the absence of grace." William Gibson - "All Tomorrow's Parties" --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
