This is well said. Years ago, I remember Grant (or was it a guest writer?) saying in a Reader that frame material is the least important thing about a frame. Does anyone remember that article?
The BQ test of that carbon fiber rando bike was very positive; the nits picked were with components, not the frame. I daresay that one could argue that, when you weigh all the respective pluses and minuses, one material might be, overall, better than another, but this does not contradict the assertion above. This still leaves tubing gauge, geometry, setup, tires, gearing, etc etc etc, which are probably more important, individually or collectively, than frame material. On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 11:31 PM, Michael <[email protected]> wrote: > > I'm talking ride quality only, not function. > Don't blow a gasket until you read this post in full. > > Steel, carbon, Alu, Ti, Rando-lite frames, etc. > > I just saw a RAAM documentary. Actually I have watched three of them. > Those guys are mostly carbon, skinny tires, with bars waaay low, yet they > do hundreds of miles a day, culminating in a 3,000 mile race finish in less > than 10 days. You gotta be comfy on your bike to a certain degree to > survive a 3,000 mile ride in 10 days or less. You can't really argue with > that. Yeah, they are athletes,and suffer, but read on... > > I'm starting to think that no frame material is better than another when > at the higher quality levels and craftsmanship. And I think RAAM blows it > all outta the water. RAAM has been ridden on just about everything I would > think. I don't think these people are dummies, and I am sure they have done > their homework to find what suits their needs. I think it's just preference > at that point. I don't know that Jure Robic (5-time RAAM winner) would have > done any better, or felt any better, on a Herse, Scott, Lightspeed, or > Roadeo. Someone once asked him how his behind felt during RAAM, and he > stuck his fingers in his mouth imitating a gun. I don't think that would > have changed no matter what he was riding (and it looked like a studded > leather saddle in the documentary I saw). > > Now function is another thing altogether. You want braze-ons and wide > tires and clearance, approach a steel frame builder for sure. > > I needed to ride through mud and gravel to continue on my way today and I > was glad I was on my fender-ed Rivbike with 42 mm tires and not on a 25mm > tire-ed race bike. > > I'm not going to touch safety and lifetime issues of materials. The battle > rages. > > Anyway, since I got my head out of carbon, and have been reading a lot > about steel, I have been wondering. Because everyone seems to love their > quality bikes, no matter what the material is. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and letters that get interviews. By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching. Other professional writing services. http://www.resumespecialties.com/ Patrick Moore Albuquerque, Nouvelle Mexique, Etats Unis -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
